Pressure on Chasing Pack To Avoid Shield Shut Out

There was no change at the top of the table after round seven of the Swindale Shield, with Hutt Old Boys Marist, Northern United and Poneke all winning their matches to retain the first three spots. But the trio have now opened up a significant gap over the chasing pack, with Petone, Tawa and Avalon all desperate to win this weekend and remain in the race for the Shield title in the final four rounds.

Five points separate frontrunners HOBM and third placed Poneke, with Norths poised in between - but it's the seven-point buffer further back to fourth equal Petone and Tawa that is significant. Heading into round eight Poneke are on 26 points, with Tawa and Petone on 19 points. Avalon fill sixth spot with 18, while Marist St. Pats (17) and Old Boys-University (15) round out the top eight.

Petone and Tawa will both be hoping for maximum points in their respective clashes against less favoured Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Grounds and Western Suburbs at Ian Galloway Park, while Avalon's assignment to keep alive their title hopes is a lot harder, needing to beat the unbeaten HOBM at Fraser Park. At Porirua Park, Norths should make it seven wins from eight against MSP. Losses to Norths and HOBM would likely see Poneke challenging for the lead if they themselves account for the struggling Upper Hutt at Kilbirnie Park.

Much interest will also be on OBU when they take on Johnsonville at Helston Park. In the past month the students have lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with some competitive performances, and victory over Johnsonville would give them a huge boost towards making the Jubilee Cup.

This week's Club Weekly feature match is the Petone v Ories fixture, where Ories will be looking for victory to keep alive their hopes of playing in the Cup round, for the first time since they finished second in the 2003 Swindale Shield. Petone's previous four games have all been high scoring affairs, with an average of eight tries scored in each match, while Ories' main predicament this year has been their lack of points. With 101 points, only Johnsonville (98) have scored fewer, but with a near full strength side confirmed for this clash they will trouble Petone.

Congratulations to the Northern United women's side, winners of the first round Fleurs Trophy. Norths head into this weekend's Victoria Tavern Trophy as overwhelming favourites to defend their title, after defeating second placed HOBM 29-0 last weekend. Of note, Norths have yet to concede any points this year while scoring a cumulative 200 points in six games played.