Battle of Kilbirnie in sixth round

The battle of Kilbirnie and the hopeful return to the field of 62-Test All Black and Hurricane Rodney So'oialo are two reasons for fans to get excited about New Zealand's hottest club rugby competition this Saturday.

Separated by a strip of road between Kilbirnie and Evans Bay Parks, neighbours Marist St. Pat's and Poneke meet for the Horan-Miller Trophy and in a key clash for vital Swindale Shield points as part of this week's sixth round set of matches

One of the much anticipated match ups on the calendar, MSP - Poneke clashes are renowned for always being tough and extremely closely fought.

Their relationship has got even cosier this year with the two sharing battlegrounds for much of the season on account of Kilbirnie Park being commandeered for use as a Rugby World Cup base. Poneke are playing three first round games across the road at Evans Bay Park this year and have so far beaten Old Boys-University (18-14) and Tawa (28-21) there. This match however is a MSP home game and as such Poneke won't be putting the Bill Brien Challenge Cup on the line.

Poneke have done what most other teams rarely achieve against MSP at Evans Bay Park and have won their past two successive matches against them there. In this corresponding fixture last year they prevailed there 19-14 and the year before they won there 18-8 in the first round, which broke a two-season, 16-match winning streak for MSP at Evans Bay Park.

Poneke also won there in the first round of 2007 (18-17), but before that MSP beat Poneke six years in a row in all Swindale Shield clashes.
Neither side has hit top gear so far in 2011 and are struggling to find the tryline. In five games, MSP and Poneke have scored just 10 tries each, and in MSP's case half of them came in one game against Tawa. As a comparison, leaders Northern United have scored 33 tries in their five outings to date.

On current form Poneke will go into this edition as favourites, having recovered from a first round defeat to Petone to win their last four matches straight and sit in third place behind early frontrunners Norths and Oriental-Rongotai. MSP are back in seventh with three wins from five including an extremely fortuitous victory over Upper Hutt last week that saw them score a late converted try and then kick a penalty to prevail 16-15.

This match is also for the Horan-Millar Trophy, first played for in 2009 and named after former Poneke legend of the 1950s-1970s and life member Ken Millar who passed away in 1982 and former MSP coach and Marist hooker Mick Horan who played 175 Senior games between 1955-1965 and passed away in 1982 aged 47. Both Ken and Mick were great club men who locked horns over many seasons in Wellington club football and were good friends off the field who had great respect for each other.

Meanwhile, there is the possible return this weekend of So'oialo at Ian Galloway Park for Wests against Oriental-Rongotai after he re-aggravated a lower back injury during the Hurricanes' Investec Super Rugby pre-season back in February. So'oialo, who last played club rugby for Wests in the 2009 Hardham Cup, would be a welcome addition to the Roosters team as they search for a spark, any spark, to get their season on track.

With or without So'oialo, victory for the Roosters over Ories would be a significant upset, with Ories unbeaten after five weeks and on 23 competition points and Wests yet to get off the mark in the wins column and on just 2 points. To date Ories have scored 141 points and conceded 61, while Wests have scored 49 and conceded 143.

This match is for the Keith Mettrick Memorial Cup. Keith Mettrick was involved with the Oriental-Rongotai RFC from 1957 until he passed away in 1986. When Mettrick retired from Ories rugby in 1968 he had made a name for himself as a nuggety hooker, representing Wellington A and B between 1959 and 1963. After his playing days were over Mettrick began a successful coaching career in Senior Club Rugby before taking over the Wellington Colts and Wellington B.

Ories are the holders, after defeating Wests 37-3 in last year's Swindale Shield match at the same venue, Hurricanes wing Julian Savea scoring a stunning individual try late in the first half. Ories also won in 2009 at the Cage although in a much closer contest they held on to win 34-28 after leading by two points at halftime. Ories also won their clash in 2008, so will be gunning for four in a row at Premier level over the Roosters.

Meanwhile, it should be business as usual for leaders Norths against Avalon at Porirua Park. Bulldog supporters will be cheering their side on as they play for their sixth consecutive bonus point win of the 2011 season and 12th in a row in Swindale Shield matches. Petone were the last side to stop them from scoring four or more tries in a first round match and that was in week 5 last season.

The last time these sides met in April 2009 Norths raised the ton, Hurricane Alapati Leiua and Crusader Robbie Fruean each scoring hat tricks in the 16-try, 106-0 victory.

Round six is also an important round for current eighth placed Upper Hutt, ninth placed Tawa and tenth placed Wainuiomata as they jostle to make the top eight and qualify for the Jubilee Cup round.

Wainuiomata meet fourth placed Petone for the Darren Larsen Cup at the Petone Recreation Ground in another local derby clash in a match that could prove vital for their Jubilee Cup chances. If Wainuiomata can beat Petone then they will move right into top eight contention with five rounds remaining after this. But a loss for them and no competition points would leave them languishing.

Wainuiomata have yet to beat Petone in four Premier clashes since they were promoted back up to the Swindale Shield in 2007. In four previous matches Petone have won 39-27 in 2007, 11-3 in 2008, 39-15 in 2009 and 24-20 last year.

Upper Hutt and Old Boys-University, who clash at Nairnville Park, were involved in two close matches last week, Upper Hutt pipped at the post by MSP and OBU edging past Hutt Old Boys Marist 30-28.

Both will be eager for victories this week in another match-up where little could separate the sides. Both have willing, lively forward packs and both look to spread the ball out to their back divisions as often as possible. After five rounds, fifth placed OBU have scored 115 points and conceded 120 and Upper Hutt have scored 116 and conceded 112.

In the round's other clash, Hutt Old Boys Marist host Tawa in another key match for both their chances and the teams around them on the points table. Both are coming off narrow losses in week 5 and will be anxious to bounce back quickly and stake their claims to Jubilee Cup berths.

Meanwhile, the clash of the round of this weekend's sixth round of Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield matches sees unbeaten Poneke cross the road and play third placed MSP in the early game at Evans Bay Park.
Hutt Old Boys Marist's Senior 1 team are also unbeaten and could go to the top of the table outright if MSP beats Poneke and they defeat winless Tawa in the curtain raiser at the Hutt Recreation Ground.

In other Harper Lock Shield matches, fourth placed Rimutaka take on eighth placed OBU at Nairnville Park, fifth placed Norths play winless Stokes Valley at Porirua Park, sixth placed Petone play 10th placed Paramata-Plimmerton at the Petone Recreation Ground and seventh placed Johnsonville and ninth placed Ories meet at Helston Park.

In the Senior 2 National Mutual Cup, Hutt Old Boys Marist remain the only unbeaten team after five weeks and they will be favoured to extend their winning run against winless Johnsonville at the Hutt Recreation Ground.

In a crowded points table, just two points separate the leading six teams.

Second placed Old Boys-University host fifth placed Upper Hutt at Newlands Park,

Elsewhere, fourth placed MSP play seventh placed Poneke at Kilbirnie Park, third placed Wainuiomata travel over the hill to play winless Petone, sixth placed Avalon meet 10th placed Norths at Porirua Park and eighth placed Wellington and ninth placed Wests Roosters will be searching for their second wins when they meet at Ian Galloway Park.

In the women's first round competition, leaders Norths have the weekend off. In round five matches, Petone and Wainuiomata meet at the Petone Recreation Ground, Old Boys-University and Eketahuna play at Martin Luckie 1 and MSP and Stokes Valley at Martin Luckie 3.

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