Swindale Shield standings close up on wet afternoon, MSP and Petone share Women’s first round

Petone and Avalon met in the mud at the Petone Rec this afternoon. Photo: Caroline Lewis. 

• By Steven White & Scott MacLean

Results and scoring HERE

Updated: Just 11 points is separating the leading eight teams after eight rounds of the Swindale Shield, after another day of big results contested in wet conditions this afternoon.

The Paremata-Plimmerton Hammerheads still lead the competition by a point (on 35 points) after their 60-19 Old Timers’ Day win over Wainuiomata for the Smith & Wilson  in pouring rain at home this afternoon, while Marist St Pat’s and Tawa both had important wins away from their home patches.

Paremata-Plimmerton scored all nine of their tries through the backs against Wainuiomata, with Louis Northcott and Joe Faleafaga both scoring hat-tricks and first-five scoring 20

MSP bounced back from their big loss to HOBM last Saturday with a 27-26 win over neighbours Oriental-Rongotai, whilst Tawa pipped the Upper Hutt Rams 22-20 away at Maidstone Park.

Those two results were the closest margins of victory of the day, and keeps both Tawa and MSP firmly in the race to make the Jubilee Cup in five weeks from now.

Tawa won the game and took away the Bill Brien Challenge Cup via a penalty try late in the match. The Rams had led 13-7 at halftime, Tawa had gone ahead 15-13 and the home side had scored again to lead 20-15, ahead of the penalty try. The Rams would miss a pair of kickable penalties at the end to win the game.

The loss for the Rams and a win for the Old Boys University Goats at Porirua Park against Northern United means that OBU are tucked into second (34 points) ahead of the Rams (32). OBU beat Norths 37-23 – more on that game below.

Petone are in fourth (28) after returning home to beat the Avalon Wolves 38-12 for the Morgan Family Trophy, ahead of the Johnsonville Hawks (27) who defeated the Wellington Axemen 52-22 at Hataitai Park for the Mick Kenny Cup.

Johnsonville led 26-15 at halftime and Jacob Walmsley came off the bench and scored a second half hat-trick.

Tawa are just behind (26), followed by Ories (25) and MSP (24) rounding out the top eighth.

Hutt Old Boys Marist are next (21) after beating Poneke 24-14 at Kilbirnie Park on Poneke’s Old Timer’s Day.

For the Eagles, Lise Soloa playing in his 100th Premier match scored two of their three tries, after they led 14-7 at halftime. Backs Caleb Robson and Sam Meo were Poneke’s two try-scorers. HOBM won the interclub Roy Johns Memorial Shield as well.

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A Norths red card midway through the second half and the deteriorating conditions in OBU’s  favour, saw the visitors sail home to their 37-23 win on the top field at Porirua Park and also take home the Murray Henderson Trophy.

With the scores locked up at 20-20 and Norths gaining ascendancy, Norths lock Siauini Ulugia-Mao was sent off for a stray boot incident, which helped sway momentum in the visitors’ favour and soon after they scored a converted try to move ahead 27-20.  In driving rain and with the wind picking up, first five Tom Henderson kicked them into further field position in the corner and they scored again and added a penalty at the end.

OBU had led 20-13 at half time, but Norths had started the second half in positive vein by scoring a converted try through flanker Olano Afutoto off the back of a turnover from a scrum inside the 22 to lock up proceedings.

The close of the first half saw OBU score what amounted to a “10-point try”. They scored a try to flanker Cody Quinn from the lineout in the corner from a penalty which was converted from the sideline, but Norths questioned the legality of the lineout drive as they got back to halfway. Referee Hamish Mexted took offence and awarded OBU a penalty from the re-start and first five Tom Henderson nailed the kick.

Norths had earlier gone ahead 10-0 in steady drizzle that started just before kick-off through a forwards try to No. 8 Rees and a 40-metre penalty to Dudley Parsons. OBU got back into the game by scoring a well-taken try from a scrum 30 metres out that saw fullback Josh Morgan Ranui inject himself and score to the right of the posts.

Norths kicked another penalty to go ahead 13-10 which was answered by OBU first five Henderson to make it 13-13 heading into half time before their decisive burst of scoring.

On an extremely difficult day, the game was decided in the forwards, with lock Taine Plumtree an ever-present figure and hooker Louie Calvert playing well in general play, while Henderson’s kicking off the tee and in play saw him a worthy stand-in for injured Callum Harkin.

Premier 2

A couple of close results in the Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield on Saturday afternoon.

The Premier 2 curtain raiser at Porirua Park was a hard-fought affair throughout, with Norths winning 12-10 over OBU.

In dry conditions, OBU had the advantage of the moderate wind in the first half and they held a 10-7 lead up until midway through the second spell when Norths scored through right wing Javan Upton in the corner with about 15 minutes to play, which proved to be the match winner.

MSP edged Ories 22-17 in the Polo Ground curtain-raiser, giving them a combined winning score of 49-43 across the two matches there this afternoon.

Tawa, Poneke and Petone remain the three unbeaten sides after eight rounds of this competition. Tawa lead the standings by two points, after their bonus point 28-17 win over the Upper Hutt Rams, with Poneke and Petone in second equal.

Poneke beat the HOBM Eagles second XV in a marquee Premier 2 clash of the afternoon, while Petone accounted for the Avalon Wolves 64-12 in the largest win of the day.

The other results saw Paremata-Plimmerton beat Wainuiomata 57-15 and Johnsonville edge Stokes Valley 10-5 in the late match at Delany Park.

