Quick turnaround for second Wednesday round under lights
It’s another quick turnaround for the province’s Premier club sides, with the seventh round of the Swindale Shield tomorrow night under lights marking the halfway point in the competition and the second of the two midweek night rounds.
Once again the matches are being played in neutral venues, but unlike the previous outing in round three not all matches are on artificial turfs. Also of note is that none of these match-ups took place in last year’s ‘balloted-out’ Swindale Shield.
For the third successive round there’s a top-two contest on offer as leaders Old Boys-University and Northern United clash at Lower Hutt’s Fraser Park. OBU have maintained their unbeaten record in the two previous times of asking, narrowly toppling Oriental-Rongotai and then using a dominant forward effort behind props Finbarr Kerr-Newell and Jonathan Fuimaono to head off Wellington, with No. 8 Teariki Ben-Nicholas scoring perhaps the easiest four-try haul in Wellington club rugby history. Norths’ resurgence in 2016 has had only the one hiccup, beaten by Ories in the previous night round, though after successive 50+ points hauls against Johnsonville and Paremata-Plimmerton they will face a sterner test this time out, and would like to repeat the result the last time the teams met back in 2014 when Perry Hayman – the current points-scoring leader this term – kicked a monster penalty for a 29-28 win.
Wainuiomata’s late surge to get back past Petone on Saturday not only gave them the win there, but also took them into third. Their assignment Wednesday night again takes them over the Hill Road in Lower Hutt, only this time it’s to the Hutt Rec which will see its first Premier game for the year. Their opposition is not the usual inhabitants of the Woburn ground, but rather the AvalonWolves who make the journey south. While much improved in 2016, Avalon have curiously been better performers on the road, with all three wins coming away from Fraser Park. Having dropped out of the top 8 with Saturday’s loss to Upper Hutt, they’ll be hoping that sequence continues. The last time these two met at Premier level came all the way back in 2011, when Wainuiomata narrowly won 30-28.
Oriental-Rongotai moved back into fourth, but only just with their one-point win over Poneke to retain the Jim Grbich Shield, and they face a second successive eastern suburbs derby when they venture to Wakefield Park to take on near-neighbours Marist St Pats. The Magpies are well placed to move back into the top three should they be successful, while MSP showed signs of rounding into form in dispatching HOBM to reclaim the Father Cleary Shield, and a win for them should put them well back into the top 8. Given these two sides terrific recent rivalry there should also be plenty of supporters out for this one. These two met just the once last year, with Ories running out 34-6 winners in their Jubilee Cup match.
Wellington’s loss dropped them to fifth, and the Axemen will have to figure out what went on in their scrummaging against OBU, and also hoping to regain the services of James So’oialo who was a late scratching against the Goats. Potentially they could leapfrog three other teams if they win depending on other results, but could also be passed by three if they lose. Petone make the journey into Te Whaea, and while the Villagers are all the way down in 10th with just one win, they have accumulated seven bonus points to remain in with a chance, and their losses have been by four, three, six, two, and six points. However, they need to turn those into wins.
This fixture is the only one with an interclub trophy at stake. In 1977 Wellington took their senior side on a world tour – playing games in the USA, UK, Holland, and Hong Kong after a mammoth fundraising effort. Air New Zealand assisted by providing some seats for free, and donated a trophy to be contested between the Axemen and Petone. It is held by Wellington after their 27-17 win in the sides only meeting last year during the Jubilee Cup.
Two teams, both tied in the mid-table scrum on 20 points, meet at Porirua Park when Poneke clashes with Tawa. The two sides had contrasting Saturday outings; Poneke suffered their second successive one-point loss to Oriental-Rongotai in the Jimmy Grbich Shield match, while Tawa put their foot on the gas to in the second half to post a point-a-minute in handing Johnsonville their latest drubbing. This should be a keenly fought encounter, and could be quite pivotal to each sides Jubilee Cup aspirations. Their last meeting in the 2014 Swindale saw Tawa run out 36-10 winners.
The remaining two encounters are all between sides that currently reside in the bottom four. Porirua’s Ascot Park plays host to the rematch of last year’s Hardham cup Final between Johnsonville and the Upper Hutt Rams, while Hutt Old Boys Marist and Paremata-Plimmerton meet at Maidstone Park for the first time ever at this level (Pare-Plim played HV Marist in the top flight during their previous 1985-87 tenure). The Hawks continue to struggle and despite the two sides’ relative proximity on the table it would be a major upset if they were to prevail. For their part the Rams seem to revel on artificial turf, having taken both their wins on the synthetic surfaces (and both at Fraser Park).
Hutt Old Boys Marist’s lengthy slump continued with their loss to MSP, and they have still only won two matches since lifting the Swindale Shield last term. Surely they cannot afford to drop any more points if they want to return to the Jubilee Cup even with all their games after this to be played back at the Hutt Rec. Paremata-Plimmerton remain without a competition point, and despite conceding 50+ the last two weeks will see this as a decent chance to break their duck since returning to the Premier ranks.
As with the last night round all matches kickoff at 7.30pm, with the corresponding Premier Reserve clashes again to be played next Wednesday night.