Intrigue and anticipation for Jubilee Cup

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Can unbeaten Northern United maintain their red hot form? Will it be a three-peat for Marist St. Pat’s? Can Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist grab the glory in their anniversary seasons? Will 2010 be the year of the underdog? These questions and many more will be answered in the coming weeks when Wellington sport’s greatest prize unfolds across the region’s Premier rugby fields.?

Recently crowned Swindale Shield champions Norths head into this year’s 82nd edition of the Jubilee Cup as clear favourites based on their record breaking first round run and the galaxy of proven game breakers in their ranks. Norths may have finished the first round well out in front, but their rivals will all be eager to tip them over and emulate their strong form. Additionally, with five of the other seven contenders having finished the Swindale Shield within seven points of each other, all are capable of winning any game on their day.?

Throw in the Jubilee Cup’s prestige and history, a fair dollop of wintry weather still to come and the availability of Vodafone Wellington Lions representative players for most of the rest of the season and all the ingredients are there for an exciting, evenly contested second round starting this weekend.?

The eight-team Jubilee Cup takes the form of a seven-week round robin series to decide the top four for the semi-finals on Saturday 7 August, ahead of the final at Westpac Stadium on Sunday 15 August.

Fitness permitting, all Wellington Lions players will be free to play the first six weeks of the round-robin. With the start of the ITM Cup on Sunday 1 August, leading players will be unavailable to play in the last round and again in the semi-finals the next week - but all will be available for the final with the Lions playing the night before in Dunedin.?

This means that all the players who have been burning up the rugby fields of Wellington are free to continue to do so for a while longer, which is good news for Norths supporters as their team starts its campaign fresh from piling on 546 points in the first round. Just two teams, Petone and Ories, failed to stop them from scoring four tries or more in 11 games and with the likes of 18-try fullback Buxton Popoalii, 206-point first five-eighth James So’oialo and Lions players such as Alapati Leiua, Api Naikatini, John Schwalger, Jacob Ellison, Failfili Levave and Serge Lilo in their ranks they will remain a powerful unit.?

In the red corner is MSP, with fewer stars but a legacy of Jubilee Cup success and a two-month unbeaten streak behind them. Last year MSP successfully defended the Jubilee Cup that they co-won with Norths in 2008 and they will be gunning for their third straight Jubilee Cup title and fourth consecutive finals appearance. Their title win last year was their 13th in 38 years and this year they can become the first club since Petone (1967-71) to win three in a row. Since losing their first three matches of the year to Norths, Poneke and Ories, MSP won eight straight to finish tied for second with Ories in the Swindale Shield. Expect MSP to hit the ground running, playing four of their first five matches at home at Evans Bay Park.?

Ories also won eight from 11 in the Swindale Shield and enter their third Jubilee Cup in succession after being out in the Hardham Cup wilderness between 2004-2007. Ories’ second placed finish in the first round this year was their best result since 2003 when they also finished second to Norths before fading to seventh in the Jubilee Cup. Ories have the firepower up front, such as in the Reddish brothers, Mark and Dan, and prop Donal McNamara, the proven goal kicker in first five James Proctor and the speed and flair out wide to trouble most sides. Look out for them to be semi-final contenders for the first time in many seasons.

Eastern Suburbs neighbours Poneke are another side who will be very hard to beat, particularly when their batch of representative players, Charlie Ngatai (NZ U20) and Dane Coles, Daniel Ramsay and Ruki Tipuna (NZ Maori) are back on board. Poneke are rarely out of top four contention and have the best record of Westpac Stadium finals appearances of all sides, having played in five of seven finals between 2000 and 2006. Their last win was in 2003 however, so they will be anxious to prevail again.?

Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist will both be especially motivated to win the title in 2010 in their celebratory seasons. Petone marked their 125th anniversary in early May, while 2007 champions HOBM celebrate their centenary next weekend when they host Petone at the Hutt Recreation Ground. Both finished the Swindale Shield with similar records, having each won six and finished 20 points apart in their points differential in fifth and sixth place.

Old Boys University and Upper Hutt round out the Jubilee Cup field, after both securing their spots ahead of Wainuiomata and Tawa in the last afternoon of the Swindale Shield round-robin. Both these sides will be competitive and each play attractive rugby given the opportunity. Look out for rising star first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga for OBU and for centre Brett Pigott and try scoring winger Ofa Pongi for Upper Hutt to pose problems if their respective forward packs can win enough quality ball.

