Key club rugby clashes tomorrow as first round finish draws closer

Poneke are back on Kilbirnie Park tomorrow to host near-neighbours Marist St Pat’s, while Paremata-Plimmerton welcome Johnsonville on to Ngati Toa Domain and Ories meet Tawa at Lyndhurst Park. PHOTO: Dan Taylor.

Draws & Teamlists (as received) HERE

• By Scott MacLean and Steven White

Friday 5.00pm updates: It’s a clutch weekend for club rugby protagonists in the leading grades, with the business end of the first round Premier season looming large and semi-finals in the Women’s competition (Division 2) tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Colts, U85kgs and Reserve grades resume after last weekend off, while the second round Premier 2 competitions start up. It’s the start of the third round of college competitions, with four Premiership matches tomorrow and many more in other grades.

This Saturday’s Swindale Shield feature match on the E Tu Whanau Footy Show is between Poneke and Marist St Pat’s. Tune in to 1161AM, 87.6FM around the city and streaming live at www.teupoko.co.nz and via iHeart Radio and its app from 2.00pm.

It’s been a wet week and the forecast is for unpropitious conditions, which also means there have been some transfers tomorrow. We have updated our preiv

Premier Men’s Swindale Shield

As we do at this time each season, we take a look at where each of the sides sit and what they have left. Last year 47 points were needed to make those top four places, while Poneke amassed 26 points in ninth. Its a feature of this year’s competition that although fourth-placed HOBM has 35 at this stage, ninth-placed Johnsonville has 23 already.

Note: The positions and points totals below take into account the three points that will be removed from both Tawa and Paremata-Plimmerton with their “game not played” from round 2 now going ahead on Wednesday night.

Petone

• 1st on 40 points
• To come: Avalon (A), Johnsonville (H), Wainuiomata (A)

Last Saturday’s draw with Tawa cut the Villagers margin over Poneke to a wafer-thin single point, but they remain in the box seat with three rounds to play, and all three are against sides that currently sit outside the top eight. Five points from each of those games would assure them of the Swindale no matter what; the question is though can they avoid the speed wobbles and leaving the door ajar?

The head up to Fraser Park and a meeting with Avalon tomorrow, boosted by former Wallaby and Wellington Lion Pek Cowan in their team at loosehead prop. They also have Hurricanes U20s midfielder Riley Higgins at 12. Some more changes to the forwards, with Sam Tonise, Jarrod Hrstich and Brad Pritchard all coming in to start tomorrow.

Poneke

• 2nd on 39
• To come: MSP (H), Tawa (H), Avalon (A)

Somehow the Streetkids keep finding ways to come up with the victory week-on-week. They are very much in the picture to lift the Swindale, but that would seem to be reliant on Petone slipping up while themselves facing much more difficult games in the next eight days themselves. The first of those comes tomorrow at home on Kilbirnie Park, with MSP coming across Evans Bay Parade for the Battle of Kilbirnie.

Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles will come off Poneke’s bench tomorrow, with Andrew Jones returning from illness to the rake position. Jimmy Hewitt starts at openside flanker with Connor Strang moving to the bench. In the backs, Hurricanes U20s halfback Sam Howling returns to the starting XV, as does Caleb Robson at second five and Nick Robertson at fullback.

Old Boys-University

• 3rd on 36
• To come: Wellington (H), HOBM (A), Tawa (A)

The Goats haven’t given up on holding onto the Swindale, but rely on the leading pair dropping points to do that. Tomorrow they run out on their Nairnville grazing block for the last time round and will be unbackable favourites against winless Wellington, but the next two weeks seem like ideal preparation for the playoff rounds though they might need to win one of both to make sure they’re in that top four.

The Goats have named what appears to be a full-strength team tomorrow – at least the side’s spine of loose forwards Josh Gimblett, Tiaki Fabish and returning Hurricanes U20 player Dom Ropeti and inside backs Kyle Preson and Callum Harkin. A few changes from last week, such as at hooker and fullback and first five with Harkin moving in from playing 12 last Saturday. After playing first five for the Premier 2 side last week, veteran Tomasi Palu is on their bench.

