The curtain drops today on a regular season of parity in the Canadian Direct Insurance sa国际传媒 Premier Rugby League.
The teams with the most at stake on the final day are fifth-place Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay (6-6-1) and the fourth-place Meralomas (7-6), who will decide the fourth-and-final playoff position when they meet at Connaught Park in Kitsilano.
The top three teams are known but their seedings for the May 4 semifinals will be settled today.
James Bay, Burnaby Lake and Capilano are tied atop the tables at 9-4 with the Bays hosting the sixth-place UVic Vikes (5-7-1) at 2:45 p.m. at Macdonald Park; the Lakers at home to the last-place Bayside Sharks of Surrey (2-11) and the Caps away to seventh-place UBCOB Ravens (3-8-2).
The first-place tiebreakers are in Burnaby鈥檚 favour, a situation the Bays realize.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just focusing right now on a victory over UVic,鈥� said James Bay coach Pete Rushton, whose line-up will feature national team stars Tyler Ardron and John Moonlight, named last week the Canadian XVs and sevens players of the year, respectively.
Beating UVic would assure at least second place for the Bays.
鈥淓ither way [finishing first or second], we get home-field advantage in the semifinals,鈥� said Rushton.
鈥淎s to who we play in the semifinals, at this stage it really doesn鈥檛 matter because all the playoff teams are going to be really strong.鈥�
Since they have fewer bonus points than Burnaby Lake or James Bay, the Capilano squad has only an outside chance of claiming first place.
