Jubilee and Hardham Cup rugby to stay tight in third round

An opening fortnight of rollercoaster results in both the Jubilee and Hardham Cups is predicted to continue into this Saturday's third round of Premier and Premier 2 rugby.

Expect the unexpected was the catch-cry of Hurricanes teams for several years. The phrase could well be applied to this season's Wellington club competitions where unpredictability of results and even contests across the board have become the norm. Nothing can be taken for granted and on any day any team can beat another.

After two rounds of the Jubilee Cup, only unbeaten Ories can bring any recent consistent form and a run of wins into the third round, while as recently as three weeks ago Hutt Old Boys Marist were celebrating Swindale Shield success but they could find themselves in must-win territory to make the playoffs? from as early as this Saturday.

It's also a tense time in the Hardham cup for Wests Roosters, Rimutaka and Johnsonville supporters who could find their teams in a real scrap in the promotion-relegation battle with one or both of the other two if they don't register wins in round three.

With a month of regular season rugby to play after this, the third round of the Jubilee and Hardham Cup is thus compelling viewing for all grassroots rugby fans before they head back indoors in the evening and watch the Hurricanes take on the Crusaders from 7.35pm.

This week there's games spread far and wide across the region, from Maoribank and Maidstone Parks in Upper Hutt, across to Lyndhurst Park in Tawa and down to Kilbirnie Park and the Polo Ground in the south.

Starting at the Polo Ground, home side Ories hosts Hutt Old Boys Marist in what is a key clash for both sides, but for opposing reasons. Swindale Shield champions HOBM, who have suffered a loss to Marist St. Pat's (11-28) and a draw with Petone (23-23), need to win or their playoff chances could slip away. A fifth straight win overall for Ories and a third Jubilee Cup win on the trot will put the home side on the home straight towards qualifying for the semi-finals for the second straight year.

Ories have opened their 2012 Jubilee Cup title defence with contrasting wins over Wainuiomata at William Jones Park (11-6) and Upper Hutt (45-3) in Miramar. This third clash of the round against HOBM could go the distance, with the HOBM Eagles needing to win. The Eagles will want to make prop Simon Malaeulu's 100th match for them a memorable one, and his front row clash with Donal McNamara and Whetu Henry could be key. With recent injuries to their tighthead props and to flanker Jason Risdon, HOBM will need to dig deep against the side they pipped 32-24 in the first round to win the inaugural Bondy Memorial Cup.

Of note, the last time a side won the Swindale Shield and then missed out on making the top four for the Jubilee Cup semi-finals was Johnsonville in 1998. This followed on from 1996 (MSP) and 1997 (HOBM) when the Swindale Shield winner failed to make the Jubilee Cup semi-finals.

At Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt must win against MSP to realistically stay in the Jubilee Cup playoff race.

Without a win from their first two games, Upper Hutt could need to break an eight-season record from this point on to make the semi-finals. Although they drew their first game 10-10 with Norths, the statistic of no side in the previous eight years between 2004-2011 qualifying for the semi-finals after losing their first two round-robin games is a pertinent one.

They face an MSP team just as eager to get back on the winner's wagon after being shut out 10-31 by Norths at Porirua last week. In Upper Hutt's favour is their unbeaten record at home this year, having won five from five at Maidstone in the Swindale Shield and then drawing with Norths there.

Against Upper Hutt is their poor record against MSP, which, after their 6-26 first round loss to them, stretches to 17 games. Upper Hutt haven't beaten MSP in Premier rugby since May 2002.

For the neutral fan or armchair viewer of YouTube videos on Sundays this could be an attractive match, Upper Hutt (328 points) and MSP (305) had the second and third best attacking records of the first round Swindale Shield (after HOBM with 357) and like to play 15-man rugby when possible.

Petone host Wainuiomata at the Petone Rec in Petone's first home game of the Jubilee Cup round. Wainuiomata's first two games at home on a heavy William Jones Park have yielded two close results, a 6-11 loss to Ories and a 10-5 win over Tawa. Petone were beaten by Tawa 37-3 and then came back to draw 23-23 with HOBM.? In the first round Wainuiomata beat Petone 23-13, but that was way back in week one. This is a game where form and recent results will go out the window when picking a winner, although one thing for sure is that whoever loses will be behind the eight-ball in the race to the semi-finals.

Are Norths starting to fire? Their four tries to one 31-10 win over MSP in the last round suggests so. But this came after a week one 10-10 draw against Upper Hutt, who in turn lost heavily to Ories last week. Tawa have been playing well of late, and they could have beaten Wainuiomata if not for a couple of missed opportunities that could have gone their way on a different day. With depth and experience in their ranks, they would boost their playoff chances immeasurably if they defeated neighbours Norths.

