Most tries in a Wellington Premier club rugby match (since 2006)

Stanley Solomon 4 tries last weekend for Petone (left) and Riley Higgins, 4 tries in a match on two occasions for Petone last season. Photo: Andy McArthur.

The following article has been updated from its original that was published in June 2018, and covers the period since the start of 2006 when this website started complete records continuously for all three competitions, the Swindale Shield, Jubilee Cup and the Hardham Cup.

Updated after Round 7 Swindale Shield 2023 (13 May 2023)

Petone wing Stanley Solomon became the first player to score four tries in a Wellington club rugby Premier match this season, in his team’s 41-17 win over Tawa.

Since this article was last updated after round 10 of the 2018 Swindale Shield – a round that saw two instances of four tries in a weekend (Tupou Sopoaga for Petone and Tomasi Palu for Old Boys University) there have been 21 4-try hauls and one 5-try haul in Premier Swindale Shield or Jubilee or Hardham Cup matches.

There have now been approximately (give or take a handful) 239 Premier Swindale/Jubilee and Hardham hat-tricks since the opening round in 2006, and 90 since this article was last updated in 2018.

Since the start of 2006 there have been two instances of six tries in a match, five instances of five tries in a game and 36 instances of a player scoring four tries in a single fixture.

Since this article was last updated midway through 2018, there has been one instance of a player scoring five tries, this being Faresa Tasele for Marist St Pat’s against Avalon in the 2019 Hardham Cup.

In recent years, Luca Rees (Ories and Norths) has scored four tries in a game on three occasions, while James Tuia (MSP) and Riley Higgins (Petone have achieved this feat twice.

Most tries in a Swindale Shield, Jubilee Cup or Hardham Cup match 2006-2023 (up to and including Round 6):

6 tries

Mike Kingsbeer (Marist St Pat’s)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 5
Marist St Pat’s 88 – Wainuiomata 3

Tauaosi Tuimavavae (Poneke)
2013 Swindale Shield Round 3
Poneke 102 – Rimutaka 0

5 tries

Brendan Watt (Marist St Pat’s)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 3
Marist St Pat’s 55 – Tawa 3

Julian Savea (Oriental-Rongotai)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 4
Oriental-Rongotai 78 – Old Boys-University 17

Ajay Va’alepu (Northern United)
2011 Jubilee Cup Semi-final
Northern United 29 – Poneke 3

Dean Brunsdon (Northern United)
2013 Swindale Shield Round 11
Northern United 85 – Rimutaka 0

Faresa Tasele (Marist St Pat’s)
2019 Hardham Cup, Round 7
Marist St Pat’s 74 – Avalon 7

Faresa Tasele – 5 tries for MSP against Avalon in 2019. Photo: Hugh Pretorius.

4 tries

Mike Pehi (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
2006 Swindale Shield Round 1
Hutt Old Boys Marist 32 – Upper Hutt 29

Anare Koliavu (Northern United)
2008 Swindale Shield Round 11
Northern United 92 – Avalon 3

Fraser Middleton (Petone)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 1
Petone 86 – Avalon 9

Charlie Ngatai (Poneke)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 3
Poneke 76 – Old Boys University 0

Alapati Leiua (Northern United)
2009 Swindale Shield Round 10
Northern United 58 – Wests Roosters 6

Paulo Aukuso (Oriental-Rongotai)
2009 Jubilee Cup Round 2
Oriental-Rongotai 52 – Tawa 7

Buxton Popoalii (Northern United)
2010 Swindale Shield Round 8
Northern United 59 – Johnsonville 10

Johnny Teleaga (Northern United)
2012 Swindale Shield Round 11
Northern United 75 – Rimutaka 0

Telea Seumanutafa (Northern United)
2012 Jubilee Cup Round 4
Northern United 31 – Hutt Old Boys Marist 18

Te Wehi Wright (Old Boys-University)
2012 Hardham Cup Round 4
Old Boys University 34 – Northern United B 10