Women’s

Petone and Marist St Pat’s shared the Women’s first round Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy after today’s last round of matches. Both knew that bonus point wins were a must, and that’s what they accomplished.

Petone had the easier task and pitched a shut-out at Ngati Toa Domain winning 48-0 over Pare-Plimmerton. MSP had the more difficult job, facing Norths in a repeat of last year’s championship final where a second half surge carried them to a 38-10 win over Norths.

In the other matches Ories were 53-12 winners over HOBM/Wainuiomata, and Avalon accounted for Poneke 30-0 through scoring six unconverted tries.

Steady drizzle greeted both teams at Porirua Park as Norths took on MSP with plenty on the line. There were plenty of nerves early on, but Norths were first on the board when Syntyche Tuimaolo sniped over in the corner, and they extended their lead when indecision by MSP saw Shaye Whareaorere crash over.

Knowing that a win was all that mattered, Norths were effective at keeping the ball away from the opposition and their dangerous backline especially. It was 30 minutes before MSP had their first real chance and they took it with Georgia Daals crossing, and that was followed by Maia Broughton to narrow it.

MSP continued their period of dominance after the resumption when Marcelle Parkes crossed from short range. Norths tied it up through fullback Mariah Chadwick but from that point the scoring was all MSP as Parkes, Broughton, and Daals each scored their second. Parkes after a Norths error following a downfield kick, Broughton darting over after some sustained pressure, and Daals in the final play of the game when after hacking the ball through she won the race against the ball to the dead-ball line.

At Ngati Toa Domain, Petone started needing a bonus point to give themselves a shot at winning the title, regardless of events up the road at Porirua Park.

In the same damp conditions, Petone started the game off on the front foot and scored two early tries, but the home team Paremata-Plimmerton played well and stayed in the game, and it wasn’t until late in the first half that Petone scored their third try to go up 15-0 at halftime.

The bonus try came just after the resumption in play, and from there the match result was never in doubt and they sprung out to a 48-0 win, which included five of eight tries being scored through the forwards, and then waited anxiously for news of the other game.

The grade now splits for the second round. MSP, Petone, Norths, and Ories head for the Tia Passi Memorial, with the Izzy Ford Cup beckoning for the others.

Colts

There were three Friday night encounters and two today in the fifth round of the Paris Memorial Trophy Colts competition.

In last night’s games, OBU Green beat Wainuiomata 71-0, after leading 35-0 at halftime, Norths beat Wellington 38-14 and HOBM Green beat Tawa 21-13.

In the two affairs today, Ories defeated the Upper Hutt Rams 30-17 and MSP pipped Poneke 14-12 in a tight match.  Petone had the bye.

HOBM are the competition leaders with five straight wins but have yet to have their bye. Petone remain in second, with the Rams, Tawa and OBU all within striking distance just behind.

U85kg

A mixed bag of results in the JC Bowl this afternoon.

The OBU Scallywags continue to lead the standings in an unbeaten six-game winning run so far, after beating Paremata-Plimmerton 38-0.

Poneke, Tawa and Stokes Valley are all grouped together just behind after dropping one game. All three won their matches today though, with Poneke defeating Petone 32-0, Tawa accounting for Wellington 87-0 and Stokes Valley holding off the HOBM Howlers 14-10.

In other results, the Johnsonville Terrahawks beat Wests 29-10 and Marist St Pat’s and Eastbourne drew 5-5.

College

First XV reporting and photos by Joe (@tackld)

Two games of the Tranzit Coachlines Premiership were played in the Upper Hutt Valley.

In the early game St Patrick’s (Silverstream) took on Wairarapa College. Wairarapa College started the stronger. Uncustomary loose play from Stream allowed the visitors to enjoy a fair chunk of territory and possession. Honours were shared with it being 5-all at halftime.

A revitalised Stream team would put on a dominant display in the second half. No. 8 Braydon Soi was his normal menacing self. Fullback Thompson Tukupua also gave a solid performance. Safe under the high ball in wet conditions, his kicking and running game allowed Stream to turn defence to attack on a number of occasions. Final score: Stream winners 47-5.

Wairarapa College will rue not turning more of their opportunities into points. All good learning for a young team. Le’Sharn Reiri-Paku showed his versatility, first at halfback and then at first-five. Wairarapa’s flanker Cooper Thompson gave a tireless display.

While most teams played in the mud today, Hutt International Boys’ School and St Bernard’s College enjoyed the pristine conditions found at the NZCIS in Trentham. It was a re-match of a grading game that was only played a couple of weeks ago. The victors would again be HIBS but only just.

It took a while for both teams to settle to the conditions with there being plenty of spilled ball in the first half. HIBS would get the only points of the first half when they charged over the line from a quickly taken free-kick.

St Bernard’s finished the game strong with a try under the posts and a late surge of flourishing rugby in trying conditions. HIBS ‘earlier decision to take points on offer and convert two penalties proved smart, helping them to take the fixture 11-7.

HIBS played a patient game and kept their composure despite the trying conditions. Tyler Craig (open side flanker) and Oscar Reid (prop) were both steady contributors. For St Bernard’s, Peighton Fa’amausili (open side flanker) proved he’s fearless in defence and first-five Josh Leafa-Paki was his normal incisive self. Josh also gave plenty with his leadership and communications in keeping Bernard’s motivated right until the end.

All scores from the first round of the Tranzit Coachlines Premiership: Silverstream 47-5 Wairarapa. Rongotai 36-10 Tawa. Scots 87-5 Mana. HIBS 11-7 St Bernard’s. Wgtn Coll 16-14 St Pat’s Town (traditional fixture played on Wednesday).