Jubilee Cup and Hardham Cup finals preview

Lower Hutt - Wainuiomata friendships and family ties will be temporarily cast aside on Sunday afternoon as the two sides on either side of the hill go head to head to decide the 2014 Jubilee Cup. In the curtain-raiser two of the most dominant Premier clubs from recent times meet for the Hardham Cup.

Early indications are that fans can expect a wild ride on Sunday weather-wise. But it snowed on 2008 Finals Day and the temporary stand almost blew down in 2011, so that will be no deterrent to the thousands of supporters set to descend on the Hutt Rec.

Jubilee Cup final: Hutt Old Boys Marist v Wainuiomata (kick-off 3.00 pm)

It's the pace and precision of the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles versus the power and commitment of Wainuiomata. The 2014 Jubilee Cup final, pitting the neighbouring Hutt Valley rivals, has all the hallmarks of being a memorable season decider.

Little could separate these sides just a fortnight ago when Wainuiomata established a 13-0 lead and held on to win 13-12 at home at William Jones Park in a tough wet weather encounter. Neither will take a back step in this final re-match, between HOBM, who qualified top at the end of round-robin play and last won the Jubilee Cup in 2007, and second placed qualifier Wainuiomata, playing in their maiden final.

In the red, white and green stripes, HOBM are coming off a sublime 43-26 semi-final win over Oriental-Rongotai, lighting up the Hutt Rec early on and taking a 31-0 halftime lead before Ories could fire a shot. Backs and forwards combined superbly in a wonderful team effort. In the green and black hoops, Wainuiomata enter the final having out-lasted Marist St Pat's 26-13 at home, pulling clear in the second half.

Both teams have timed their run to the final nicely. In one of the tightest seasons in recent memory, Wainuiomata (seventh in the Swindale Shield) and HOBM (eighth) were the lowest two ranking teams to qualify for the Jubilee Cup from the first round. Wainuiomata finished the first round with six wins, three losses and two draws and 32 points, while HOBM closed it with six wins and five losses and 32 points. Wainuiomata also won their Swindale Shield clash, 16-13, at this venue. That loss, and a 15-17 Swindale defeat to Ories, have been the Eagles' only losses in 12 home games this year including pre-season wins over Auckland Marist and Christchurch Marist Albion.

Both sides have been in some tight scrapes this year. As well as two draws in the Swindale round, Wainuiomata also recently drew 19-19 with last year's champions Tawa. HOBM have won several close matches, including 41-40 and 12-11 wins over the Upper Hutt Rams, 30-27 over OBU, 20-17 over Petone and 17-16 over Tawa.

Two keys to winning today's clash are accuracy and composure, and the stage is set for big name players to step up. Two players heavily involved in last week's semi-finals were All Blacks Jeremy Thrush and Piri Weepu. Thrush played a major on-field role for the Eagles against Ories, while Weepu, who started his career at HOBM, acted as an inspirational water-boy for Wainuiomata. The Eagles will look to their group of young tyros again, with hooker James O'Reilly, and outside backs, centre Taiso Silafai-Leanna, fullback Tomasio Alosio and dynamic first-year wings Chase Tiatia and Fereti Soloa all in sizzling form.

Wainuiomata will be without Best & Fairest winner Ben Tupuola and fullback Tau Mamea for religious reasons, but have able replacements in Samoan U20s captain Henry Stowers at No.8 and brash fullback Josh Robertson-Weepu. Their big forwards are their strength, with such players as Justin Va'a, Shahn Eru, Glen Angus and Greg Lealofi all powerful runners. Justin Va'a won a Swindale Shield with Upper Hutt in 2005 but the rest of the group have yet to taste Wellington club rugby major title success. Second five-eighth Marvin Karawana played 34 NRL matches for the Newscastle Knights and replacement halfback Uale Mai has excelled on the world stage many times for the Samoan 7s team.

A tightknit family club, Wainuiomata will be playing for the wife of a team member who has cancer, which has galvanised their team and supporters. Players recently had their heads shaved in a fundraiser. Similarly, both sides have friends, family and teammates playing and living across both sides of the hill. For example, Wainuiomata's coaches Justin Wilson and Steven Crilly were both coaching at HOBM last year, while Crilly is the uncle of HOBM flanker and captain Jason Risdon and his brother and halfback Nick who captained the winning side in 2007. Of their core group of 22 Premier players, just Uale Mai didn't go to school in Wainuiomata.

Past Jubilee Cup finals have generally been tight.?Eleven of the past 15 finals since 1997 have been decided by a winning margin of six points or fewer, and with four points separating the two teams in their previous two clashes this year, this could be the case again on Sunday.

Individual heroism has often won finals, recent examples being Earl Va'a's late penalty in 2005 that clinched the title for Petone, Chris Slade's seven from seven goalkicking for MSP in 2009 to beat Norths and Buxton Popoalii's two tries for Norths in 2010. Other prominent players to feature in recent Jubilee Cup finals include then young guns Tamati Ellison in 2006 and TJ Perenara in 2010 (both for Norths) and the So'oialo brothers, Steven and James, for Tawa last year.

