Jubilee and Hardham Cups mid-round report

The halfway mark of the Jubilee Cup and Hardham Cup round-robins has ticked over and it’s all downhill to the business end of the 2019 club rugby season.

Fourteen teams started the second round, but just four will be left alive come Club Rugby Finals Day at the Petone Recreation Ground on July 27.

With three weeks of regular season rugby to play, which teams are in the box seat to make the playoffs, which are in with a fair shout and which need to dig deep to make it?

Making predictions from here on in is a tough assignment, given the close nature of the competitions and that anyone can seemingly beat anyone else on any given afternoon. This is borne out by the fact that there are now no unbeaten teams left in the Jubilee Cup, and only Old Boys-University have yet to taste defeat in the Hardham.

This is the second season of the ‘seven-team’ second round competitions, but last year the magic number to finish ‘fourth’ was 18 points in the Jubilee Cup and 15 points in the Hardham Cup.

The Jubilee Cup is evenly poised, with sixth placed Petone (on 6 points) and seventh placed Poneke (5) all but out of semi-finals contention. That is not to say the two oldest clubs in the competition aren’t good enough to win their remaining games, more that they are running out of games to play. Both have yet to have their byes. Both must win this coming Saturday or they will bow out.

Thus, there are likely five teams chasing four spots over the final three weeks of the round-robin in the Championship competition. Current leaders Wainuiomata (15) are the third team yet to have their bye, which they have this weekend

First round winners HOBM (11), Northern United (10), Tawa (10) and Oriental-Rongotai (6) all have three matches to play in their runs home, and with a maximum of 15 competition points available, each will have designs on securing a home semi-final.

The winner of the Jubilee Cup round-robin also wins the Andy Leslie Trophy, awarded each year since 2009.

In the Hardham Cup, an Old Boys University – Marist St Pats one-two finish is not a given, given the recent form of the Wellington Axemen who have won three matches on the trot by healthy margins.

This coming weekend’s match at Evans Bay Park between MSP (10) and Wellington (15) could prove decisive. Victory for either side will surely propel them into the semi-finals. The Axemen have yet to have their bye so equally could miss out from here on in.

Likewise, this coming Saturday’s match between the Avalon Wolves (9) and the Upper Hutt Rams (8) could have a bearing on the make-up of the semi-finals. The Wolves have had their bye but still have MSP and OBU to play after this, while the Rams will want points before their week off.

At the bottom of the Hardham Cup standings, Johnsonville (2) have three matches remaining to go on a winning run. Upset OBU (14) this weekend, then MSP next Saturday and then tip over Paremata-Plimmerton (3) and they are in.

OBU return from their bye to play the Hawks, then Avalon and last the Upper Hutt Rams. They played a home Jubilee Cup semi-final last year and optimism suggests that they will do so this season in the Hardham as justified on their current form and those teams they have yet to face.