Key games in the Swindale Shield this weekend

As the Swindale Shield reaches its halfway point, two nearby games at Evans Bay and Kilbirnie Parks are key matches this weekend.

At Evans Bay Park it's the battle of eastern suburbs heavyweights Marist St Pat's and Oriental? Rongotai, both hoping to remain firmly in the hunt for first round title honours. Across the road at Kilbirnie Park the match between home team Poneke and the Wests Roosters could ultimately have a direct bearing on the race to make the top eight for several contenders as well as themselves.

After five rounds, Ories (18 points and third equal) and MSP (16 and fifth), are both well positioned in the Swindale Shield title race heading into the second half of the 11 match round-robin series. With unbeaten Hutt Old Boys Marist (23) out in front and Wainuiomata (19)? and Upper Hutt (18) also in the mix, the winner of this weekend's MSP-Ories match will stay in contention.

It's also Old Timers' Day at MSP, which is sure to provide an extra spark to MSP who are wanting to quickly rebound from their narrow defeat last Saturday to HOBM at the Hutt Recreation Ground. With four of their remaining five matches to come away from home, the Red Machine will be hungry to secure vital competition points against Ories on their home track.

With four current Investec Super Rugby players in their ranks in Ma'a Nonu, Mark Reddish, Motu Matu'u and Julian Savea, Ories will be eager to celebrate the selection of Matt Proctor and Ambrose Curtis in the New Zealand U20 team for the upcoming Junior World Cup with victory over MSP.

Ories go into this match tracking nicely with four wins from five. Their sole defeat thus far has been to Wainuiomata on Anzac Day's fourth round, that loss seeing them relinquish the Bill Brien Challenge Cup. They quickly rebounded to beat Upper Hutt 22-17 in round five.

As an added incentive for MSP, ?they will be out to avenge their two losses last season to eventual Jubilee Cup champions Ories, losing this corresponding match 3-14 and their return second round match at Evans Bay 6-31.

Ories fans will also well remember their thrilling 33-32 win in their 2010 Swindale Shield clash against MSP, coming from behind in the second half and then holding their collective breathes as a long-range Fa'atonu Fili penalty missed its range.

As part of MSP's Old Timers' Day, the two clubs also square off in the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup grades. In the Harper Lock Shield, equal second placed MSP (on 19 points) are eyeing up their fifth win in six games and the chance to go top should leaders Wainuiomata (20) slip against joint second placed OBU (19). Ories are second to last with four defeats and a draw so far. In the Senior 2 clash, it's a battle between two teams at the foot of the table, with 10^th placed MSP and 11^th ranked Ories sitting on one win apiece to date.

The outcome of the nearby Swindale Shield match at Kilbirnie Park could prove important for the fortunes of up to half a dozen teams down the table battling it out to secure positions inside the top eight for the second part of the season.

Can Poneke fire into life and kick-start their season with a decisive win over the enigmatic Wests Roosters, or will the giant killing Roosters claim another major scalp and set themselves on the path for a long awaited return to Jubilee Cup rugby?

As it currently stands, the Wests Roosters - fresh from their massive 27-11 win over Norths last Saturday - are sitting in eighth place. But the Roosters are just three points ahead of ninth placed Poneke, who will leapfrog them should they earn their second win in six matches.

It's a big match for Poneke. Should they lose to the Roosters they will almost certainly slip back at least one more spot given that their rivals Petone play struggling Rimutaka this Saturday, while Poneke could lose to Wests and slip to eleventh if Tawa were to beat Upper Hutt as well.

Heavy rain and wintry conditions midweek could work in Poneke's favour, while the newly confident Wests could be hoping for a dry day made for running rugby.

Poneke and Wests play for the Cederwall Memorial Cup. Poneke are the current holders of this Cup that is decided by the results across the top three grades, in this case Premier, Senior 2 and Presidents. The Cederwall Cup is in honour of the Cederwall sporting family of dad Don (Harry) and three sons Brian, Grant and Don (deceased), all Wellington representative or Wellington B players as well as Wellington cricket representatives, who played their rugby for Poneke and Athletic from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Grant was recently co-coach of the Poneke Premiers.

