Important clashes in third round Premier rugby

After several rounds in reasonably good conditions the weather has turned with wet and heavy conditions underfoot likely after the rain this week, though the gales are forecast to ease for Saturday. That is likely to alter the gameplans for the sides in the Jubilee and Hardham Cups but also unlikely to slow their attacking intent.

UPDATE: There are some changes to times and venues in the Women's grade and lower grades. For the competitons that we run through this website please visit Draws & Results above. Or read here

Premier Jubilee Cup

In a quirk of the draw, all four matches this week are south of the Terrace Tunnel after none were in the city last week. For the three unbeaten teams the incentive tomorrow is that no side has missed the playoffs after starting three-from-three in the Jubilee Cup round-robin, while conversely its desperate times already for the winless sides as a loss tomorrow almost effectively puts them out of the picture.

Arguably the clash of the day – on form anyway – is between two of those unbeaten sides at the Polo Ground where Tawa visit leaders Oriental-Rongotai. It took a while to click into gear, but when it did the Magpies simply overran Petone, posting 31 unanswered points to pull away, with Aukuso Tuitama scoring a hat-trick. That result came on the back of a similar scoreline over MSP, and they are yet to have their tryline crossed this round. Tawa have endured their two results, surviving close results over firstly Wainuiomata then a comeback by a resurgent Wellington side last Saturday, with James So’oialo’s boot proving crucial. Afa Fa’atau returns from illness to take his place on the left wing, with James Proctor back at 10 in the only changes for Ories from last week’s named side, with Tawa naming an unchanged starting side. Tawa won their Swindale meeting by 23-18 at Lyndhurst, in the second week of the season.

The third unbeaten team is Old Boys-University, who take on Wainuiomata at the Basin Reserve, and who like Ories have won both their matches away from home having accounted for Wellington and Swindale Shield winners HOBM. These two sides last met only three weeks ago in the final round of the Swindale Shield where Wainuiomata prevailed in what was a must-win for them, but the 24-22 margin with results elsewhere meant OBU also progressed, but since then the two sides fortunes have differed with Wainuiomata going down to Tawa and MSP and needing to do much work if they hope to get back to the decider. The Goats have made three changes, bringing back Yuki Uchida at tighthead, Huey Van Vliet at blindside and Sam Chamberlain at fullback with Teariki Ben Nicholas amongst those dropping out. For Wainuiomata Michael Lealava’a continues to deputise at 10 with Hokianga Morunga returning to the wing in place up Jason Love; while up front Dion Lealofi comes in at hooker with Norman Fa’aliga moving to tighthead.

Things aren’t much better for defending champions Hutt Old Boys Marist either, who make the journey to Evans Bay to take on Marist St Pat’s. The Eagles managed two bonus points from their narrow loss to Petone, but got nothing from their game against OBU and like the other winless sides cannot afford to drop another game. MSP are only a place ahead on the ladder, but do have one win with that coming last weekend in Wainuiomata after a flat first-up outing against Ories. Ross Bond and Brendan Reidy have made few changes to the Scarlets; Geoff Fepuleai comes into the front row, Frankie Bryant into midfield with Ryan Setefano onto the wing and Julian Tupai back at fullback for Andrew Wells, while HOBM’s two changes this week are Fereti Soloa onto the wing and John Tufele returns to No. 8. Their Swindale meeting back on Anzac Day was hugely entertaining, with the-then unbeaten sides producing 15 tries and a scarcely believable 54-49 scoreline in favour of the Eagles.

The fourth match is at Hataitai Park, where Wellington takes on Petone. The Villagers were returned to earth with a thud by Ories after their first-up win over HOBM, while despite their enterprise the Axemen are winless and without a competition point at the foot of the table after losses to OBU and Tawa, and will hope that a win in front of their supporters at the Graveyard drags them back into the race. Vaea Fifita returns for the Axemen, this time at lock, after missing last week after being called into the Hurricanes; with other changes the return of Ahtun Masun at centre and Anthony Ellis in at hooker. Petone have also made changes; veteran backs Cam Incledon and Willie Tufui, along with first five JG Bradbrook all come in from their B side, while Jacob Gooch is at openside is the only one in the forwards. It’s the first meeting between the two this year as they did not cross paths during the Swindale Shield. Their last meeting was back in the opening round of last year, with Petone winning 29-8 and claiming the interclub Air New Zealand Trophy the two play for, and may be again at stake on Saturday.

