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This Week in History 15-21 April

 

Wainuiomata after beating the Upper Hutt Rams in 2014. PHOTO: Hugh Pretorius.

Some of what happened in Wellington club rugby in the past below, in association with the Bond Sports Bar.

15 April

1967: Defending champions University and runners-up Petone both open the new season with impressive wins. University beats Wellington 20-6 and Petone defeats St Pat’s Old Boys 26-3. Elsewhere, Marist’s Maori All Black Pat Myers scores twice in a 19-16 comeback win over WCOB.

1989: After beating Petone last week, Ories back up with a rugged 17-16 victory over Wellington. As part of a series of ‘incidents’ today across several matches, Avalon lock Chris Tregaskis and Petone centre Mike Umaga are sent off in their matches, as Avalon lose to Poneke 16-29 and Petone edge Tawa 23-21.

2000: Tawa wing Junior Togia scores a first half hat-trick as part of his side’s 55-10 win over Wellington, while Petone beats Ories 47-12 and Wests beats Upper Hutt 44-0 in two other convincing victories today.

2006: After losing at the death last week to HOBM, defending Swindale Shield Upper Hutt find themselves on the wrong side of a high scoring thriller, going down to Tawa 30-34 at Maidstone Park. Trailing 0-22 after 30 minutes of play and then 7-27 soon after the break, Upper Hutt mount a comeback and threaten to snatch victory. But after narrowly losing their first two games to Oriental-Rongotai and Poneke, Tawa hold on for their first win. Playmaking first five-eighth Malasio Mailo and right wing Vice Saletele each score two tries for Tawa.

2017: Home team Wainuiomata score a try in the shadows of fulltime to give them a 27-24 win over the Upper Hutt Rams in their Peter Jones/Dave Ritchie Cup fixture.The Rams were leading 21-5 at halftime, on the back of tries to flankers Dan Schrijvers and Mitchell Markov (2), but Wainuiomata hit back and starved the Rams of ball and cut their earlier errors and came roaring back. The Rams still led 24-22 late with fulltime fast approaching, but couldn’t prevent the winning try, to mark prop Justin Va’a’s 150th match for them.

16 April

1963: Oriental beat St Pat’s Old Boys 17-12 after leading 17-3 at halftime, rounding off a successful 75th jubilee weekend for the club. Off the field, Oriental’s celebrations include a parade and dinner that is attended by 95-year-old co-founder G.S. Hill and 1913 All Black Charlie Gillespie who is the guest speaker.

Maile Koloto scores at the death for OBU v Ories in 2016.

2016: Old Boys University win their fifth straight match and their 14th overall with a last-gasp 25-24 win over Oriental-Rongotai at home at Nairnville Park. Replacement OBU wing Maile Koloto scores in the corner with the last play of the game. Ories were leading 24-20 and looked to be holding on, but a final assault on the Magpies line resulted in the winning try.

17 April

1971: Four-time defending champions Petone are given a huge fright by long-time rivals Poneke before winning 11-8 and retaining the Fred Tilyard Shield. Poneke flanker Wayne Nicholls is a standout. Elsewhere, newly constituted club Marist St Pat’s, an off-season amalgamation of Marist Brothers Old Boys and St. Pat’s Old Boys, beat Upper Hutt 23-9 to earn their maiden Senior rugby win.

1983: Former Athletic and now Western Suburbs fullback Brian Cederwall scores 14 points in his team’s 22-16 win over Johnsonville and in the process takes his senior career points tally past the 1,500 mark.

2010: All Black Piri Weepu kicks seven penalties to help Wainuiomata beat his former club Hutt Old Boys Marist 26-22. The win is Wainuiomata’s first in four attempts over HOBM since reinstatement to Premier rugby in 2007.

18 April

1960: In the Petone Rugby Football Club’s 75th jubilee match against Poneke, played at the Petone Recreation Ground today, the home side is beaten 14-6 by Poneke. The red and blacks lead 11-6 at halftime.

19 April

2003: Poneke maintain their unbeaten record and clear out as frontrunners with a four tries to one fifth round victory over Upper Hutt. Lock Conrad Pau’u scores two tries in the forwards-dominated win. Ories maintain second place after dispatching winless Tawa 47-18, with NZ Sevens flanker Tafai Ioasa bagging a brace. Petone halfback Cam Incledon, Norths No. 8 Laki Vitale and MSP fullback Trent Eagle also all score two tries each in their team’s wins.

2008: Wellington Lions No. 8 Alex Tulou and Samoan international first five-eighth Fa’atonu Fili produce the magic that sees MSP snatch a thrilling 25-22 win over Northern United on their Old Timers’ day at Evans Bay Park. Tulou scores two tries in a matter of minutes early in the second half, both off the shoulder off Fili, and Fili kicks both conversions as well as two late penalties that help turn the game around and earn victory for MSP after they fought back from a 15-0 deficit at halftime. MSP go on to win this year’s Swindale Shield.

20 April

1985: Paremata-Plimmerton are on their way with their maiden Swindale Shield win, beating Titahi Bay 19-18 in a nail-biter. Fullback Tony Saunders kicks a last-gasp penalty. Other matches today are also close – Avalon and Poneke drawing 6-6, MSP edging Wests 18-15 and WCOB defeating Ories 18-12 on penalties.

1992: Avalon are setting the Swindale Shield pace so far and today win their fifth straight match, sweeping past neighbours and defending Jubilee Cup champions Hutt Old Boys 59-9. Avalon run in nine tries, loose forward trio of Jason Goble, Murray Steele and Joe Langi all having strong outings.

2002: Late comeback wins for MSP and Petone are talking points. MSP come back from a 13-17 deficit to overrun Old Boys University 30-17 with a late flurry of scoring and Petone trail Rodney So’oialo’s Wests 3-18 at halftime before winning 33-29.

21 April

1951: Poneke open their season with a 24-17 win over Hutt, the vigorous play of their forwards, led by No. 8 Jim Grbich, paving the way for victory. Elsewhere, University convincingly beat Marist Brothers Old Boys 11-3.

2001: An edge of the seat thriller as MSP beat Tawa 27-25. MSP lead 21-3 at the turnaround, but Tawa hit back and they take a 25-24 lead after Junior Togia scores. MSP work their way up field and wing James Reilly snaps the winning dropped goal with time almost up.

2014: The Johnsonville Hawks swoop on the Ories Magpies at the Polo Ground today, kicking a late penalty to win the game 19-16 and grabbing their maiden Swindale Shield win of the season and first Premier rugby victory in eight years. Johnsonville brreak a 16-16 deadlock to win the game with time almost up, winning the Ash Pointon Cup off Ories and breaking a 23-game losing streak dating back to their 20-17 win over Ories at the Polo Ground in April 2006.

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