In the first round, Norths beat Tawa 26-13 on Anzac Day for the Sammy Saili Memorial Trophy. This was their eighth win in their previous nine clashes going back to 2005, with Tawa winning 24-15 the last time these two sides met in Jubilee Cup play in 2009.

Rumour has it that a certain former Norths points scoring machine named James So'oialo could be back for this game - but for Tawa and not Norths. Watch this space.

Hardham Cup

The big match of the Hardham Cup this weekend is between Rimutaka and the Wests Roosters at Maoribank Park, a game that could ultimately decide who stays up in the Swindale Shield in 2013 and who goes down.

Both Rimutaka and Wests have had a win and a loss each and this will likely be a tense affair. After tipping over MSP B 17-13 first-up, Rimutaka held the more favoured Old Boys University to 8-24 at home in round two. Wests recovered from their 0-29 to OBU to overcome Wainuiomata B 34-0 last week. In the first round, this was a close result with Wests beating Rimutaka 24-13 at home at Ian Galloway Park.

The loser of this match could be leapfrogged by Johnsonville, temporarily at least, who host Wainuiomata B at Helston Park and will fancy their chances of victory. Johnsonville beat Norths B 28-8 in the first week but met their match in round two with a 0-46 to competition favourites Poneke so will want to bounce back quickly against a Wainui B side who were better than their four tries to nil loss against the Wests suggests. Johnsonville were, however, comfortable 62-29 winners over Wainui's second team when they met a month ago in the first round Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield.

Poneke and OBU both have maximum points from their first two games and third straight maximum point victories for this pair this week against ‘B' teams will go a long way towards clinching their Hardham Cup semi-finals spots.

In their matches, Poneke hosts Norths B at Kilbirnie Park and OBU hosts MSP B at the Hawkins Basin Reserve.

All Hardham Cup matches this week are at 3.00pm.

The Poneke and OBU second XVs square off at Kilbirnie Park at 1.15pm in a big match for both in the third round of the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup. OBU, who finished second in the first round Harper Lock Shield and Poneke fourth would be playing in the Hardham Cup if their top teams were in the Jubilee Cup.? Poneke are two from two in the Ed Chaney Cup so far, while OBU are one from two having lost to Avalon 17-12 last week. Poneke won their first clash of the year - but only just - prevailing 30-28 at Nairnville Park at the end of May.

Poneke is one of four sides that have started the Senior 1 competition with back-to-back wins. Amongst the others, defending Ed Chaney Cup champions Petone and Avalon square off at the Petone Rec at 1.15pm and the Wellington Axemen will be hoping to keep their unbeaten season going when they meet Upper Hutt? at Maidstone Park at 1.15pm. The Wellington-Upper Hutt clash is a repeat of the first round Senior 2 National Mutual Cup top-of-the-table decider which Wellington won 23-10.

In other round 3 Ed Chaney Cup matches, Ories (one win from two) host HOBM (two losses) at the Polo Ground at 1.15pm and Tawa and Paremata-Plimmerton (both winless) square off at Lyndhurst Park at 1.15pm.

In the third round of the? HD Morgan Memorial Senior 2 competition,? early leaders OBU host MSP at Nairnville Park at 1.15pm, and HOBM, also with two wins, meet Ories on the Polo Ground at 1.15pm.

Petone and Avalon are both gunning for their second wins from three matches when they kick-off at the Petone Rec at 1.15pm, as is Stokes Valley when they meet winless Wests at Delaney Park at 3.00pm. Norths and Poneke are playing for their opening wins at Kilbirnie Park at 1.15pm.

At the halfway mark of the Premier Women's Victoria Tavern Trophy round-robin the field's close. With Norths suffering their first loss last week and Ories toppling Stokes Valley, the race for the semi-finals is far from decided.

In this week's matches, Norths will be hoping they can bounce back quickly from their 7-22 defeat at home to Eketahuna last week when they take on Ories at home. Eketahuna host OBU at home and Stokes Valley and Wainuiomata clash at Delaney Park.

The Premier 1 First XV competition is heating up considerably. There are two rounds to play ahead of the quarter-finals and teams are jostling for position.

Following this week's round, there's a two-week break before the last two rounds so all contenders will look to throw everything into this Saturday's round of matches.

In games this week second placed Scots College will be going all out to topple Wellington College at home and St Pat's Town and HIBS meet in a crucial match at Evans Bay Park.

In the other two games, St Pat's Silverstream will be hoping to consolidate their playoff position when they play winless Aotea College away from home and St Bernard's can climb into the top four if they beat Rongotai College at home.

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