Premier 2 Hardham Cup

In contrast, the Hardham Cup field is tightly bunched with six teams having one-win one-loss records.

Leaders the Upper Hutt Rams are the only side to have won both their opening games, and return home with Poneke the visitors to Maidstone. The Rams have been efficient in those games, having racked up 110 points and last week came out on top of an 83-pointer against Avalon on Fraser Park’s artificial turf with Max Pearson notching a hat-trick. They have named an unchanged backline, while up front Tui Hunt returns to the front row, Vern Sosefo comes into lock with Sam Wasley switching to the back of the scrum. Poneke left it late and then some to overcome Johnsonville, having trailed 14-22 with five minutes to go before winger Samoa Momoemausu’s second try was followed-up by Galu Taufale’s death-knock one got them home. They have made a host of changes for tomorrow; amongst them Pakai Turia moves to 10, Greg Mullany joins returning Hurricane Willis Halaholo in midfield, while Ray Treviranus’ return pushes Taufale back to lock. The two fought out a 35-all draw on the opening day of the season, with Josh Hunt scrambling across and Jordon Simpson Hefft kicking a tricky conversion for the Rams to lock the game up on full-time.

At Helston Park Johnsonville host Avalon; having done the hardwork Johnsonville will have been left wondering how they let that lead slip against Poneke and decision-making under pressure would surely have been amongst the items worked on by the Hawks at training this week. The Wolves pushed and harried the Upper Hutt Rams last week but despite their enterprise are still looking for their first win against Premier opposition this year. Johnsonville makes one change in the forwards with Louis Karl back into the forwards at openside for Corey Lawrence, while in the backs Declan Hay comes in at halfback and Dane Robertson onto the wing. Wolves coach Scott Waldrom continues to get some of his injured contingent back with Ben Peni back in midfield, with Shannon Bradbrook moving in to 10, and speedster LA Moemoi coming in on the left wing. The sides met earlier in the year at Fraser Park, with Johnsonville coming away with the 22-12 win.

Both Porirua clubs are at home this week as well. At Ngatitoa Domain Paremata-Plimmerton welcome Petone B, with the home side looking for some consistency after following up their shock win over Poneke with a deflating loss to Tawa’s second side. Coaches Dave Birnie and Javan Brown have again altered their side with amongst their changes Blake Neve comes back in for fellow veteran Ryan McLean at fullback, Apirana McMillan-Parata moves from hooker to blindside with brother and skipper Tane moving to No8. Petone are the sole winless side having fallen to Avalon and Norths, but made things difficult for those sides, have been tough break down and at the very least very stubborn defensively. As noted above they’ve lost a few players to the Premier side but the core of the forward pack remains intact and they may rely on them to get the job done.

The final game is just down the road with Norths hosting Tawa B. Not only has it been awhile since Norths played at home owing to the Football U20 World Cup, but it is also their first home game at Jerry Collins Stadium (aka Porirua Park) since the untimely death of their locally-raised hero, followed by the march, return of his body to the ground earlier in the week and his funeral on Wednesday, so tomorrow will surely be another emotional day. It’s also somewhat fitting that the Tawa club provides the opposition, given the ties between the two clubs. On the field both sides won last week, Norths overcoming Petone B 17-10 after falling to Johnsonville first up, while Tawa accounted for Paremata-Plimmerton 36-17 after being well-beaten by the Upper Hutt Rams first up. The home side have shuffled their deck again, with Jackson Garden-Bachop named at centre this week and Peato Lafaele at 10, and Anthony Masina’s return at No8 seeing a reshuffle in the forwards, while Tawa have also made a handful of changes throughout their lineup.

All four Hardham Cup games are at this weekend at 2.45pm.

