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Fulltime in the Presidents match at the Hutt Rec on Saturday between HOBM and Johnsonville. The nine-team competition is in full swing and round four is this coming SAPHOTO: Warwick Burke.
Throw a blanket over the top six teams in Wellington Premier rugby, with five competition points or a bonus point win separating them, as we approach the mid-point of the Swindale Shield.
Games at a glance this coming Saturday below:
Another difficult day coming up for Wellington’s rugby fans this Saturday, effectively asked once more to choose between community rugby and the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes kick off at 4.35pm at the Stadium. They might bring club rugby forward to 12.30pm and 2.30pm this Saturday accordingly as has been done in the past, but why bother, the damage has been done? Whispers of a club game being moved to the Stadium as a ‘curtain-raiser’ – that’s good for the teams involved but again makes little difference as it will be over 45 minutes or longer before the main event so Hurricanes fans are unlikely to go to the early game.
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Watching as his side capitulated on Saturday afternoon, it was hard not to have some sympathy for Norths Premier coach Grainger Heikell. Normally players would want to join the playing-through champions, but this year he’s having to mould an young and inexperienced backline – first-five Dudley Parsons aside – on the fly. Something thats not easily done.
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Some confirmation out of Wellington Rugby that the bulk of Colts rugby will be played on Friday nights this season.
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A stirring haka for Paremata-Plimmerton’s newest Premier centurion after their win over Avalon on Saturday. Tane McMillan-Parata scored twice and even kicked the last conversion in the 52-10 result
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A bit of a logjam developing at the top of the try-scoring list. Flyers Blake Neve (Pare-Plim) and Jono Ryan (Upper Hutt Rams) added one each to take their tallies to seven, joined by Petone’s Stanley Solomon who’s four against Tawa added to the two he scored against Poneke last week. You also expect to see loose forwards up there and Toby Crosby’s pair against HOBM sees him on seven as well, but if you had money on OBU’s tighthead prop Samson Koneferenisi being there as well after scoring both of their tries on Saturday, I’d like to know what your Lotto numbers are.
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A clean sweep of wins for Hutt Old Boys Marist on the club’s Old Timers’ Day on Saturday.
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Amongst other things, are Johnsonville proving that ‘taking the points’, works? They kicked five penalties against OBU on Saturday, taking their total to 17 on the year and three more than Poneke, with all but one coming from the boot of Mark Sutton.
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And while we’re talking about points in threes, here at Club Rugby we’ve entered Drop-goal Watch for the first of those this year in the Premier grade. But where will that come from, with proficient experts Fa’atonu Fili and James So’oialo having retired and recent snap-shooter Justin Wilson Jr an infrequent Premier player these days – although there was an attempt on penalty advantage on Saturday by Johnsonville.
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We must have mis-heard his name, but to our ears the OBU Second XV has a prop called Town Hall. So let’s hope he is not refereed in a match by Campbell Barry, who might try and put his rates up after the first scrum.
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One for the trivia buffs. Alongside McMillan-Parata at fullback for Pare-Plim was Ryan McLean, starting in Premier match for the first time since Pare-Plim’s debut Premier campaign in 2015. Of course since then he’s gone on to be an accomplished referee, and having controlled both the 1st XV Premiership final and then the Hardham Cup decider two years ago.
So, has anyone in recent times had a larger gap between Premier appearances without having played for another club in between? And has anyone, maybe in NZ, been a Premier player, then refereed at that level, and then gone back and played Premier rugby again?
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In the Reserve Grade Mike Copeland Cup, the Johnsonville Cripples and the Upper Hutt Rams J8s are both on a maximum 20 points through four rounds. The Cripples beat Tawa 33-7 on Saturday and the J8s defeated the Wellington X-Men 57-5. This coming weekend, the Cripples play the Paremata-Plimmerton Punters and the J8s meet Petone.
Perhaps the result of the round in all grades in terms of the final score was Saturday was the Upper Hutt Rams Pirates and the Poneke Ruffnuts drawing 43-43.
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Manakau Rovers beat Marist 82-5 in Auckland’s Gallaher Shield on Saturday. Rovers won the competition last year and are unbeaten to start 2023 but that scoreline against typically powerful Marist is extraordinary. Also a default in Auckland Premier club rugby on Saturday, with Waitakere giving Ponsonby a weekend off.
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Sacred Heart College beat King’s College by a record 58-22 in the opening round of 1A First XV rugby on Saturday. The fixture goes back to 1903 and was played at King’s where they’ve likely never conceded 58 points. In 1989 King’s was beaten 74-0 by Wanganui Collegiate in Wanganui. Jason Bowie scored 50 points (7t, 11c) and Ra Pomare (later a Wellington rep) 4 tries. De La Salle upset Auckland Grammar School 25-21 in the other eye-catching result.
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Wesley College held 1A Auckland champions Kelston Boys’ High School to a 19-19 draw two weeks ago and beat Rotoura Boys’ High School 27-17 on Saturday. Wesley are five-time National champions but haven’t made the Top 4 since 2011.