Including last week's semi-final, HOBM go into the final having scored 517 points this season and conceded 439 and Wainuiomata have scored 432 and let in 417. HOBM wing Chase Tiatia is the competition's leading try scorer with 16 tries, while first five-eighth Glen Walters, who has shared the kicking duties with former NZ U20 halfback Sheridan Rangihuna and Tiatia, has scored 162 points. For Wainuiomata, lock/flanker Shahn Eru has scored 10 tries, while Tyler Tane has scored 147 points.

The referee for the Jubilee Cup final is Ben O'Keeffe, who also blew the 2012 final between Marist St Pat's and Ories. Nick Hogan and Richard Gordon are Assistant Referees.

Hardham Cup final: Northern United v Poneke (kick-off 12.45 pm)

In the Fraser Park car park immediately following the 2011 Hardham Cup final, after Tawa had beaten OBU 20-16, a neutral Norths supporter heartily congratulated his Tawa mates for ‘finishing ninth'. His friends turned and thanked him, adding that the boot would be on the other foot someday.

It was. Two years later. Tawa won the Jubilee Cup last year and Norths finished ninth, defeating Wellington 25-16 in the final. On Sunday, Norths defend their Premier 2 title against Poneke.

Fiercely proud clubs, both Norths and Poneke find themselves contesting Sunday's Premier 2 decider after both being regular Jubilee Cup contenders in recent times. One or both of these teams featured in all but two Premier finals between1999-2011.The last time Norths won the Jubilee Cup in 2010 it was Poneke whom they beat in the final. They also beat Poneke to win the 2004 and 2006 Jubilee Cup finals.

Both will have points to prove. Norths are the defending Hardham Cup champions, having beaten the Wellington Axemen 26-16 this time last year, while Poneke edged Old Boys University 20-17 to win this title in 2012. Poneke enjoyed a brief return to the Jubilee Cup last year but missed out on the top eight again this year.

Both teams found themselves on the outer at the conclusion of an incredibly competitive Swindale Shield round, Norths finishing ninth with five wins and six losses and Poneke a distant 10th with two wins and nine defeats. Norths were still in contention to make the Jubilee Cup heading into the last round, but a 25-27 defeat to the Upper Hutt Rams in the last week of the first round dashed their hopes. Suffering from a spate of injuries, and in a re-building phase, Poneke remained competitive throughout the first round but could only manage wins over Johnsonville 15-10 and Wellington 21-20.

Things went from bad to worse for Norths at the start of the second round when they suffered a shock 24-25 loss to Old Boys University's B team. This spurred them into action however, and they embarked on a six-game winning streak to qualify top for the semi-finals. Poneke, meanwhile, set a course for the semi-finals with a string of victories. Norths qualified for their home semi-final with a week to spare, while Poneke secured theirs with a last round win Avalon.

Norths' Hardham Cup round-robin average score was 40-13 and Poneke's was 30-11. Norths scored 42 tries and conceded just 12 and Poneke crossed for 29 tries and let in 13. Norths went on to beat Avalon 34-20 in their Porirua Park semi-final last Saturday and Poneke defeated the Axemen for their third time this season, winning 18-8 at Kilbirnie Park.

Head-to-head this season Norths won both their two clashes, but both were tight. Norths edged Poneke 32-30 in round 10 of the Swindale Shield, a try from almost the opening kick-off ultimately proving the difference. Norths beat Poneke a second time, 28-20, when the met a month ago at Porirua Park. In this match Norths welcomed back two of its IRB U20 players, Samoa's Aukuso Tuitama and New Zealand's Jackson Garden-Bachop. This pair scored 18 points between them, while Poneke's NZ U20 fullback Sosi Tuiamavae scored 12 points. Norths shot to a 13-0 lead and maintained the ascendancy to fulltime.

This trio of U20 players are all expected to line up on Sunday, and could be the game-breakers again. Other young guns to look out for include Poneke's pivot Pakai Turia and Norths hooker Leni Apisai (named on the bench), both out of Wellington College 2013. Both teams have a core group of experienced guys, with Poneke loose forwards, captain Galu Taufale and Greg Foe, and midfielder all Ben Huntley influential players, while Hurricane Reggie Goodes is expected to start and will boost their front row.

For Norths, Rob Aloe, Anthony Masina, Api Naikatini, Henry Smith, Daley Ena, Parekura Lalaga and former Poneke player Peato Lafaele are all a link to Norths' recent Jubilee Cup dynasty. Captain and No. 8 Masina and halfback Adam Vardy will both be playing their 100^th Premier matches for Norths in this final.

The referee for the Hardham Cup final is Vincent Ringrose, with Chris Graham and Scott Kennedy Assistant Referees.

Colin Te Pohe wil referee the earlier Colts Final, with Aaron Conlon and Jordan Price running the touchlines.

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