All seven results to count in significant Swindale Shield round

Above: Tawa and Norths, who met last weekend, will be locked in key battles tomorrow – but for different reasons. Tawa play HOBM in a top-of-the-table clash , while Norths meet Marist St Pat’s a match that will likely decide their fate for the second round.

Round 10 of the Swindale Shield is headlined by the top-of-the table clash at the Hutt Rec, while every single one of the other six matches have implications on the race for the Jubilee Cup places. There will be plenty of checking in scores from elsewhere as clubs look to figure out where they stand.

It’s a busy round too. Four of the Swindale Shield matches will be preceded not by the corresponding Harper Lock Shield match as usual, but by a College First XV match instead as part of the College at Club round, the aim of which is to showcase the club game to school players and keep them in the game.

It’s also the third of the Referees Association’s interchange weekends, with referees from the lower North Island in town plus two from Hong Kong.

Finally, its Old Timers’ Day at no fewer than five clubs, with festivities on at Marist St Pats, Oriental-Rongotai, Poneke, Eastbourne, and the Upper Hutt Rams.

Premier Swindale Shield

The major clash of the day is undoubtedly at the Hutt Rec and the table-topping clash between Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa. The Eagles could already have wrapped up the Swindale Shield, but were simply not in the game last weekend as Poneke stunned them to end their unbeaten run. They will need to regroup quickly this week, as a second loss could see them trailing their rivals on Saturday night. The visitors clinically put Norths away last time out, and really have nothing to lose so can be expected to come out with all guns blazing. The two sides met twice last year, Tawa flew out of the gates in round one of the Swindale to win 50-14 at Lyndhurst, though HOBM narrowly won the return encounter in the Jubilee Cup en route to the title by 17-16.

There’s also a significant milestone in this game, with HOBM’s Nick Risdon playing his 200th Premier match for the Eagles.

Marist St Pat’s regained third place with their win against Paremata-Plimmerton and host Norths at Evans Bay. HOBM’s loss means that MSP are still mathematically in with a chance of defending their title outright, but need the results of the two sides ahead of them to break right if that is to happen. First order of business will be Saturday’s match and ensuring Jubilee Cup play, with the 1995 double-winning side in attendance for their 20-year reunion. Norths have really entered the last chance saloon, sitting five points behind eighth place and seem likely to be consigned to the Hardham Cup for a third straight year if they aren’t successful here. The two met just once last year with MSP prevailing 25-14 at Porirua Park on the opening day of the season.

Oriental-Rongotai also moved up the table after seeing off a stubborn Johnsonville, and like MSP are similarly still able to claim the Swindale outright. They welcome Avalon to the Polo Ground, and the visitors will be buoyed somewhat after running Petone close but are still searching for that first success this year. The Magpies have won 6 of 7 after dropping their first two, and if they take a bonus point here they will secure a Jubilee Cup place no matter other results. The two last met at this level in the opening round of Ories’ 2011 championship season with the Magpies winning 63-6.

Wellington slipped back to fifth after their disappointing home loss to Wainuiomata, and travel to Maidstone Park to take on the Upper Hutt Rams. The Axemen seemed out of sorts, in stark contrast to their rampant first half against Ories the week before, and will be very keen to address that this weekend. The Rams ran second to OBU at the Basin Reserve, and will want to get back to the form that saw them win their three games before that. The winner of this one could potentially secure their Jubilee Cup place, while the loser may find themselves needing to win next weekend. The two met once last year, with the Rams winning 38-19 at Hataitai.

Wainuiomata make the journey through the Mt Victoria tunnel for the second successive week, and will be hoping for the same result they got at Hataitai when taking on Poneke at Kilbirnie. Wainuiomata simply strangled Wellington last weekend and took their chances when they were presented, and could potentially field TJ Va’a, Greg Leolifi, and Genesis Mamea in their 22 this weekend. Poneke though will be on a high after blowing HOBM off the park in the first half last weekend and became the new holders of the Bill Brien Challenge Cup, so this could be a real cracker. The two sides also play for the Hakaraia Trophy which honours both Paul Hakaraia who had a long association with both clubs and his son Peter who tragically passed away in 2007; it is held by Wainuiomata after their 29-17 win last year. The winner of this one will be well placed to make the Jubilee Cup, while the loser could find themselves playing in the Hardham Cup.

Petone return to the Rec to host Johnsonville for the last of three games against the bottom three, having taken maximum points from the previous two. If they do the same again the Villagers will likely ensure they’ll be playing in the Jubilee Cup ahead of their final round match with Tawa, but any slip could also mean that match becomes very desperate. The Hawks’ very faint hopes were extinguished with their eighth loss of the season, and aside from playing the spoiler role this is as much about tuning up for their Hardham Cup campaign as anything else. Petone won last year’s encounter 29-0 at Helston Park.