In this week’s first round matches, MSP host Upper Hutt at Evans Bay Park, OBU host HOBM at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve, Petone entertain Poneke at the Petone Recreation for the second time this season and Norths tussle with Ories at Porirua Park.?

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Hardham Cup?

With last year’s champions Old Boys-University playing in the Jubilee Cup, a new Hardham Cup winner will be crowned this year from Wainuiomata, Tawa, the Wests Roosters, Johnsonville, Avalon and the Norths, MSP and HOBM B teams.

Wainuiomata and Tawa are both picking themselves up from a disappointing last couple of weeks that saw each of them firmly in contention for the Jubilee Cup only to fade at the end. Nevertheless, as the best of the rest from the first 11 weeks, these two sides can be considered joint favourites for this year’s Premier 2 competition and shape as the likely two chasing spots in the finals day curtain raiser on 15 August.?

Last week Wainuiomata were gunning for their first Jubilee Cup spot since 1988 but lost to OBU and instead have to settle for playing in their fifth straight Hardham Cup. Their four win-seven loss record in the Swindale Shield reflects an inconsistent season, but if they get their young, talented team running hot more weeks than not then they’ll breeze into the playoffs and reach their third final since 2006.?

Like Wainuiomata, Tawa can hope for a Hardham Cup title win as good consolation for a season so far that has been wildly erratic. Victories over Poneke, Wainuiomata and Johnsonville and a 33-33 draw with Petone were offset by disappointing defeats to the likes of Old Boys-University, Upper Hutt and the Wests Roosters just last week. Like Wainuiomata, if they can get their clutch of young guns, led by second five-eighth Shaun Treeby, firing they’ll be particularly hard to beat and are always downright dangerous.?

The Wests Roosters are the big unknown in this year’s Hardham Cup, the underperforming club having seemingly found some form over the final two weeks of the Swindale Shield after two months of struggles. Beset by injuries and a lack of confidence, Wests had scored just 87 points from their first nine games, but scored 64 in their last two matches in going down by a point to OBU and then beating Tawa. The Roosters were beaten finalists in last year’s Hardham Cup, losing to OBU, and last won the title in 2003 when they beat Tawa 31-15. Lookout for midfielders Ahtuni Masum and Maka Ioane and loosies Galu Taufale and Scott Fuglistaller to make their marks.

Of the other standalone club sides in the Hardham Cup, Johnsonville will be looking to build on a tough first season back in the top grade that saw them compete well in several games despite failing to win one. The boys in blue also have a hard working pack, led by the Tait brothers, Rob and Campbell, loose forwards Tavita Ah Wong and Kieran Prisk, a vastly experienced first five in Corey Burt and speed out wide with the likes of Nathan Collins and Sam Toala. After three months competing with some of the big guns, Johnsonville will look forward to meeting some of the less fancied sides.

But of all clubs they will know the cut throat nature of the Hardham Cup and the importance of getting early wins in the bag. Waiting in the wings ready to reclaim their Premier status off Johnsonville, Wests, Wainuiomata or Tawa is Avalon who went down last year.

Avalon have bounced back well in the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and should pose enough of a challenge for the other sides to keep the promotion – relegation race keen. After dropping two games in the first five weeks, to Norths (17-34) and MSP (11-13), Avalon won their last six games straight to qualify second behind Norths from the Senior 1 competition.

These five teams are joined in the Hardham Cup by the second XV sides of Norths, MSP and HOBM, who finished first, third and fourth in the Harper Lock Shield, but can't be promoted to the Swindale Shield with their top sides already in that grade.

Their value is as spoilers to the other five protagonists, but they won't be just making up the numbers. Norths are a strong Senior 1 outfit in their own right, while MSP has a good recent history in the Hardham Cup and as stated above both beat Avalon in the first round.?

In first round Hardham Cup games, MSP host Wainuiomata at Evans Bay Park and Norths host Avalon at Porirua Park in the early 1.15pm games, while Tawa and HOBM square off at Lyndhurst Park at 3pm and Johnsonville and Wests tangle at Helston Park at 3pm.?

Meanwhile in other grades this weekend, the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup kicks off with a full round of games. Tawa play Stokes Valley, OBU play Avalon, Petone and Poneke meet, Norths and Ories square off and Paramata-Plimmerton tussle with Rimutaka.?

In the Victoria Tavern Women’s Premier grade Wainuiomata host Norths, Stokes Valley hosts OBU at Delaney Park, Petone square off against MSP at Petone and Eketahuna has the bye.?

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