Tight games expected as race for the top eight heats up
It’s the end of a hectic week for the region’s Premier sides with their third game in eight days, but after tomorrow normal weekly service resumes for the remainder of the year. Elsewhere many of the lower grades are also already at the halfway stage of their first rounds as a full schedule of club rugby returns.
Two clubs – Hutt Old Boys Marist and Johnsonville – have their Old Timers’ Days tomorrow. Two games will also carried on radio; Ken Laban will call the Poneke v Petone game on RadioSport, while the HOBM v OBU game will be on Te Upoko 1161AM.
Premier Swindale Shield
With six games remaining it’s an opportune time to look at how many points might be needed to make the top eight and contest the Jubilee Cup. It’s something of an inexact science though; last year Poneke and the Upper Hutt Rams amassed 30 points, but fell short (Wainuiomata had 31 and OBU 32), Norths 27 points weren’t enough in both 2013 and 2014, but only 22 points (and a superior points difference after their round-robin match was drawn) was enough to see Petone through ahead of OBU in 2012.
With 13 games in 2015, rather than the 11 of those years, the waters are muddied somewhat. However, in the last five years the team that finished ninth has averaged taking home 2.4 competition points per game, so to be ahead of that it may be that 33 or 34 will be required in 2016. Will that even be enough? The remaining weeks will tell.
Old Boys-University kept their unbeaten record, and while it might have been only just after fighting back against Norths they are getting the job done. Tomorrow they head up the valley again, this time to face Hutt Old Boys Marist at the Hutt Rec as the feature clash of the latter’s Old Timers’ Day. The Eagles finally got back into the winner’s column with their Wednesday win over Paremata-Plimmerton, and with all their remaining Swindale games back at the Nest they will believe that they can still drag themselves back into the top eight. That, however, needs to start by toppling the leaders tomorrow. They are also mostly unchanged with Simon Malaeulu returning up front. OBU have an unchanged backline from Wednesday’s round, with Tom Fleming, Hugh Renton, and Morgan Poi – back in Wellington after briefly returning to the Hawkes Bay – starting in the pack and Teariki Ben-Nicholas, scorer of six tries in the past two games, is again at No.8.
The two sides will also contest their Wood Cup, named for Ron Wood who was a founding member of the Woburn club (later High School Old Boys before merging with Hutt in 1967), who also played for Wellington College OB. It’s held by HOBM after their 40-20 win during their successful Swindale campaign, OBU however took their Jubilee Cup rematch by 28-17 a month later.
Two sides both in the top six and both coming off wins clash at Lyndhurst Park when Tawa host Wainuiomata. The green-and-blacks climbed into second spot, and, depending on results, could close the gap on OBU. Tawa prevailed in an arm-wrestle over Poneke – a much different contest to their romp over Johnsonville last weekend – and with four of their last five games difficult looking ones away from home they’ll want to bank as many points as they can at this stage. Captain Pati Gaualofa is the only player in the pack starting where they did on Wednesday night with James Coburn, recently returned from a stint in Scotland, back into the front row and Highlander Shaun Treeby again named as he continues his return from injury. Wainuiomata are largely unchanged from Wednesday but Greg Lealofi is the notable absentee from that line-up.
At stake between the two is their Chris Stirling Cup. Stirling was the club coaching co-ordinator (CCO) for Wainuiomata from 2005 to 2007 and for Tawa in 2008 and 2009. Wainuiomata hold it after their 25-18 win last season, though Tawa won the return encounter in the Jubilee Cup by 18-16.
A pair of sides coming off of seven-try hauls meet at Maidstone Park, with Oriental-Rongotai making the long journey (by Wellington standards) to take on the Upper Hutt Rams. The Magpies sit third after beating MSP, and are well-placed for the run in, while the Rams win over Johnsonville put them back onto the fringe of the top eight. The hosts make a handful of changes to the side, with Eli Hunt, Apa Heemi, Daniel Schrijvers, and Max Pearson all restored, with Ories doing likewise with Hurricanes squad member Iopu Iopu getting a start at club level in place of Luke Tau’alupe.
There’s a trophy on the line here too, the Bob Lendrum Cup. Lendrum has ties to both clubs; captaining Oriental’s senior side during the 60’s and player-coach in the first years after the merger with Rongotai College Old Boys; he later set up in business in Upper Hutt and mentored several Upper Hutt coaches. In between work took him to Fiji where coached the national side for three years, a tenure that saw wins over both New South Wales and Queensland. Ories hold it after their 35-19 win in the sides only meeting last year.
A rejuvenated Northern United continues to impress, even in defeat, and a return to the Jubilee Cup that they once dominated will be well within reach with a return to winning ways tomorrow. Clashes against their opposition, Marist St Pats, are always eagerly anticipated and this contest at Jerry Collins Stadium will be no different. MSP need to start stringing some wins together and a fifth loss on the year would match their highest total in the Swindale since 2007. A win however will also see them walk away with the Bill Brien Challenge Cup. Their side sees the return of Peter Sciascia at halfback as the only backline change, with captain Isaac O’Connor returning to his normal openside position. Another return of note is that of lock Nemani Waaka who is back at MSP after starting the year at Johnsonville. Norths notable inclusion is the return of Jackson Garden-Bachop, with Konelio Feaunati chosen in midfield to partner Perry Hayman. MSP won their sole meeting last year 43-24 at Evans Bay.
