Gala Day Opening A Success

There was action aplenty on the first day of Premier club rugby for the new season, with enough top quality rugby to suggest that fans can look forward to another ripper year in 2008.

The opening round was held as a Gala Day, with games split between Trentham Memorial and Porirua Parks, but the play was anything but a stroll in the park for the twelve clubs competing for the 40th edition of the Swindale Shield since its resurrection from an Athletic Park broom cupboard in 1969.

There were first-up wins to Hutt Old Boys Marist over the Wests Roosters (29-6), Petone over Avalon (32-6) and Northern United against Poneke (28-12), while Old Boys University were perhaps the most significant winners in defeating last year's beaten Jubilee Cup finalists and favoured Marist St. Pat's 20-10 to win the Jack Lamason Memorial Cup.

In other matches, Wainuiomata proved that their Hardham Cup triumph over Oriental-Rongotai last year was no flash in the pan, defeating Ories 17-12, while Upper Hutt also enjoyed a narrow 18-15 win over Tawa in their first round fixture to claim the Mexted Motors Cup.

The Club Weekly was at a slippery and increasingly wetter Porirua Park to take in the back-to-back games on the main field between HOBM and Wests and Norths and Poneke.

In the early game, defending Jubilee Cup champions HOBM turned in an efficient performance to register a bonus point win against a plucky Roosters side.

For fair-weather HOBM supporters, the biggest touchfinder of the day was not on the field but off it, with the news that star first five-eighth and 2007 Wellington Club Player of the Year Jonathan Bentley is soon off to Japan to play for the Earl Va'a co-coached Yokogawa Electric for the remainder of the season.

His departure is sure to create a big hole for the Eagles to fill when they face up to the bigger sides, but for this game it was their other marquee player Jeremy Thrush who provided a livewire showing with two tries and a solid all-round game. Thrush, backing up after playing 22 minutes for the Hurricanes against the Crusaders on Friday night, scored both his tries in the second half before being subbed off at three-quarter time with the job done for his side.

Thrush found the chalk in the 50th and 58th minutes to extend HOBM's 12-6 halftime lead to 24-6, first blocking and kicking through a Roosters kick from inside their 22 and then crossing out wide on the other side of the field after a concerted build-up, with new kicker and left wing Brad Hines adding the extras.

HOBM didn't have it all their own way however, the Roosters battling hard for a comeback before centre Michael Pehi sealed the win for the Eagles with their fifth try on fulltime.

It was close early on too as Wests grabbed a 6-0 lead through the boot of first five-eighth Scott Mudgeway, and they could have gone further ahead through some more organised and controlled play. But HOBM managed to establish enough continuity to run in two tries before the break, to right wing James Kusel and new openside flanker Phil De Witt.

It was a similar scenario in the second match as Poneke claimed an early 6-0 lead, before Norths' all-powerful forward pack flexed their muscles and produced three first half tries, just ahead of the arrival of persistent rain that was the dominant factor of the second half.

Poneke halfback Blair Bradley began proceedings with two penalties, but with Jacob Ellison and Anthony Perenise in the front row and Api Naikatini and Anare Koliavu in the loose it didn't take long for the Norths pack to get on top.

Norths also had another exiting prospect on board in his premier debut match in Leon Ellison, younger brother of Jacob and Tamati. Filling in for the injured Rob Aloe, Leon Ellison announced his talent by kicking all four conversions and showing deft distribution skills.

Unfortunately he got himself sinbinned when he couldn't resist scooping the ball back to his own side of the ruck while lying on the ground, but his earlier inside pop pass to enigmatic winger Sinoti Too'omaga made for the opening try for Norths.

This was set up by the forwards who pinched a defensive Poneke lineout and committed Poneke's loose forward defence to the drive for Ellison and To'omaga to combine for the try.

Following this, Ellison combined with No. 8 Naikatini to free up To'omaga for a dashing 30-metre run up the grandstand touchline. To'omaga was just bundled into touch, but once more Norths stole the defensive lineout and Perenise came up with the second try on an almost identical blade of grass as the first.

The lineout once more provided for another try, this time off Norths' own throw as hooker Henry Smith collapsed over the line in a heap after a clinical 15-metre drive.
Ellison slotted his third conversion and Norths were up 21-6 after half an hour.

The leaden skies then opened up just before halftime as Bradley kicked a third penalty to see his side go to the interval trailing 21-9. He kicked a fourth soon after the turnaround to close the gap to 21-12 and with Ellison sent to the sin bin.

Last year's Hurricanes Schools flyhalf was able to watch the majority of the action during his ten-minute spell up close and personal as the Norths juggernaut upped its tempo and camped deep inside Poneke's territory. But the red and blacks held firm with equally committed defence, led by their effervescent hooker Dane Coles.

Eventually they succumbed to a fourth try, Norths opting to capitalise on their totally dominant scrum for a penalty and Naikatini scoring a pushover. With the rain bucketing down for the rest of the match and with Poneke down to 13 players with two sinbinnings, the game petered out to a thankful conclusion.

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