Short Passes 24 June

Above: Action from the HOBM-Poneke Jubilee Cup match on Saturday. More photos and video of this game on social media channels. 

A terrific weekend of rugby around Wellington just gone, setting up an enthralling final three weeks of round-robin Jubilee Cup and Hardham Cup. View the Results & Standings HERE

There are several school matches this coming week, including:

• Scots College First XV v Lindisfarne, Tuesday 10.00am at Scots College
• Heretaunga College First XV v Upper Hutt College First XV, Wednesday at 1.oopm at Upper Hutt College
• St Pat’s Silverstream v Palmerston North Boys’ High School First XVs, Wednesday at 1.15pm at Silverstream (second XVs at 10.55am).
• Aotea College v Bishop Viard College First XVs (Beard Trophy), Wednesday at 7.30pm at Jerry Collins Stadium.
• Girls Premier 1 Porirua/Aotea Combined v Wellington East Girls’ College, Wednesday 4.00pm at Te Whaea
• Girls Premier 1 St Mary’s College v HVHS Girls, Wednesday 5.20pm at Te Whaea

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The Hurricanes were given a scare by the Bulls on Saturday night, before going on to win their quarter-final match 35-28. The Hurricanes now meet the Crusaders in their semi-final this weekend.

The fallout of the unsavoury scenes after last weekend’s MSP vs OBU Colts match at Evans Bay has been swift and decisive. Two MSP players have received suspensions of 16 and 10 weeks for their part in the events, while an OBU player will serve a six-week stint. Both teams have also been docked 6 competition points.

If this all seems familiar, then it is. Last season the same two teams lost 5 competition points after their second-round match was called off after a brawl which begs a number of questions, starting with why they can’t just play the game….

From a competition viewpoint, this makes the final three weeks of the John E Kelly Cup round-robin interesting. Points table right.

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Wests Roosters Mixed Veges player Roy ‘Radish’ Hoerara recently hung up his boots after 360 games for that side and 40 years of playing Senior club rugby in Wellington. Read his inspiring story about his career on the WRFU website later this week.

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It took until the game count reached the 90’s, but we finally have a dropped goal in Premier rugby this season. The snap came from Paremata-Plimmerton fullback Justin Wilson to get his side on the board early in their 25-all draw with Avalon.

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Speaking of Pare-Plim it was from Hawaii’s North Shore to the Pauatahanui Inlet for Premier skipper James Corcoran, who came off the bench for his side after returning from a mid-winter holiday. And their sides recorded three wins and a draw on their Old Timers’ Day, including their Premier Reserves getting their first win of the year in beating Avalon 46-31.

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In the same game, Avalon halfback Jordan King and prop Ryan Nepia both played their 50th games for the Wolves.

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Petone has won the Jubilee Cup at least once in every decade since it was first awarded (90 years ago) – with the exception of the present decade. They beat Wainuiomata on Saturday to keep this year’s Championship hopes alive. Will they be able to keep the record intact in 2019?

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One of Manawatū’s most promising sportsmen, Ruben Love, has aligned himself with Wellington.

His father, Matene Love, confirmed Ruben has signed with the Wellington Lions despite the best efforts of the Manawatū Rugby Union to keep him. There has been much demand for the talented Palmerston North Boys’ High School year 13 student, with cricket also calling the shots. He will also be part of the New Zealand under-19 cricket team to play in Brisbane from July 4 and has ambitions to play with that team at the under-19 World Cup in South Africa in January. Read College Sport Media’s profile of him earlier this year HERE

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In Southland Premier rugby, Eastern-Northern Barbarians prop James Matheson was the toast of his club on Saturday night, after slotting a sideline conversion to give his side a 14-13 win over Woodlands in Gore to book their semi-final spot. The Barbarians have made the Galbraith semi-finals with one week to play in the round-robin series.

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Hurricanes and Northern United halfback TJ Perenara has moved closer to becoming the all-time leading try scorer for the Hurricanes, scoring his 53rd Hurricanes try in their 35-28 win over the Bulls on Saturday. Perenara now sits ninth on Super Rugby’s all-time leading scorers list, while he needs just four more to overtake former fullback Christian Cullen with the most for the  side.Among active players, only Ma’a Nonu (56 tries) has more than Perenara, the next closest coming in the form of wingers Henry Speight and Waisake Naholo (both 45). Former Wallabies and Waratahs player Israel Folau has the most tries for a single player with 60.

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Hats off to Sky TV for their production of rugby matches. Short Passes watched some of the Super Rugby quarter-final on Friday night with the sound down, paying particular interest to the director’s cuts, and if nothing else their production remains as good as anything else going around. If Sky Sport was to go then it would be a shame to lose this expertise as well. Short Passes spent a few days working in the trucks several years ago (cricket) and it was hard work for the low pay.

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Sport Wellington held its annual Wellington Sports Awards last week. Marist St Pat’s centre Billy Proctor was awarded the Emerging Sportsman award, while former Petone fullback Allan Hewson was inducted as a Sports Legend of Wellington.

Of note, the Emerging Sportswoman of the Year was Josephine Reeves, who is a high jumper a year out of Chilton St James School. College Sport Media covered her story HERE

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