Hutt Old Boys Marist

• 4th on 35
• To come: Upper Hutt (A), Johnsonville (H)*, OBU (H), MSP (H)

Now don’t let the table deceive you, the Eagles are very much in the hunt for the Swindale. Why? Because they still have a game in hand with their catch-up match against Johnsonville scheduled for Wednesday night, and the result there would finally give comparative value. That assumes that they win at Maidstone tomorrow, and then have the twin challenges of OBU and MSP to navigate in the last two rounds.

Their side to visit the Rams tomorrow is boosted by the return of James O’Reilly to the hooker position. O’Reilly comes in for Fred Sunia who drops back to the bench. No Ben Power, Connor Collins or Brandyn Laursen tomorrow, but plenty of firepower and experience across the park to meet the Rams challenge.

Norths

• 5th= on 31
• To come: Wainuiomata (H), Wellington (H), Pare-Plim (A)

Five weeks ago, and with four losses in the first five rounds, there was plenty of wondering if Norths were already done. Now they’re the hottest team in the competition with five wins since and a real chance of getting into those top-four places. Even more ideal for them is that all three matches to come are against sides below them, and they don’t even have to leave Porirua City for any of those.

Their side for the visit of Wainuiomata includes five changes to the starting XV that ran on to beat MSP last Saturday, including three in the tight five. Norths have rotated props Solomona Sakalia and Bradley Crichton and lock Olano Afutoto in, plus halfback Michael Teofilo and right wing Ropati Sooalo. Jackson Garden-Bachop returns to first five, while firepower remains on the bench with the likes of Losi Filipo.

Marist St Pat’s

• 6th on 30
• To come: Poneke (A), Wainuiomata (H), HOBM (A)

The charitable way to describe MSP’s form in recent weeks would be as ‘patchy’ with losses to both Johnsonville and Norths straddling their Old Timers Day win over OBU. At this stage they’re probably only a handful of points away from at least being able to play for the Jubilee Cup and still have Wainuiomata to play, but before that there is the small matter of being underdogs for their clash with Poneke and you can bet they want to end their rivals Swindale hopes.

MSP will have Hurricanes U20 player Chicago Doyle tomorrow for their match against Poneke. Doyle lines up at fullback, with Andrew Wells continuing to play first five. They will look to their other big-game players such as captain and hooker James Tuia and second five Isaia Petelo to lead them against the in-form Poneke side at Kilbirnie Park.

Tawa

• 7th= on 28
• To come: Ories (H), Pare-Plim (H)*, Poneke (A), OBU (H)

Oriental Rongotai

• 7th= on 28
• To come: Tawa (A), Avalon (H), Johnsonville (A)

The Jubilee champs would have probably bitten your hand off if you’d offered them two points against the leaders on Saturday, though they’ve gone backwards for now with the removal of the points awarded from their match against Pare-Plim. They’ll look to get those back – and maybe more – when they meet next Wednesday, before finishing with two of the current top-three.

For the Magpies, Saturday’s win over Pare-Plim would have allayed some of the fears amongst their faithful that they’d miss the Jubilee playoffs. They haven’t completely avoided that yet though, and would probably like to be safely in before their final round visit to Helston if Johnsonville are still alive in the race.

The two meet tomorrow at Lyndhurst, where the likelihood is that the winner is probably safe – though this season you might never say never – which should provide enough motivation.

Tawa’s side for this stentorian clash contains tweaks only from that which drew with Petone last week, and perhaps with one eye on next Wednesday too. Changes include at halfback where Swayde Brightwell comes in for George Sims and Siale Lauki for PJ Sheck in the front row and Tito Ioane at No. 8 for departing Hurricane Reed Prinsep and Lipa Saveatama returning to the bench.

Ories have Hurricane Xavier Numia at loosehead prop tomorrow, with veteran Whetu Henry at tighthead prop. No Alex Fidow tomorrow, but Peteli Poasa re-joins the starting XV at No. 8 and Sione Halalilo moves to blindside flanker. A returning player to Wellington club rugby at second five for Ories tomorrow is Ahtun Masun, who first made his Premier debut for Ories in 2008. He then had stints at the Wests Roosters, at Ories (again) and then the Wellington Axemen from 2013-21.

