Excitement already for 2016 Swindale Shield as draw released

Above: Members of the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles celebrating with the first round Swindale Shield earlier this year.

The Wellington Rugby Football Union has moved early to release next year’s Premier Swindale Shield Wellington club rugby draw.

A bumper start to the season sees the opening round of afternoon Swindale Shield matches played on Easter Friday, 25 March, before the Hurricanes host the Kings in their first home match at Westpac Stadium in the evening.

A key feature of the 2016 first round is a full round-robin, with all 14 teams playing each other once over 13 rounds to determine the first round Premier champion and to find the top eight sides that will progress through to the coveted Jubilee Cup for the second half of the season.

This means two full round of matches under lights to accommodate the competition into the alotted 11-week window. These night rounds will be Round 3 on Wednesday 6 April and Round 7 on Wednesday 27 April.

The slated venues for the night games are Te Whaea, Maidstone Artificial, Fraser Park Artificial, Wakefield Park Artificial, Evans Bay Park Artificial, Alex Moore Park Artificial and Bernie Wood Artificial (Ascot Park, Porirua) and Jerry Collins Stadium.

Wellington Premier Men’s club rugby has been played under lights sporadically over the past several seasons. 

The last time there were regular midweek Premier rugby was 2003, the year that Northern United won the Swindale Shield for the first time.

The 13th and final round is on Saturday 4 June, with the championship rounds firing up the following week and running through to early August.

The Premier Reserve competition for the Harper Lock Shield also runs at the same time as the Swindale Shield, with all other grades firing up throughout April.

A number of interclub trophies will be at stake in the opening 11 weeks of the Premier season. The annual McBain Shield clash between Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist will be in the fourth round on Saturday 9 April. Poneke are the Bill Brien Challenge Shield holders, after lifting it off Hutt Old Boys Marist at the tail-end of the Swindale Shield and defending it in home matches throughout the second round.

Hutt Old Boys Marist are the defending first round Swindale Shield champions.

Old Boys University and Marist St Pat’s meet in Round 2 at Nairnville Park in a replay of this year’s second round Jubilee Cup final, won 30-27 by OBU.

The annual Club Derby weekend is scheduled for Round 6 on 23 April, Anzac Day Weekend.

Club Rugby Old Timers’ Days are yet to be confirmed.

All Saturday matches will kick off at 2.45pm, while all Wednesday night matches will start at 7.30pm.

The WRFU indicated in its draw release that there could be scope for Sunday club rugby. 

The Swindale Shield has been played for annually since 1969.

The draw for the opening two rounds is:

Round One – Friday 25th

• Tawa v Wellington; Lyndhurst Park (Murray & Alan Mexted Cup)
• ainuiomata v Poneke; William Jones Park (Hakaraia Trophy)
• Northern United v Petone; Porirua Park
• Marist St Pat’s v Paremata-Plimmerton; Evans Bay Park
• Upper Hutt Rams v Old Boys University; Maidstone Park
• Avalon Wolves v Oriental-Rongotai; Fraser Park
• Johnsonville v Hutt Old Boys Marist; Helston Park

Round Two – Saturday 2nd April

• Old Boys University v Marist St Pats; Nairnville Park (Jack Lamason Memorial Cup)
• Oriental-Rongotai v Johnsonville; Polo Ground (Ash Pointon Cup)
• Paremata-Plimmerton v Wainuiomata; Ngati Toa Domain
• Poneke v Hutt Old Boys Marist; Kilbirnie Park (Bill Brien Shield and Roy John Trophy)
• Wellington v Avalon Wolves; Hataitai Park
• Upper Hutt Rams v Northern United; Maidstone Park (Terry Farrow Cup)
• Tawa v Petone; Lyndhurst Park

The full draw will be inputted into the Draws & Results (tab above) of this website in the coming weeks.