Preliminary finals are typically tight matches, but it’s hard to imagine Saturday’s clash between Sydney Uni and Warringah not being a high scoring affair.

The Students and the Rats are two of the competitions most exciting sides and have both averaged more than 40 points a match in recent weeks.

Ahead of the clash, Rugby News takes a look at the keys to victory for both sides.

 Sydney Uni – Keys to victory

Scrum

Even without Paddy Ryan, the Sydney Uni front-row is intimidating and was far too good for Eastwood last weekend. Although Tolu Latu has been moved from hooker to prop, the Students won’t lose much at scrum time and can be expected to try and dominate the set piece. Warringah must hold their own in this area to give their backs a chance to attack.

80-minute performance

Sydney Uni must play for the entire 80 minutes this weekend. The Students have drifted in and out of games all season and can’t afford to do so against the Rats. Despite that, Uni know how to play from behind. In round 15, the Students fought back from 29-10 down against Warringah to steal a 41-41 draw. They produced similar comebacks against Eastern Suburbs and Eastwood last week.

Ruck defence

Eastwood found plenty of space around the base of the ruck against Sydney Uni last weekend, resulting in two first half tries. While Uni will most likely look to spread their defensive line again this weekend and commit few numbers to the breakdown, they’ll need to secure their inside channels or the Warringah forwards and halfback Josh Holmes will find space.

Warringah – Keys to victory 

Ad-lib footy

Warringah play the best ad-lib footy in the competition, which is often near impossible to defend. The Rats take every opportunity to attack and every player, 1-15, looks comfortable with ball in hand. Warringah have plenty of speed out wide and will need to utilise it as much as possible if they are to beat the Students.

Josh Holmes

Although Warringah have strike power right around the park, it’s usually Josh Holmes that sparks the Rats attack. The former Super Rugby No.9 will look to speed up the game at every opportunity as he tries to catch out tired defenders. To be fair, Sydney Uni scrumhalf Jake Gordon plays a very similar role for his side. The battle of the halfbacks could decide the match.

Finishers

After narrowly missing out on selection in Australia Olympic 7’s squad, Boyd Killingworth has been named on the bench for Warringah. Killingworth had been one of the competition’s most damaging backrowers for a number of years before joining the Sevens program earlier this year. If Warringah are in the mix, Killingworth could be the difference late in the match.