James Kusel (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
2013 Swindale Shield Round 8
Hutt Old Boys Marist 50 – Poneke 22

Siaosi Finau-Lealiifano (Tawa)
2013 Jubilee Cup Round 2
Tawa 55 – Petone 14

Nick Grigg (Petone)
2015 Swindale Shield Round 8
Petone 61 –Paremata-Plimmerton 11

Teariki Ben Nicholas (Old Boys University)
2016 Swindale Shield Round 6
Old Boys University 32 – Wellington 6

Te Wehi Wright
2017 Swindale Shield Round Round 4
Old Boys University 86 – Paremata-Plimmerton 8

Hayden Schrijvers (Upper Hutt Rams)
2017 Hardham Cup Round 10
Upper Hutt Rams 71 – Poneke 14

Tupou Sopoaga (Petone)
2018 Swindale Shield Round 10
Petone 65 – Johnsonville 0

Tomasi Palu (Old Boys University)
2018 Swindale Shield Round 10
OId Boys University 48 – Hutt Old Boys Marist 16

Luca Rees (Oriental-Rongotai)
2018 Swindale Shield, Round 13
Oriental-Rongotai 43 – Johnsonville 3

Ryan Preston (Tawa)
2018 Swindale Shield, Round 13
Tawa 62 – Paremata-Plimmerton 14

Luca Rees (Northern United)
2019 Swindale Shield, Round 1
Northern United 76 – Johnsonville 0

Luca Rees, 4 tries in a match on three occasions, and for two different clubs. Photo: Chainsaw Photos.

Caleb Cavubati
2019 Swindale Shield, Round 4
Tawa 74 – Johnsonville 3

Luca Rees (Northern United)
2019 Swindale Shield, Round 7
Northern United 57 – Paremata-Plimmerton 5

Willie Fine (Petone)
2019 Swindale Shield, Round 9
Petone 91 – Avalon 5

Teariki Ben Nicholas (Old Boys University)
2019 Swindale Shield, Round 10
Old Boys University 106 – Paremata-Plimmerton 7

James Tuia (Marist St Pat’s)
2019 Hardham Cup, Round 1
Marist St Pat’s 45 – Paremata-Plimmerton 21

Faresa Tasele (Marist St Pat’s)
2019 Hardham Cup, Round 4
Marist St Pat’s 59 – Upper Hutt Rams 22

Brandyn Laursen (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
2020 Swindale Shield, Round 3
Hutt Old Boys Marist 59 – Johnsonville 5

Tyler Tane (Wainuiomata)
2020 Swindale Shield, Round 8
Wainuiomata 63 – Paremata-Plimmerton 19

Luke Bowden (Northern United)
2020 Swindale Shield, Round 10
Northern United 90 – Paremata-Plimmerton 5

James Tuia (Marist St Pat’s)
2021 Swindale Shield, Round 4
Marist St Pat’s 45 – Poneke 8

Riley Higgins (Petone)
2021 Swindale Shield, Round 9
Petone 54 – Paremata-Plimmerton 10

Pena Va’a (Oriental-Rongotai)
2022 Swindale Shield, Round 10
Ories 42 – Paremata-Plimmerton 24

Riley Higgins (Petone)
2022 Swindale Shield, Round 11
Petone 52 – Avalon 19

Ben Brooking (Petone)
2022 Swindale Shield, Round 12
Petone 72 – Johnsonville 8

Julian Savea (Oriental-Rongotai)
2022 Hardham Cup, Round 2
Ories 65 v Wellington 11

Stanley Solomon (Petone)
2023 Swindale Shield, Round 6
Petone 41 – Tawa 17

Sapati Tagoai (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
2023 Swindale Shield, Round 7
HOBM 59 – MSP 24

Kyle Preston (Old Boys University)
2023 Swindale Shield, Round 7
OBU 61 – Wainuiomata 17

Jaxon Poutama (Northern United)
2023 Swindale Shield, Round 7
Norths 64 – Wellington 3