The final match is at the Basin Reserve with Old Boys-University hosting bottom-side Paremata-Plimmerton. Now back at full strength the Goats are making a serious late push for the Jubilee Cup and after taking five points from their games against MSP and Upper Hutt seem likely to do the same against a side that has conceded at least four tries in every match. That said Pare-Plim have refused to give up in any situation and could at least dent their hosts’ aspirations.

Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield

Tawa maintained their unbeaten record against Norths, but haven’t yet secured either the Harper Lock Shield or a Hardham Cup place. They can do both if they win with a bonus point on Saturday at Trafalgar Park against HOBM, otherwise they will have to see what the other results are. Petone and Norths are the only other sides that could claim the title; Petone climbed to second after beating Poneke and host winless Johnsonville, while Norths lost to the leaders and are away to midtable MSP. Losses for Poneke and Wellington ended their outside hopes of the title, though they both retain Hardham possibilities if other teams are ineligible. They host Wainuiomata - who won on Kilbirnie Park last weekend - and travel to Maidstone and the Upper Hutt Rams respectively. The remaining matches have OBU hosting Paremata-Plimmerton at Nairnville and Ories are visited at the Polo Ground by Avalon. All matches kickoff at 12.45 with the exception of HOBM v Tawa and OBU v Pare-Plim which are 12.30 starts.

Premier Women’s Fleurs Trophy

Norths put one hand on the trophy after their 36-6 win over Oriental-Rongotai on the impromptu Gala Day at the Petone Rec, also taking possession of the Challenge Cup at the same time. Round six is a return to night rugby with three games under lights tonight. Norths make the journey down to Alex Moore Park to play minnows Johnsonville, the OBU Impala’s welcome the HOBM Lady Eagles to Te Whaea, and the brand new artificial turf at Fraser Park is christened with its first game of senior rugby when Avalon hosts Poneke. All three matches kick off at 7.45pm.

The fourth match is tomorrow at the Polo Ground where winless Tawa are the visitors to Oriental-Rongotai, with the slightly earlier kickoff of 11am as part of the Miramar clubs’ Old Timers Day. Wainuiomata has the bye this round.

Other grades

The Petone Brotherhood made it five from five in the First Grade Thompson Memorial Trophy, but were pushed by bottom side MSP ‘A’; and on Saturday they have a top of the table clash at 2.30pm against second-placed OBU at the Petone Rec. Elsewhere Stokes Valley, who slid to third after their first loss of the season, travel to play Poneke at Kilbirnie, and Norths host HOBM on the back fields at Porirua Park, also both at 2.30pm. The two MSP sides, MSP ‘A’ and MSP Avele play side-by-side at Martin Luckie against Tawa and Petone ‘A’ respectively in a pair of 12.45pm matches.

After a week off owing to the weather the Colts Paris Memorial Trophy resumes. Leaders Norths are at Newlands Park against winless OBU Black, and joint-second sides Petone and the Upper Hutt Rams are both at home against midtable Johnsonville and fifth-placed Wellington respectively, with the latter the pick of the matches in this grade this weekend. In other matches Poneke host Wainuiomata at Kibirnie, HOBM provide a test for unbeaten Tawa at Trentham Memorial Park, and Oriental-Rongotai face Avalon at the Polo Ground; with all matches kicking off at 12.45pm. The last competition match is slightly earlier at 12.30pm at Te Whaea between OBU Green and Paremata-Plimmerton. MSP have the bye, but have been scheduled a non-competition match against the balance of Petone’s squad at the St Pats artificial at 1.30pm.

The Under 85kg JC Bowl also returns after last week. The round is highlighted by the clash at Lyndhurst Park between home side the Tawa Titans and the visiting Poneke Cavs, who last met in last year’s Paul Potiki Shield semi-final, won by Tawa 15-3, with kickoff at 12.45pm. The remaining matches are all 2.30pm kickoffs, with leaders Avalon hosting the Kapiti side at Fraser Park, the Upper Hutt Rams and Wellington Axemen are the fourth match between the two clubs at Maidstone, and the OBU Bunnies head to HW Shortt to play Eastbourne and undoubtedly enjoy the hospitality on offer afterwards at Wellington’s smallest club. The MSP Reds have the bye.

Finally, it’s the start of the competition season proper in the College WelTec Premiership and Premier 2 grades, with all other grades concluding grading this weekend. A preview, including which games are being played as Swindale Shield curtainraisers, was run here on Club Rugby on Wednesday.