Another match that gets circled on the calendar by their supporters are ones between Wellington’s second and third oldest clubs, Poneke and Petone, who meet at Kilbirnie Park with the FJ Tilyard Memorial Shield at stake. Both sides are in something of a rough patch; Poneke’s good early season form has stalled with successive one-point losses to Ories and Tawa, while Petone’s McBain win over HOBM remains their only one this term with bonus points keeping them on the fringe of contention. A win for both sides would appear to be vital; Poneke will be without Pakai Turia and captain Joe Scheres who was forced off on Wednesday with a head knock, but are for the most part unchanged, Petone make just three changes with Cameron Rodger at No.8, and Taylor Henry and Losi Filipo back at halfback and on the wing respectively.
Fred Tilyard was one of four brothers who all played for Poneke and the Wellington representative side following WWI, with Fred and Jimmy also making the All Blacks. Fred won four club championships in Poneke colours, and later served the club as an administrator for two decades. The shield is with Petone after their 26-22 win at the Rec last season.
The remaining two games include the two winless sides. Just up the road from Kilbirnie, Paremata-Plimmerton visit Wellington at Hataitai Park. Paremata-Plimmerton will be looking to recapture the efforts that saw them prove difficult opposition in the early rounds while the Axemen will be seeking the full competition points to consolidate themselves inside the Jubilee Cup places. Wellington make few changes, with Ahtun Masun back in midfield after coming off the bench on Wednesday. Pare-Plim again rotate their front-row stocks, with their only other change in midfield where Shaun King comes in.
Finally, Johnsonville were well in their contest with Upper Hutt on Wednesday at halftime before giving way, and would want to put together a good performance at Helston for the club’s Old Timers’ Day. Local boy and former NZ Schools rep Anthony Pettett starts for the first time since round one. Avalon, with Best & Fairest leader Ben Peni, are the visitors and their motivation would be to pick up the points to at worst keep pace with, or possibly move into, the top 8. Coaches Aaron Falloon and Jason Aiken are able to name several players who missed Wednesday’s loss to Wainuiomata. The Hawks won both contests last year, 22-12 in the Swindale and 38-13 in the Hardham, but as with anything involving them this year much has changed since then.
All Premier matches kick-off at 2.45pm.
Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield
Unbeaten sides Marist St Pat’s and Poneke have cleared out at the head of the Premier Reserve table, and look well on course to be the two sides to go on and contest the Hardham Cup (provided of course their Premier sides qualify for the Jubilee Cup). That leaves the chasing pack already needing results against those two to go their way to bridge the gap. Third-placed Norths get a first chance at that as they host MSP at Porirua Park, while Petone, in fifth, travel to face second-placed Poneke.
In the mid-table scrum OBU can keep pace at the very least if they win away at HOBM, while defending champions Tawa could get back into contention when they host Wainuiomata. The Upper Hutt Rams host Ories, Wellington and Paremata-Plimmerton meet on neutral ground at Te Whaea, with the final game between the two cellar-dwellers as winless Johnsonville hosts one-win Avalon at Newlands Park.
All Premier Reserve games kick off at 1pm, and they back up with their second Wednesday night round this coming week.
Women’s Fleur’s Trophy
It’s another episode of Friday Night Lights for the Women’s grade with all matches tonight with 7.30pm kick-offs. Heavyweights Norths and Oriental-Rongotai remain on track for final round decider and have been generally untroubled so far. The Porirua club hosts Marist St Pats at Ascot Park and will be strong favourites, while Oriental-Rongotai will have their feet up for a second successive week after Johnsonville-Tawa again defaulted, citing injuries.
Fourth-placed Old Boys-University would be favourites to also claim the full complement when hosting fellow city club Poneke at Te Whaea; while Avalon should be fairly untroubled when they head up the valley to minnows Upper Hutt Rams at Maidstone.
The game of the round is another Hutt Valley derby, when Hutt Old Boys Marist and Wainuiomata meet at Fraser Park. Wainuiomata are third, and a win here would go a long way to ensuring that they return to the Victoria Tavern Trophy after missing out last year. HOBM may sit 7th at present, but have also played Avalon, OBU, and Norths already and would be targeting this game as one to ensure their return to the championship round in 2016.
Colts Paris Memorial Trophy
The age grade competition gets a turn on centre-stage this week, with Colts games curtain raising and displacing many of the Premier Reserve games off the main grounds. After three rounds perennial contenders OBU Green lead the way on point’s difference, and they travel to take on their nemesis of the past few seasons, Hutt Old Boys Marist, at the Hutt Rec. For their part the junior Eagles will be looking for their first win of the year in front of the Old Timers Day crowd. Marist St Pats are the other side that are three-from-three, and the make the long journey across Evans Bay Parade to face Poneke who suffered their first loss last weekend.
Wellington hosts Tawa, who are also unbeaten with two wins and a draw, in the early game at Hataitai, while winless sides the Upper Hutt Rams and Norths welcome Ories to Maidstone and Petone to Porirua Park respectively.
First Grade Thompson Memorial
The top two after four rounds both face away assignments tomorrow at the halfway stage. Leaders Old Boys-University visit Hutt Old Boys Marist to keep the theme of the Eagles Old Timers’ Day going, while second-placed Norths head to Fraser Park to take on an Avalon side that scored their first win last weekend. The other two matches are next to each other on the Petone Rec with the home club’s Brotherhood and Saxons up against Poneke on #1 and MSP on #2 respectively. All four matches kick-off at 2.45pm with Tawa having the bye.
Under 85kg JC Bowl
It’s also halfway in the lightweights top divisions first round. The clash of the round might be at Newlands Park where third-placed Johnsonville takes on unbeaten leaders Wellington at 2.45pm. Also at that time second-placed Tawa venture to face Eastbourne at HW Shortt, and mid-table sides Poneke and the OBU Bunnies clash at Te Whaea. Before those there’s what shapes as a spirited Hutt Valley derby between HOBM and Avalon at Hutt Rec #3 at 1pm. Stokes Valley, who won their first game last week, has the bye.