Johnsonville

• 9th on 23
• To come: Pare-Plim (A), HOBM (A)*, Petone (A), Ories (H)

Paremata-Plimmerton

• 10th on 20
• To come: Johnsonville (H), Tawa (A)*, Upper Hutt (H), Norths (H)

We’ve paired these two not only for where they stand on the ladder, but also because – like Tawa and Ories – they face each other tomorrow at Ngati Toa Domain where the Jubilee playoff hopes of one could take a fatal blow. The pair have been well-matched on the field in recent season, and with matching levels of improvement this term they are again. The home side get back home after a stretch of three away matches and will be keen to put the last two of those behind them, while the Hawks will look to keep their good recent run going last weeks loss to OBU notwithstanding.

For their game tomorrow, the Hammerheads have Tane McMillan-Parata back from illness to play openside flanker, with Davis Eni moving to hooker. Injuries rule out Blake Neve and Ted Northcott, while Esi Komaisavai and Eli Moata’a form the halves combo with Kayden Muller at fullback this week.

Johnsonville have named a near full strength side for tomorrow but last Saturday’s encounter with OBU was tough on the post-game medical bench so possible changes. These include key players, Ha’amea Ahio, halfback Mark Sutton and No. 8 Sam Green. Zyrus Grace comes off the left wing to replace his brother Levi at first five, while Sutton’s Irish mate Nial Delahunt comes on to the right wing for his first Premier start this year, replacing Jed Mitchell.

For the Upper Hutt Rams (16), Wainuiomata (14), Avalon (12), and Wellington (1), their attention turns to playing spoiler in the remaining weeks with an eye towards the Hardham Cup playoffs.

It’s been a frustrating season for the Rams, and if you’d could turn all of their narrow losses and their draw with Johnsonville into wins, they’d be eleven points better off and well in the mix. They host HOBM tomorrow at Maidstone. The Rams are keeping the faith with their team from last week’s heart-breaker to Poneke, with Nate Moen for Luke Bond the only change to their starting XV.

Wainuiomata hit the road to Norths tomorrow and will have two more debutants on the bench coming up from their Colts team owing to a bout of flu going around this week. But one other returning face tomorrow is Henry Time-Stowers, who has been away playing professionally for the Force, Canterbury and latterly Moana Pasifika. He lines up at No. 8, and with other experienced players such as Greg Lealofi, Matt Jacobs and Teru Time, they should be tough opposition for Norths.

Avalon are at home against the leaders, and will be buoyed by their win over Wainuiomata. They have have a mostly settled team from past weeks that will meet Petone tomorrow. Changes from last week’s win include Ezra Sione in to halfback for Jack Ena and Tufi Tufi starting at hooker for Jordan Sului.

And finally Wellington, who have made changes to their starting XV in the loose forwards and outside backs from their side that missed out to HOBM last Saturday. Tom Robertson moves to openside and Josh Michael returns to No. 8 to play OBU at Nairnville Park tomorrow, while Cam Hislop comes into centre and Bede Murfitt moves from wing to fullback.

There are four interclub trophies in play tomorrow:

• The highest profile is the Horan-Millar Trophy between Poneke and Marist St Pats which honours former Marist hooker and later coach Mick Horan and Poneke legend Ken Millar, who were great club men and friends with a respectful rivalry on the field. Both were appointed as Life Members of their respective clubs before passing away within months of each other in 1982. First played for in 2009, it is held by MSP after their 45-8 win last season.
• Petone and Avalon contest their Morgan Family Trophy. Ray Morgan was a Petone player, coach, and administrator, and served as Secretary and Treasurer of the NZRU. His son Trevor played age grade rugby for Petone and later joined the Taita club where he was on the committee that led to the merger with Naenae Old Boys and the formation of Avalon, while cousin Trevor was a Wellington representative in the early 70’s and player-coach of Avalon in the early years. Petone were comfortable 46-8 winners last year
• OBU and Wellington play for their Dean Gifford Memorial Cup. A much-respected police officer, Gifford played for both clubs as well as Ories, MSP, and the Petone Police team, it was put in play after his death in 2012. OBU hold it following last seasons 66-3 win
• And finally, Norths and Wainuiomata play for their Alf Keating Memorial Trophy, who played for both clubs with the trophy donated after his passing. Wainuiomata are the holders after their 25-24 win last season though Norths were the victors 54-24 when they met in the Jubilee Cup playoffs, with Norths also again defending the Bill Brien Challenge Trophy.

