Wellington club rugby highlights of the past decade: Part 3

Above: Former Northern United tearaway Buxton Popoalii, now with Otago and the Highlanders, scoring one of his two tries in his side’s 2008 Jubilee Cup semi-final win over Petone.

A decade in review part 3: Part 3 of 4 looking back at some of the highlights of Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup rugby over the past decade (2003-2012). Note, these selected matches and performances are revisited through the perspective of the Club Weekly.

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1 August 2008: Popoalii streaks in for two tries in semi-final

Northern United fullback Buxton Popoalii burst on to the Premier rugby scene 2008, lighting up the fields of Wellington for three years before his shift south to Otago. None of his early contributions was more valuable than the two tries he scored in the gloom at the Petone Recreation Ground that booked his team a place in the following week’s Jubilee Cup final against MSP. After scoring early, Popoalii’s brilliant second half try proved to be the game-breaker. The long-range try was started from a scrum on Norths' 10-metre line They swung the ball wide from the set-piece to the flying Popoalii positioned in front of the packed grandstand crowd. He cut back on his inside, sliced through the defence, pinned his ears back and scored unopposed under the posts. Norths won 18-5 the semi-final and Popoalii scored all the points.

9 August 2008 MSP and Norths share Jubilee Cup after stalemate in the final

Marist St Pat’s and Northern United fought out a 10-10 draw in the 2008 Jubilee Cup final, played in ice-cold conditions at Westpac Stadium. With no provision for extra time, the Cup was shared for the first time since the finals format was introduced in 1993. The run of play was tense. Playing to a well rugged up crowd, MSP first five-eighth Fa’atonu Fili opened the scoring with a penalty. A key moment came right on halftime when MSP lock Marcus Slade broke clear from a ruck 30 metres in front of the Norths posts and offloaded to halfback Peter Sciascia who scored for a 10-0 lead. Norths came back with two tries, wings Sinoti Sinoti and Francis Seumanutafa combining for the first, and replacement hooker Sio Thomas scoring from a lineout drive. The contest remained in the balance, but the sound of the fulltime hooter meant the Cup was shared. ?

12 April 2009: Watt scores five tries for MSP

Wellington Lions utility back Brendan Watt? scored five of his team's eight tries in a 55-3 Swindale Shield win over Tawa at Evans Bay Park. Former midfielder Norm Broughton scored four tries for MSP against Tawa in 2002, but Watt went one better in dotting down for the highest individual haul in Wellington Premier rugby for at least several seasons. He scored four tries in the first half as MSP led 34-3 at halftime and then another after the break as MSP celebrated prop Jamie Parkinson's 100th Premier game for the club in style. In the same round, new Poneke centre Charlie Ngatai scored four tries in his new side’s big win over Old Boys University. Future star Julian Savea matched Watt’s efforts the following week, scoring five times for Ories against OBU.

25 April 2009: Kingsbeer bags half a dozen

Mike Kingsbeer went one better than teammate Brendan Watt’s five tries a fortnight earlier and Ories wing Julian Savea’s quintuple strike the previous week by scoring six tries for MSP in this match against Wainuiomata at Evans Bay Park.? Kingsbeer's six tries re-wrote all known individual try scoring records in a Wellington Premier club rugby game. Kingsbeer, who started the game at centre and then moved into fullback in the fourth quarter, benefited from a slick, well-oiled backline around him that featured playmaking second five-eighth Joe Wright off the bench, in-form wing Watt and first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili. For good measure, Watt also scored two of MSP's 13 tries.

23 May 2009: Levave and Leiua lead Norths into title contention

No 8 Faifili Levave was at the helm of a strong forward pack and centre Alipati Leiua scored two brilliant tries in Northern United's 27-12 win over Hutt Old Boys Marist in atrocious conditions at Porirua Park. Hurricanes flanker Levave was part of an all-star loose forward contingent and a committed Norths pack that overcame HOBM in driving wind and rain, while star-in-the-making Leiua's two tries? early in the second half took the game away from the Eagles. The four tries to two victory, Norths' seventh in succession after dropping their first two games, effectively propelled them to the Swindale Shield title (shared with Petone) two weeks later.

