Bumper round of club rugby this weekend
Another bumper Saturday looms tomorrow with all club grades into competition, headlined by round four of the Swindale Shield.
This week's radio commentaries come from Kilbirnie Park, where Gordon Noble-Campbell and Adam Julian have the call on 1161AM of the Poneke-Northern United clash and from Fraser Park where the Saturday Rugby Club on 1503AM.
Premier Swindale Shield
There will some weary bodies taking the field tomorrow, as 12 of the Premier sides take to the field for the third time in eight days, and less than 72 hours after their last outing, while Sunday sees the fabled McBain Shield clash. How teams cope with the short turnaround will have a direct impact on what happens on the field.
After Wednesday’s win over Johnsonville Poneke head the table, and on Saturday welcome Northern United to Kilbirnie Park. The visitors fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in going down to Ories on Wednesday and so will be keen to get back on track, and amongst their changes is the inclusion of Hurricane and NZ U20 hooker and captain Leni Apisai as he returns to the field after a concussion sustained against the Blues. The hosts look to remain at the summit of the competition and Greg Foe and Pakai Turia return to their starting side after they came off the bench on Wednesday while erstwhile midfielder Cole Stewart continues at lock.
At stake between the two is the Cyril Collett Memorial Shield. Collett played for Porirua in the 1950’s, with his sons Paul and Bruce later turning out for Porirua and Poneke. It is currently held by Norths after their 30-24 win last year, but Poneke won their last meeting 27-23 in the Hardham Cup. The Bill Brien Challenge Cup is also on the line in this one
Old Boys-University ran their winning streak to 12 in seeing off Petone, and head up SH1 to make their first-ever Premier visit to Ngatitoa Domain to face Paremata-Plimmerton. The Goats will be odds-on favourite and have the relative luxury of being able to rest Finbarr Kerr-Newell and replace him at prop with the imposing Jonathan Fuimaono, while Argentine lock Augustin Escalona will play his 50th match for the side.
Pare-Plim are an improved outfit so far in 2016 and will harbour hopes of a shock win. They make a handful of changes including skipper Tane McMillan-Parata back into the side with Blake Neve making his first Premier start of the year at first-five. OBU won last year’s meeting between the two by 79-10 at the Basin.
The other two top-four side clash at the Polo Ground. Oriental-Rongotai improved to third with their win over Norths, and the Magpies have been miserly on defence, conceding just one try through three games so far. Wainuiomata are the visitors, and will be buoyed by how they dismantled HOBM at Maidstone Park, and amongst their changes is the inclusion of Tu Umaga-Marshall in midfield while Frae Wilson continues in the #10 jersey. Ories retain much of Wednesday’s side with two injury-enforced changes in Declan Hay replacing older brother Sean at halfback and former Johnsonville flanker Kane Leaupepe replacing Tuakana Metuarau at blindside. Coach Roy Kinikinilau starts again in midfield.
One clash to watch for will be between two physical No8’s in the Magpies Luke Tau’alupe and Wainui’s Ben Tupuola, the 2014 Billy Wallace Best & Fairest Winner. Ories won this clash 35-28 last year, as well as winning the return Jubilee Cup match by 30-27.
Wellington got themselves back into the winner’s circle, capitalising on an error-prone MSP side to claim the spoils on Wednesday. Tomorrow they host Johnsonville at Hataitai, and will favour their chances of picking up another result against the bottom-side. The Axemen’s Paddy Hughes has picked up try-scoring doubles in each of the first three games though to add to that he’ll have to do so from the bench tomorrow as the coaching staff rotate players in and out of the line-up. Hawks coach Logan Ili has again rung the changes, making nine, as he looks for a combination that works.
The two sides will also contest their interclub Mick Kenny Memorial Cup. Kenny played for Johnsonville prior to serving in World War II and after returning player for Wellington. Donated by his family following his death in 2001, since its inception it has been contested at both the old Senior 1 & 2 levels as well as Premier depending on where the two clubs have had teams in the past; it is held by Wellington after the 17-12 result last year.
Avalon is the fourth unbeaten side and sits sixth but only on point’s difference; and return to the familiar surroundings of home after Wednesday’s successful visit to suburban Porirua. Openside Logan Blake comes back into the line-up, allowing Sefo Aumua to return to the blindside, and in the backline Haruyama Yute returns and Pena Sione-Leota shifts back to the wing. Tawa are the visitors – by a quirk of the draw they return to Fraser Park having played there on Wednesday night and will be looking for a better outcome than the loss to the Upper Hutt Rams. Faraimo Nofoaiga is back in midfield and veteran hooker Lotu Nuku returns to the side for his first start this season in the handful of changes they’ve made. Tawa won this match 54-12 last year, but the sides are much changed since then.