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Hamilton Boys’ High School won the Sanix World Youth Tournament beating Higashi Fukuoka 28-22 in the final. It’s the fourth time Hamilton have won the title. They beat Napier Boys’ High School in their semi-final.
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Good luck to Tyler Bentley on her rugby league stint in Australia:
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She’s not the only HOBM player to head to the rugby league game.
On Saturday the Te Aroha Eels fielded four recent HOBM Eagles in its line-up, including utility back Anthony Utanga and No. 8 Mika Alaifatu who played the week before against Paremata-Plimmerton. Also, a few other well-known rugby players playing the 13-man competition this year for other teams. Perhaps enough to name a Club Rugby XIII soon.
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Five tries for Ories fullback Ivana Samani on Saturday (above). Three for Ayesha Leti-L’iga – she has now scored 178 tries in 64 club games.
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A real mixed bag for the Wellington sides involved in the first round of the National Club Cup U85kg competition over the weekend. The only all-Wellington match went the way of Tawa with the Ducks beating MSP 45-19 on Saturday, while yesterday Johnsonville were too good for the scratch Wairarapa-Bush side winning 48-7.
HOBM went on the road and edged a Hawke’s Bay Saracens team 20-19 on Saturday, while it was a fruitless trip to Whanganui for Poneke as the Wanderers were second-best against an impressive New Plymouth Old Boys side on competition debut going down 0-38. Wellington were also up that way against another Taranaki side in Tukapa, but finding the result of that match is proving elusive.
That means the four second-round matches in the Central region shape up like this: Tawa are matched up against either Wellington or Tukapa, Johnsonville take on HOBM, and Petone will face NPOB. The fourth is between Stokes Valley and OBU, who meet this weekend in local JC Bowl action with this likely to double as their meeting in this competition as well.
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A thriller in Manawatu club rugby on Saturday that saw Kia Toa beat Freyberg 43-41, scoring a 78th minute try under the posts to tie it up and then kick the winning conversion. Kia Toa are second on the standings to leaders Old Boys Marist, who beat Varsity 39-22. College Old Boys defeated Feilding Yellows 34-19 in the other fixture.
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Three tries for former MSP hooker Tyrone Thompson and two for former OBU prop Morgan Poi, and four conversions for former HOBM halfback Sheridan Rangihuna in Napier Tech’s 43-17 win over MAC in Hawke’s Bay club rugby on Saturday. Napier Tech are the Nash Cup leaders, with seven wins from seven.
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In Horowhenua-Kapiti, Shannon beat Waikanae 23-21 and competition leaders Rahui defeated Foxton 36-17, whilst the match between Paraparaumu and Levin College Old Boys has been deferred because of Covid.
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Ruben Love announced his re-signing with the Hurricanes through to 2025. He has yet to play a game this season, rehabbing a groin injury, so hopefully he will back soon.
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On Friday regular columnist Kevin McCarthy questioned why the Tana Umaga Aisle 13 commemoration has been seemingly taken down at Wellington Stadium. We have since deduced – but not confirmed – that it has been removed at the behest of FIFA who want ‘clean stadia’ for their upcoming Women’s Football World Cup. Hoping it gets returned afterwards in time for the NPC. Who’s holding their breath for that? Perhaps permanent statues such as the Shane Warne Memorial at the MCG is the way to go so they can’t get tampered with or temporarily cancelled.
Update 2: We have since had a message saying this has been gone for some time, since the Stadium’s rebranding some two years ago. It doesn’t make it any better. These people just don’t get it when it comes to preserving history and acknowldging the greats. Anyone just needs to go to a stadium overseas to see this, and Australia is a good place to start. No wonder the Wellington Stadium is much maligned by many.
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Assume Richie McCaw will use a side entrance to enter the church?
— Benji Crossley (@bopman1) May 6, 2023
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How many tries are being conceded by shallow, miss-directed box kicks? Why has the pre-programed box kick from your own 22 become such a predictable and largely ineffective strategy in the game?
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He’s played with All Blacks icons, and yet Nick Percy was just happy to get through his latest milestone.
On Saturday, he played his 400th game for the High School Old Boys club in Christchurch – an achievement three decades in the making.
And while he knows retirement’s on its way, Percy’s still receiving plaudits, including from his kids.
Read more HERE
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School Sports Withholding Payment Of Council’s Ground Fees
From the New Amateur Sports Association e-newsletter Sunday:
College Sport Wellington (CSW) has announced that it is taking the unprecedented step of withholding payment to the Wellington City Council for ground charges. CSW notes that a school basketball team playing in school gymnasiums pays $45 for the season, but school teams playing at council venues pay roughly $450 for the season. Many sporting bodies been asking councils in the Wellington region to clarify the fees for many years.
A spokesperson says, “the groups and concerned parents say they know the costs of running our own school grounds, so we’ve spent years asking council to show us how they justify their costs, and where the money goes, probably “into pooling” potentially funding other facilities, which is grossly unfair.” The Association is working with alongside College Sport Wellington and other local sport organisations seeking to alleviate the costs imposed by local authorities for use of community facilities, to ensure access to organised amateur sport remains affordable for all.