Premier Reserve

In the second-tier competitions no fewer than five sides have won their opening two games. Two of those sides - Norths and Poneke - clash in an Ed Chaney Cup match in the early game in Porirua. The other Ed Chaney match is on the artificial at Evans Bay between winless MSP and one-win HOBM. There are two HD Morgan Memorial Cup contests; winless sides Johnsonville and Avalon meet at Helston Park at 12.45pm, while Ories travel to Maidstone to face the Upper Hutt Rams. These four matches, along with the crossover game at Ngatitoa between winless sides Paremata-Plimmerton and Wellington are all 1pm kickoffs, while the last match between undefeated sides OBU and Wainuiomata is at Nairnville Park with a 12.45pm start.
Premier and Senior Women’s

The second-round Women’s competitions were looked at yesterday on Club Rugby. In the Premier grade Victoria Tavern Trophy defending champions Oriental-Rongotai host HOBM at the Polo Ground while OBU and Avalon clash at Kelburn Park, with Norths having the bye. In the Senior division Johnsonville and Poneke meet at Newlands, while Tawa travels to Mary Crowther Park to take on Wainuiomata.

All four matches kickoff at 11.30am

Other Club Grades

Like the Women, the men’s First Grade also commence their championship round, with the Johnsonville Centennium Cup - formerly the Senior 3 championship trophy - the prize.
The Petone Brotherhood, winners of the first-round Thompson Memorial Trophy, begin their quest for the double when they face Norths on Porirua Park’s #2 field at 1pm. At that same time just down the road at Lyndhurst Park Tawa look to get off the goose egg for the season when they host Stokes Valley. In the three 2.45pm matches the Petone Saxons host Old Boys-University in a matchup of 2 v 3 from the first round; the HOBM Barbarians face MSP ‘A’ at Trentham Memorial Park, and MSP Avele and Poneke clash at Martin Luckie.

The Under 85’s likewise enter their championship round, with the Paul Potiki Shield to have a new owner for the summer after the five-year reign of the MSP Blues. Runners-up the past two seasons and newly-installed JC Bowl winners Tawa Titans may never get a better chance than this year to go one better and start their campaign by hosting neighbours and one of the two promoted sides in Johnsonville at Redwood Park at 1pm. At that same time the other promoted side, the HOBM Howlers, are in action against the Wellington Axemen at Hataitai, while the Avalon Wolves and MSP Reds clash at Fraser Park. The remaining game is at 2.45pm at Te Whaea between the OBU Bunnies and Eastbourne, while the Poneke Cavs have the bye.

The Colts Paris Memorial continues on, with the feature clash of the day at the Petone Rec where the fourth-placed Villagers take on unbeaten leaders Norths. Elsewhere the defending champion OBU Green side can move into second place ahead of the Upper Hutt Rams (who have the bye) when they play Johnsonville at Te Whaea, while HOBM can move up the ladder if they defeat Wainuiomata at the Hutt Rec. Poneke has already banked five points, with OBU Black defaulting to them on Friday afternoon. Oriental-Rongotai and Tawa meet at Prince of Wales Park, and Paremata-Plimmerton host Wellington at Ngatitoa, with all six of these games kicking off at 1pm. The remaining match is at 1.30pm, between MSP and Avalon on the St Pats College artificial.

Weltec College

The WelTec Premiership reaches round five of seven, and starting to leave little time for teams to make a move on the table ahead of the playoffs.

The feature game of the day is at Wellington College, where the hosts welcome unbeaten Moascar and Williment Cup holders Scots College, with the game also being carried live on Sky Sport. Neither side will be short of motivations, aside from the two trophies at stake Scots will be looking to keep their place at the head of the table, while Wellington College – coming off their 25-34 loss at Christchurch Boys High on Tuesday – will themselves be looking to stay in touch to at least host a playoff game.

In the other three matches Silverstream, who went down 17-27 to St Bede’s in Christchurch on Wednesday, welcomes winless Hutt International for the local derby match, while Rongotai travels to Tawa, with both games at 2.30pm. The remaining game is in Masterton, with Wairarapa College hosting St Pat’s Town at 1pm.

In Premier 2 the leaders are Bishop Viard, who is the only side to have won all four of their competition matches, and they are away to near-neighbours Aotea who are likewise unbeaten with 3 wins and a draw at 2.30pm. The other games at 2.30pm are at Hutt Valley HS with Upper Hutt the visitors, and Porirua College hosts the Silverstream 2nds. In the remaining three matches the St Pats Town 2nds play winless Kapiti at Kilbirnie Park at 1pm, and Wellington College’s 2nds take on St Bernard’s at home at 12.30pm ahead of the TV game.