Finals weekend previews

Jubilee Cup: Oriental-Rongotai v Northern United

A clash of the two current giants of Wellington club rugby, this year's Jubilee Cup final pits Northern United, the two-time defending champions and first round Swindale Shield winners, against Oriental-Rongotai, the leading side from the just completed Jubilee Cup round-robin series.

In the blue and white corner, Norths are gunning for their fourth Jubilee Cup title after wins in 2004, 2006, 2008 (shared with MSP) and last year (Norths have won it every two years thus far), and their 11th overall title out of a possible 18 since their first Swindale Shield in 2003. For Norths this will be their seventh final in the last eight years.

In the black and white corner, Ories are appearing in their first final since the Jubilee Cup playoff series was introduced in 1993 and are shooting for Wellington club rugby supremacy for the first time since the war. Ories can make history today and win the Jubilee Cup outright for the first time ever. Wellington Senior champions in 1910, with the great halfback Fred Roberts as their leader, they next won back-to-back titles in 1943 and 1944. But these were as part of a combined Poneke-Oriental team in a hybrid side that wore each club's playing strip on alternate weeks.

Ories had a fantastic run through the round-robin, winning all seven games and claming the Andy Leslie Trophy as regular season champions. They then showed great determination in protecting an 18-15 lead in last week's semi-final win over Hutt Old Boys Marist. One statistic against them is that the last team to arrive at the Jubilee Cup final unbeaten was Norths in 2005 and they lost 20-21 to Petone.

Neither will throw in the towel in what promises to be an absorbing clash between two sides that are more than willing up front, dynamic in the loose and explosive out wide. Neither will give an inch in the forwards and the close quarter exchanges will be beautiful for the purist, but both will be equally eager to attack and play attractive rugby at every opportunity.Key to the final will be turnover ball and discipline; whoever can control their own ball and whoever can hold their discipline and keep cool heads under pressure will emerge as victorious today.

Past Jubilee Cup finals have generally been tight. Eight of the past 11 finals since 2000 have been decided by a winning margin of six points or fewer and have often been decided by individual heroism. Recent examples include Norths halfback Lua Vaoloaloa's stunning try that won the 2004 final against Poneke, Earl Va'a's late penalty in 2005 that clinched the title for Petone, Chris Slade's deadeye goal kicking for MSP in 2009 and Buxton Popoalii's two tries for Norths last year.

Head-to-head this season, Norths and Ories have fought out two thrillers. Norths held on to beat Ories 21-16 when they met at the Polo Ground in a high quality encounter at the Polo Ground, but Ories reversed this result winning 32-30 when they met three weeks ago at Porirua Park.

In a terrific game, Ories pulled clear with early tries and weathered a storming Norths comeback. This was also Ories' first win over Norths in 11 encounters going back to the 2003 Swindale Shield round. Including last week's semi-finals results, Ories go into the final having scored 239 points in the Jubilee Cup and conceded 139 and Norths have scored 171 and conceded 124.

Having scored five tries in last week's semi-final, Norths wing AJ Va'alepu has scored 10 second round tries, while Ories first five-eighth Trevor Marama has scored six. Nene Va'alepu (Norths) and Paula Kinikinilau (Ories) have both scored the next most with four tries each.

Hardham Cup: Old Boys-University v Tawa

Old Boys-University and Tawa will have points to prove when they arrive at this year's Hardham Cup final on Saturday at Fraser Park. Both will be desperate to claim Wellington club rugby's Premier 2 accolades after earlier missing out on a chance to play for the big prize, the Jubilee Cup.

OBU are playing to win their second consecutive Hardham Cup final that they have been in after sweeping past the Wests Roosters 42-8 in their last appearance in the season finale in 2009. Tawa were beaten semi-finalists last year to champions Wainuiomata, but they won the Hardham Cup on the previously occasion that they competed for it in 2008, beating Wainuiomata 33-20 in that year's final.Both will be especially eager to end their 2011 seasons on a high and recapture Wellington rugby's greatest consolation prize, so named after a Boer War Victoria Cross recipient and Wellington representative Ranfurly Shield winner.

Both OBU and Tawa arrive at Fraser Park having subdued spirited opposition in last week's semi-finals, unbeaten OBU seeing off the challenge of Northern United B to win 25-20 and Tawa pulling clear of Rimutaka at the end to win 62-18.

In a tight all-round 2011 season, Old Boys-University was the unlucky club at the end of the Swindale Shield round, losing to MSP 21-27 in the last week and missing out on the Jubilee Cup. They have clearly been the best team in the Hardham Cup thus far, winning every match and qualifying top with a fortnight to spare.

Tawa, by contrast, were never in the hunt in the first round and finished 10th out of 12 teams in the first round Swindale Shield. Not helped by the loss of their best player Willie Lafaele to a pre-season injury, they also suffered injuries in key positions throughout the season, and it's only in the past month that they have really come alive. They enter the final having won three in a row including a dismantling of the Wests Roosters 20-0 in their final round-robin game to secure themselves their home semi-final against Rimutaka.

Head-to-head this season, OBU have won both clashes. In the first round season opener on neutral territory at Trentham Memorial Park, first five-eighth Mike Newell kicked 18 points as they held off Tawa 23-21. Seven weeks ago at Lyndhurst Park, the students prevailed 21-8 to complete their sixth win in the past seven games over Tawa.

In this year's Hardham Cup, OBU and Tawa both have excellent defensive records, Tawa conceding just over 13 points per game and OBU even fewer at 11 points per game. At the attacking end of the field, OBU ended the round-robin having scored 207 points, 68 more than the next best Norths and 80 more than Tawa in seven matches played. OBU with Mike Newell and Tawa with Randall Bishop have the top two goal kicking sharpshooters in the Hardham Cup, while centre Luke Fiso is the Hardham Cup's leading try scorer with four tries. Six players from both these teams combined have scored three tries in the second round.

?

John E Kelly Memorial U21: Marist St. Pat's v Oriental-Rongotai

Expect Oriental Rongotai to throw everything at Marist St. Pat's in their Wellington club rugby U21 season finale in Saturday's Hardham Cup curtain-raiser. Fourth placed qualifier Ories, who secured their playoff spot with a bonus point win over Norths the previous week, fought off the challenge of Hutt Old Boys Marist 12-3 in last week's semi-final. Ories now turn to face favourites MSP who are unbeaten in the second round and coming off an eight-try 48-0 semi-final demolition of the Wellington Axemen.

Victory for Ories would be a great way to start the weekend, ahead of their Jubilee Cup final against Norths tomorrow. MSP will like nothing better than to add the second round John E Kelly Memorial Trophy U21 title to the first round Paris Memorial Trophy that they picked up in early June.

Earlier in the season, MSP completed a six-win, one-loss record - which included six bonus points - to take out the first round title ahead of second placed HOBM who was the team that beat them (15-12 in week two). Ories won three and lost four and finished fifth in the first round. In the second round, MSP won every round-robin game and Ories four from seven. MSP have scored a season total of 391 points and conceded just 151. Ories have scored 280 points and let in 261. Head-to-head this year, MSP won four tries to three 22-21 in their first competition match of the year back in April and prevailed 43-25 when they met again at the start of July.