The last of Saturday’s matches in this preview is at Maidstone Park between two sides with matching one-win, two-loss records. The home side Upper Hutt Rams will come into this match on the back of getting their first win of the year over Tawa on Wednesday, while Marist St Pat’s slumped to a second straight loss at the hands of the Axemen. The visitors have made a few changes as coaches Ross Bond and Brendon Reidy look for a vastly improved performance from their charges, amongst them the notable addition of Hurricanes prop Loni ‘the Tongan Bear’ Uhila at loosehead, while the Rams return Tynan Barrett to the named fifteen, Josh Houston-Tupou comes back in at hooker, and there is a first start for former Wainuiomata winger Hokianga Morunga. MSP won last year’s sole encounter between the two sides by 45-32.
The seventh match of the round waits until Sunday afternoon with the McBain Shield clash at the Petone Rec between home side Petone and neighbours and rivals Hutt Old Boys Marist. The trophy was first played for in 1936, presented by Hec McBain and Captain TE Bevan in honour of Hec’s father Alexander for competition between the Hutt (of which Alexander McBain had been a Life Member) and Petone clubs, won 6-5 by Hutt on that inaugural occasion. For such a keenly-fought trophy, it has often been contested below the top level depending on the fortunes of firstly Hutt and then its successors Hutt Old Boys and now HOBM. While the Villagers have dominated this historically, it’s been more even since the Eagles returned to the Swindale Shield in 2003, winning that year and the next before Petone took six straight from 2005 to 2010. HOBM then won in 2011, ’12, and ’13, Petone took it with a 20-19 win in 2014 and HOBM regained it with last year’s 32-25 result.
On the fields this year however it hasn’t been the best of starts for either with just one win between them so far. HOBM had a bonus-point win over Johnsonville on Opening Day but has since lost to both Poneke and Wainuiomata, while Petone have lost their first three to Norths, Tawa, and OBU, but have picked up bonus points in all three. With it likely that upwards of 30 points will be needed to secure a Jubilee Cup berth the pressure will be on to deliver a result in the context of the Swindale competition and not just in this head-to-head contest. Petone have made several changes, notably Jarrod Hrstich and Marcus Roil up front and Jarrod Adams switched to fullback while HOBM make eight personnel and five positional changes from Wednesday’s loss, with only locks Kava Vulu and Lui Okesene-Luamanu named to run out in the same jerseys they wore in that game.
Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield
Next week it’s the turn of the Premier Reserve teams to play Wednesday night. Before that however is their round 3 tomorrow; unbeaten sides Poneke and Wellington host Norths and bottom-side Johnsonville respectively, while the third unbeaten – Marist St Pats – are away at the Upper Hutt Rams. Elsewhere Paremata-Plimmerton face Old Boys-University at Ngatitoa, Avalon and Tawa meet at Fraser Park, and Ories welcome Wainuiomata to the Polo Ground. All six of these kick off at 1pm. The seventh clash of the day, between Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist at the Petone Rec, kicks off at the later time of 2.45pm.
Women’s Fleurs Trophy
The women’s competition reverts to the Saturday morning kick-off slot, with the round of matches likely to give more of an indication of their relative abilities. Defending champions Norths eased past Poneke last week, but will face a sterner task when they venture to Delaney Park to face HOBM. Ories pitched a shutout against OBU and face their semi-final opponents from last year, Avalon, on the Polo Ground, while the Impala’s head over the Hill Road to face Wainuiomata, the other team to hold their opposition scoreless in round one, at William Jones.
MSP play their first home game when hosting the other newcomers – the Upper Hutt Rams – at Evans Bay, while Poneke and Johnsonville-Tawa meet at Te Whaea. All five matches kick off at 11.30am
Colts Division 1 Paris Memorial Trophy
The Colts season starts in earnest this weekend (see Monday’s preview) and returning to the two-division format used in past seasons. The Division 1 Paris Memorial Trophy comprises 10 of the 17 seventeen teams, with this week’s opening round fixtures all kicking off at 1pm. Defending grade champions Hutt Old Boys Marist start across the river at Petone with the Upper Hutt Rams hosting Marist St Pats Blue at Maidstone. The other three games are in close proximity to each other in the city - OBU Green are at Te Whaea against Wellington, Poneke and Norths clash at Kilbirnie, and Ories take on Tawa at the Polo Ground.
Under 85kg Division 1 JC Bowl
After getting their defence underway last Friday night with a hard fought 10-5 win over Johnsonville, titleholders Tawa welcome Avalon to Redwood Park with the Wolves rested after a late change to the draw gave them the opening week bye. 2015 Runners-up Poneke lost their opening game to Eastbourne so will be out to redress that when they take on HOBM on Kilbirnie #2, while on the adjacent #3 first round winners Wellington and Eastbourne clash. The remaining game of the round is at Delaney Park between Stokes Valley and the OBU Bunnies who both lost their opening matches. All JC Bowl matches kick off at 2.45pm with Johnsonville having the bye.
First Grade Thompson Memorial Trophy
There has been one change in this grade with Wainuiomata withdrawing, but they have been replaced by Avalon in the competition. The Wolves make their debut at home against the Petone Brotherhood on the grass at Fraser Park, Norths are at home to HOBM, while MSP head to Nairnville to face OBU with all three matches are at 2.45pm. The remaining game is at 1pm at Lyndhurst between Tawa and the Petone Saxons, with both making their first competition outings of the year. Poneke has the bye.