Premier 2 Ed Chaney Cup and HD Morgan Memorial

The second tier gets into their second round. After winning the National Mutual Cup, Avalon start life in Division 1 by hosting HOBM at Fraser Park #3, while defending champions and Harper Lock winners Tawa host runners-up Ories at Lyndhurst for the second time in a fortnight. Norths at OBU renew acquaintances – this time at the JCS – and Poneke and MSP get the days events underway at Kilbirnie.

In Division 2 Petone and Stokes Valley clash on neutral ground at the far end of Hutt Rec #2 at 12.30pm, Pare-Plim hosts Johnsonville at Ngati Toa, while after relegation the Upper Hutt Rams welcome Wainuiomata to Maidstone. Wellington have the bye, pending what we understand to be further discussions about their continued involvement in the season.

Premier Womens Tia Paasi Memorial and Izzy Ford Cup

The two divisions are at different stages this weekend. The Division 1 sides are playing their final round-robin matches which is the originally scheduled round one from three weeks ago, so Norths are at home at Jerry Collins Stadium against Marist St Pat’s while Oriental Rongotai hit the road to face Petone at the Rec.

The four Division 2 sides are in semi-final action. Top qualifiers Avalon will look to repeat their earlier win over Paremata-Plimmerton when the two meet at Fraser Park, while the other sees Wainuiomata at home to face Poneke at William Jones.

Colts Paris Memorial

After having Queen’s Birthday off the Colts return to action. The three unbeaten sides are all at home tomorrow; Petone host mid-table Tawa at the Petone Rec, OBU face Avalon at Nairnville, and HOBM welcome Wainuiomata to the Hutt Rec UPDATE: the HOBM v Wainuiomata match has been “deferred”. Wellington and MSP meet at Hataitai at 12.30pm, with Pare-Plim coming back after the bye as well to take on Poneke at Ngati Toa. Johnsonville has the bye this round.

Under 85kg JC Bowl

Like the Colts the 85s also had the long weekend off. Two clashes highlight the seventh round of the lightweights competition, with unbeaten joint-leaders the Upper Hutt Rams and Stokes Valley meeting at Trentham Memorial Park, while Johnsonville, also unbeaten though have played one fewer game, meet holders and fourth-placed Eastbourne at Helston. The next two sides on the table, Poneke and the OBU Scallywags – who played and beat Blenheim side Central last Sunday in National Knockout action – face off at Kilbirnie. The remaining matches see MSP and Avalon take to Te Whaea, Petone and Wellington hit the Petone Rec, and winless pair HOBM and Wests have the Hutt Rec to themselves as they each go looking for their first win.

College

A full slate of matches in the Premiership tomorrow. After beating Scots last Saturday, Wellington College welcomes Wairarapa back to town in a 1pm kickoff at MacAlister Park. The other three matches are all at 2.30pm with early leaders St Bernard’s at the Polo 2 to take on St Pat’s Town, Rongotai hosts Scots in an eastern suburbs derby, while there is the Upper Hutt derby as Silverstream make their first appearance of the competition when they welcome Hutt International. Mana, who lost the Beard Trophy when beaten 29-24 by Bishop Viard on Wednesday night and have also lost both of their competition matches so far, have the bye.

In Premier 2 the highlight clash was to be the match between last year’s finalists, the Silverstream 2nd XV and Upper Hutt College, but this has been deferred to a later date due to illness. Instead, fellow unbeaten sides Bishop Viard and Aotea host the Wellington College 2nds and are at Taita respectively, Naenae are at home against Paraparaumu, and the Town 2nds and Hutt Valley High School play on Polo 2 at 1.00pm.

The next round of the Premiership starts on Wednesday when Silverstream hosts Wellington College in their annual Traditional encounter.