5 July 2009: Late Misipalauni Moananu try stuns HOBM

A last ditch try to Poneke captain and No 8 Misipalauni Moananu snatched a stunning victory for his side over Hutt Old Boys Marist in a heart-stopper at the Hutt Recreation Ground.? Moananu scored off the back of a scrum in the 78th minute and first five-eighth Sam Rasch added the conversion to give Poneke a 31-29 victory - sending them on their way to qualifying top for the 2009 Jubilee Cup playoffs while effectively shutting the 2007 champions out of semi-final contention. All the more painful for HOBM’s home supporters was the manner of defeat. Poneke had come roaring back into contention after the Eagles had scored four tries, including two to centre Reuben Colquhoun, and led 29-12 at halftime.

17 April 2010: Weepu kicks Wainuiomata to victory over HOBM

Hurricanes and All Blacks first five-eighth Piri Weepu’s goal-kicking clinic helped guide Wainuiomata to their first win in Premier rugby over neighbours Hutt Old Boys Marist since their reinstatement in 2007. Weepu, who began his club career at HOBM, kicked seven penalties from all angles to help seal Wainuiomata a gripping 26-22 win. Weepu’s experienced boot kept the green and blacks in touch, kicking four first half penalties to see his side trailing 17-12. They hit the lead later in the match through a try to speedster Jason Love and then defended gamely to the end. Love was the hero a fortnight later against Poneke, scoring a 60-metre intercept runaway try giving Wainuiomata a 22-20 victory.

9 May 2010: Fairytale finish for Petone caps big weekend of celebrations

Petone's supporters celebrated long into the night following their team's memorable last-gasp 28-21 win over Poneke on their 125th Anniversary weekend feature match at a packed Petone Recreation Ground. In a fairytale finish, captain and hooker Eugene Smith burrowed over the tryline after 20 pulsating phases of pressure cooker rugby to score the winning try with the final act of the game. Smith's stunning try, converted by first five-eighth Ben Aoina, broke a 21-21 deadlock after both sides' goal kickers had each missed with late chances to win the game in a exhilarating final five minutes of play. Aoina had seen a previous conversion from almost in front of the sticks that would have put Petone in the lead charged down by Poneke wing Evan Belford. Then replacement Poneke first five-eighth Jeremy Te Huia lined up two separate successive penalties to retake the lead but both kicks missed their marks.

15 May 2010: TJ Perenara announces arrival with stunning solo try

Norths were the headline act and their young halfback TJ Perenara was the star in the seventh round set of matches of the 2010 Swindale Shield. Norths were simply unstoppable in the first half of their clash against neighbours Tawa at Porirua Park - scoring eight tries and leading 48-3 by halftime. In his fourth Premier start for Norths, halfback TJ Perenara scored two of these tries, including creating and scoring? a solo try from the base of a ruck that made everyone at the ground sit up and take notice of his prodigious talent. Tawa came back in the second spell and restricted Norths to just one further try and the final score was 55-29. Norths also won the interclub Sammy Saili Memorial Trophy that was contested between these two clubs for the first time.

12 June 2010: Lima Sopoaga sinks Wainuiomata at the Basin

Old Boys University first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga’s dominant performance single-handedly dashed Wainuiomata’s hopes of finishing inside the top eight of the Swindale Shield and making the Jubilee Cup. Led by Sopoaga, who kicked 25 points, OBU comfortably held off Wainuiomata's challenge at the Basin Reserve to win 35-18. Sopoaga had a sound tactical game as well as kicking five penalties, two conversions and two dropped goals. With both sides still in contention to make the top eight heading into this Swindale Shield round 11 clash, OBU ended up finishing seventh, while Wainuiomata were leapfrogged by Upper Hutt and finished ninth. Wainuiomata’s fans had to wait another season before they contested the Jubilee Cup for the first time.

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