They began with a 38-26 win over The Riverina Anglican College, who won their first-ever title last year, on Monday, before backing up with a 37-23 victory against Kildare Catholic College on Tuesday.

It means they will play the loser of this Monday's last Pool A fixture between TRAC and Kildare in Tuesday's semi finals.

Mater Dei sports coordinator Nathan Irvine said they were confident they would give a first title since 2018 a shake given the number of representative level players in their squad.

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The likes of Ash Reynoldson, under-17 shadow player Ava Moller, Temora gun Abbey Reinhold, Charlotte Priest, Darcy Manning and Caitlin Wheeler are among the best young talents in the region.

"Obviously we've got a really strong team this year. We had five players go to Sydney in the Diocesan team recently for the CCC trials," Irvine said.

"Having that many at rep level, we expected them to perform well in the shield.

"We're just trying to navigate COVID and what now at the moment, and try to keep them fit and healthy for next week."

Irvine said they expect a tough battle regardless of who they play in the semi, with the final set down for Tuesday, May 24.

"In both of our games against Kildare and TRAC the scores were pretty close at half time, it was only the back end of games where the scores blew out a bit," he said.

The winner of Pool B, and the fourth and last semi final spot, will be decided when Wagga High takes on Kooringal High this Monday.

Wagga High beat Wagga Christian College 31-18 on Monday, while Kooringal accounted for WWCC 27-14 on Tuesday.

Final pool round, Monday May 16 - TRAC v Kildare and Wagga High v Kooringal (both 4.15pm)

Tuesday, May 17 - Semi finals (both 4.15pm)

Tuesday, May 24 - Finals (third place playoff 4.15pm, final 5pm)

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