Key centenary weekend clash for HOBM

One hundred years of rugby at the Hutt Recreation Ground is celebrated this weekend, with over 500 past and present players and supporters of the Hutt Old Boys Marist club and its forerunners swooping in from near and far to mark the club's centenary.

A full weekend of events is planned, marking 100 years since the first official Hutt Club was affiliated into the WRFU competitions following a merger at the end of July 1909 between the local Epuni and Kia Ora clubs.

There's also much at stake for the HOBM Premiers this weekend, who play their round two Jubilee Cup fixture against riverside neighbours and traditional rivals Petone in what could prove to be a vital clash for their semi-final aspirations after losing their second round opener last week 22-27 to a resurgent Old Boys-University.

The Jubilee Cup is all about momentum. If a team can win its early matches, then it's just a short sprint to the business end of the season when the pressure builds and the playoffs in the first weekend of August are in sight. History overwhelmingly favours teams that start well in the second round. Looking at recent patterns, in each of the past 12 Jubilee Cups between 1998-2009 the eventual champion (or in 2008 co-champions) won its first round match.

The 2007 Jubilee Cup champions Hutt Old Boys Marist will thus be particularly eager for a win this weekend against first round winners last week Petone, both to mark their celebratory weekend and to stay in the hunt for title glory.

Against Petone, the Eagles face a tough test against a side that has generally had the better of them in recent clashes. These longstanding rivals meet annually for the McBain Shield (since 1934) in the first round and Petone have won the last four of these, including a 24-5 win earlier this season in their round four Swindale Shield clash. In the Jubilee Cup Petone have won three of their last four meetings, with HOBM's 21-15 win in the 2007 Jubilee Cup their last win over the Villagers.

Coming into this clash, HOBM have lost their last four matches, their last win being against Ories 46-5 in round eight of the Swindale Shield over a month ago. Petone have won three of their last four matches, their only loss in this period being 19-29 to Ories a fortnight ago.

The match against Petone is one of four clashes for HOBM Senior sides at home this weekend against Petone and Johnsonville opposition - the U21s, Senior 3rds and the Hardham and Jubilee Cup sides all in action on the Rec.

As well as this weekend's feature match between HOBM and Petone, there's several booming second round Jubilee and Hardham Cup clashes elsewhere to look forward to.

If last week's opening round Jubilee and Hardham Cup salvos are an indication of the rugby to come over the rest of the season then Wellington grassroots rugby supporters are in for a big two months of club rugby. Two of the opening Jubilee Cup matches went down to the wire and could have gone either way, while all four Hardham clashes were edge of the seat thrillers.

The ground could shake at Kilbirnie Park when Norths roll into town to tackle home side Poneke. Like HOBM, first round losers Poneke will be searching for something special to beat a Norths unit that continues to set the pace in 2010. Last week's audacious crushing victory over Ories has left Norths' rivals fretting on ways to defeat them and the answer for Poneke could just be good old fashioned red and black guts and determination. With four of their players recently involved in New Zealand U20 (Charlie Ngatai) and New Zealand Maori (Dane Coles, Ruki Tipuna and Daniel Ramsey) duties, they are a potent threat in the weeks to come, but dropping their first two matches could be too tough a hurdle. These two teams met last just two weeks ago at Porirua Park, where Norths won 34-18. This victory extended Norths' head to head record over Poneke to eight wins from the last 11 games played.

This match will also showcase the first of four 2010 Jubilee Cup festival days that are being run to celebrate New Zealand's best club rugby competition. As part of this day there will be rugby themed inflatables, a barbeque sizzling away, a junior rugby trailer, Jubilee Cup Posters and other giveaways and a Tui tent complete with Tui girls handing out giveaways.

It should be an exciting game across the road between first round winners Marist St. Pat's and Old Boys-University, where a win for either side would set the rest of their season up nicely. Both teams play attractive rugby given the opportunity and could produce a cracker. MSP's clinical 49-0 win over Upper Hutt last week means they have now won nine in a row, while OBU are also on a roll having held off HOBM last week for their fourth win in succession and their last loss was against MSP in round eight of the Swindale Shield (11-33).

Up the line at Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt hosts Ories in the battle of the first round vanquished. Although both lost their Cup openers last week, both were in contrasting styles. While Upper Hutt were well beaten by MSP, Ories led Norths by 13 points at one point early in the second half before being swamped over final quarter. Ories? have the services of Ma'a Nonu for this match, and they will also be celebrating their new star Julian Savea being named the IRB Junior Player of the Year following New Zealand's U20 World Cup win in Argentina on Tuesday, which also featured two Upper Hutt players Jason Woodward and Kayne Hammington. In the first round Ories beat Upper Hutt 27-25 at the Polo Ground.

Hardham Cup

This weekend shapes as a crucial one for Avalon and their quest for Swindale Shield promotion in 2011. To regain Premier status, Avalon must finish ahead of any of the four existing Premier teams - Johnsonville, Tawa, Wainuiomata and the Wests Roosters.

Their campaign has been thrown on to the back foot already, following their first-up loss to Norths B last week, that saw them lose at the end after coming back to take a 23-22 lead late in the match. As Johnsonville will testify, losing in the first round can be a serious blow. In 2007 Johnsonville cruised through the first round Harper Lock Shield unbeaten before being derailed by Poneke B in the first round of the Hardham Cup, while in 2008 they lost to MSP B in their Hardham Cup opener. It took them to last year to win their first game of the second round and then duly regain their Premier stripes.

This week Avalon faces another tough match in Premier side Wainuiomata at William Jones Park, who will be anxious to refocus and reignite their season after a flatlining last few weeks. Even after losing their ninth and tenth round clashes to Ories and Petone, Wainuiomata were right in contention for the Jubilee Cup before losing to OBU in the final round. They negotiated a 13-12 win over MSP B last week, but it wasn't convincing and was punctuated by a succession of errors that kept a highly competitive MSP in the game.

Both first round winners Wainuiomata and the Wests Roosters have the opportunity to get an early jump on the field if they win this week, although the Wests Roosters versus Norths B clash at Ian Galloway Park looms as an interesting encounter for the neutral rugby follower. Wests, who have put away Tawa and Johnsonville over the past fortnight, should be favoured to defeat the Norths side. But, like their top team, Norths haven't lost a game so far this year yet and a glance at their squad list throws up several names familiar with Premier level rugby such as the Seumanutafa brothers, Francis and Telea, winger Daley Harper, midfielder Lome Aloe and loose forward Anthony Masina.

In the early game at the Hutt Recreation Ground, Hutt Old Boys Marist B will be out to show their draw last week against Tawa was no aberration and will be lining up Johnsonville as a possible scalp. For their part, Johnsonville will be anxious to grab their first win of the season after missing out just 20-21 against the Roosters last week. In the round's other game, Tawa will be hoping they can scrape past MSP B at Evans Bay Park and get their season back on track.

In other competitions, first round bonus point winners Old Boys-University and Paremata-Plimmerton clash at Nairnville Park at 1pm in week two of the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup, first round Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Trophy winners Wellington and Poneke meet at Hataitai Park at 3pm and Northern United and Eketahuna meet in a top of the table clash at Porirua Park at 11.30am in the Victoria Tavern Premier Women's competition.