For the third straight year Canada West will be vying for the North America Four championship against the US Falcons - and despite the familiarity this has bred since the competition has begun, the intensity of the coming fixture is no less intense.

Canada West had to come from behind to beat Canada East 30-24, while the Falcons had an easier time with the Hawks, winning 30-12. At Shawnigan Lake two weeks ago, the West pummeled the Falcons 55-3, suggesting, at least on paper, that the name will not change on the trophy in 2008. But that is on paper.

In reality, the performance against Canada East was spotty at times, with the injection of Nanyak Dala in the second half proving to be the catalyst for the come back. The Falcons, too, struggled against the Hawks in patches, but their set-piece, especially the lineout has improved, and fly-half Zach Panglinan has been the form player for the Falcons.

Coach for the West, Tony Medina, was not glowing in his team's assessment following the semi-final win, but did point to Dala's performance as a key to what they will try and do against the Hawks in the 35 C temperatures in Glendale, Colorado on Saturday.

"Nanyak is a great open field runner and we are hoping that we can have him running around in the first half and open up some gaps," offered Medina.

West Captain Adam Kleeberger was ambivalent about who they were going to face, but admitted that video sessions at Shawnigan Lake had picked up some trends from the Falcons team that they hope will bear fruit come game time.

"We picked up a couple of things last week in Shawnigan and we have to build off some personal things as well," said Kleeberger. "We'll look at the video and go from there."

Falcons Captain Rikus Pretorious, the South African born flanker, was impressed by the ferocity of the East/West contest and he says his team is looking forward to attempting to avenge the earlier one way result, the only blemish on the Falcs record this NA4 season.

"The guys are licking their chops and excited to get another shot at them," said Pretorius. "I don't know what it is when the Canadian teams play each other but they really go at it."

He admits that coming together in short order can sometimes affect a team's performance, but he thinks this edition of the Falcons is beyond that stage.

"It comes with the territory, we don't really know each other that well but when we are firing on all cylinders I think we play quite well," he said, adding, "Part way through the game things weren't firing on all cylinders with poor passes and dropped balls but we can fix those things. You can only play hard and do your best."

Coach Ray Lehner, the former US Eagle prop, has been working well with the Falcons in his first year at the helm, and he realizes what a big task it will be to defeat Canada West.

"Canada West is a very very good team and I've said all along that we will need to play our very best rugby to keep it close enough to win the game," he surmised. "We haven't talked about at all this week, we have been focused on the Hawks. Now we are going to go back and revisit our match against Canada West and get ready to play them."

Canada East will play the US Hawks - a team they lost to in Shawnigan Lake 32-5. It wil be an important match for coach Simon Blanks and the whole team as they have never gone a full NA4 campaign without a win.

Saturday's third/fourth play-off kicks off at 6:00 PM MST, followed by the US Falcons taking on the defending champion Canada West at 8:00 PM. Both games will be available online and for free - and no registration required.

Quick Hits:
Both the East and West teams took Tuesday off as a recovery day - some went to a local waterpark, others went white water rafting, and traveled to the summitt of a local mountain range going up to 14,000 feet. And a few hardy risk takers went to a gun range to fire automatic weapons - with some decidely patriotic targets for them to shoot at.

Temperatures are hitting record levels in Denver - among the hottest in the US - Daytime highs of 100 F or 37 C - Despite the Denver area being a desert region - the lack of humidity is usurped by the strength of the sun at 5,000 feet. The East trained at 10 AM - while the West have a session scheduled for this evening - the main goal during the day is to stay out of the sun.

A few players and coaches went to the nearby Denver Broncos training camp. Thousands show up just to watch their favourites along with new players work out in the blistering conditions.

Depending on what end of the stadium players are at Infinity Park - a big kick could go clear to Denver - as the Glendale city limit is the back wall of the purpose built rugby stadium. The amazing $50 million facility has a state of the art gym, and houses the local police department, fire department, and a new convention centre is the final phase of construction.

Canada West beat the US Falcons 31-20 in 2006 at Fred Beekman Park in Columbus. In 2007 it was a closer affair at Abbotsford's CFV Stadium - the West hanging on for a 13-11 win.

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