After both schools survived late scares against Waverley in consecutive weeks, Barker and Knox will meet on Saturday to decide the 2024 CAS premiership.

Both schools went undefeated through the opening three rounds of the competition before the July school holiday break.

Barker then held on to beat Waverley 28-26 at Queens Park two weeks ago, before Knox won in similar circumstances against last year’s premiers last Saturday.

“Both schools were really tested against a good Waverley side but managed to get the result,” Barker first XV coach Dean Hargreaves told Rugby News.

“For us, we were a little rusty coming back from the three-week holiday break. Some boys were off playing rep footy during the break, others didn’t play at all.

“I thought we were rolling pretty well before the holidays, so while it was nice to have a break, it broke our momentum a little but we’ve wrestled that back now I think.”

Tragically, both schools will also use Saturday’s match to mourn and celebrate the life of a Barker first XV player who died in a vehicle accident late last month.

The player’s younger brother attends and plays rugby at Knox and the family has strong links to both schools.

“It’s obviously going to add another layer of emotion to Saturday and I know both schools have provided as much support as possible to all students,” the coach said.

Barker have scored an average of 38.8 points a game so far this season but know the challenge will be far more difficult against Knox with the premiership on the line on Saturday.

“We’ve been carrying well and penetrating the defensive line and will need to do the same this weekend. That helps us get quick ruck ball so that we can play on the top of that,” Hargreaves said.

“Knox are strong from 1-15, as you’d expect. They are tough over the ball; they’ve got some good pace out wide and they are very well coached with some good systems in place.

“We need to focus on playing our game but obviously we’ll spend a bit of time this week looking at some of the things they do well.

“We’re not going to change much though. What’s got us this far is playing hard, direct football to generate gainline quick ball”.

A big crowd is expected at Hornsby on Saturday as Barker look to win the schools 21st CAS premiership and their first since 2022.

Knox will be looking to claim their 26th title and their first since 2016.

“It’s a really exciting way for both schools to finish the season, we couldn’t have scripted it any better,” Hargreaves said.

“We are expecting our biggest crowd of the season and after a pretty wet year, it looks like we’re going to get a dry afternoon which should allow both teams to throw the ball around and play some good, attractive rugby.”