In a third massive match of the round this weekend, high flying Hutt Old Boys Marist host defending champions Northern United who are desperate to get their show back on the road after being stung by the Roosters in the last round.

This game will have significant ramifications for the remainder of the Swindale Shield too. If the Eagles can see off Norths' challenge and earn their sixth consecutive win then the finish line will be in sight and their first Swindale Shield title since 1997 will start to look like reality.

The loss for Norths last week against Wests has seen them slip to seventh place on the ladder, and another loss on Saturday would see either Wests of Poneke move ahead of them as well. Fans of both teams will also think back to when these teams last met in the second week of last year's Jubilee Cup. HOBM held off a fast finishing Norths to win 20-19, breaking a then 20-match winning streak for Norths and becoming the first side at the time to win at Porirua Park since midway through 2009.

In the curtain-raiser at the Hutt Rec, the fourth and fifth placed HOBM and Norths Senior 1 teams square off in the Harper Lock Shield, in a match that could prove decisive later in the round-robin when the four places from this grade for the second round Hardham Cup are decided.

Second placed Wainuiomata put the Bill Brien Challenge Cup on the line for the first time in their clash with Old Boys University. In another important fixture, Wainuiomata could go to the top of the standings if they beat OBU and HOBM go down to Norths, while OBU will ensure that they steer clear from the top eight relegation zone should they topple the in-form green and blacks.

This week's feature Harper Lock Shield Senior 1 clash also comes from William Jones Park, where leaders Wainuiomata and joint second placed OBU square off in the curtain raiser to the Swindale Shield game.

It's a similar scenario in the Upper Hutt and Tawa clash at Maidstone Park for the Mexted Motors Cup, where Upper Hutt can keep themselves in the first round title race should they defeat Tawa. Upper Hutt, who are coming off a tight 17-22 loss to Ories will also be hungry to bank a win here as their next opponent is HOBM away at the Hutt Recreation Ground

But Tawa will as desperate to climb off the bottom of the table and mount their challenge to make the Jubilee Cup. With consecutive home games Lyndhurst Park after this against Poneke and Rimutaka, Tawa could yet storm through the field in the next few weeks.

The curtain raiser at Maidstone Park is a top of the table clash in the Senior 2 National Mutual Cup between the two so far unbeaten teams Upper Hutt and Wellington. Home side Upper Hutt have the maximum 25 points from their opening five matches but the Axemen are just a bonus point adrift on 24. This could be a cracker. After five matches, Upper Hutt have scored 243 points and conceded 52, while Wellington has amassed 221 and let in 69.

It is for this reason that Petone will be anxious to not only back up last week's maiden 2012 win against Poneke, but to also win well against Rimutaka this week in their inaugural Premier clash at Maoribank Park. Though yet to get off the mark, Rimutaka have shown in patches that they have the armaments to unsettle the bigger teams. Last week they lost 37-0 to OBU, but only lost the second half 5-0 as their forwards fired up and competed well.

Elsewhere in the Harper Lock Shield, the three standalone club sides fielding their top teams in this grade - Johnsonville, Avalon and Paremata-Plimmerton - all face important and winnable maches this weekend.

If the four promoted teams for the Hardham Cup were decided now neither would make the grade, but wins for the trio this weekend could see all three move into contention. All three are currently sitting on two wins from five - although Johnsonville has also drawn one of its games.

Sixth placed Johnsonville play ninth placed Poneke at Kilbirnie Park, seventh placed Avalon play bottom and winless Tawa at Fraser Park and eight placed Paremata-Plimmerton host 10^th placed Petone at Ngatitoa Domain.

In the Fleurs Trophy Women's Premier grade, Norths are gunning for their fourth straight bonus point win when they host second placed Wainuiomata at Porirua Park. In the two other women's matches, Ories entertain Eketahuna at the Polo Ground and Stokes Valley and OBU meet at Delaney Park as part of the home team's Old Timers' Day celebrations.

This weekend is also the start of the college First XV season. The leading four sides from last year - Wellington College, St. Pat's Town, St. Pat's Silverstream and Rongotai College - meet over the next three weeks for the pre-season Williment Trophy, while all other schools compete in four pools in a series of grading games.