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Try-time for the Wellington Pride in their match against Counties Manukau on Sunday at the Hutt Rec. The visitors won 53-20.
Representative rugby gets underway this coming weekend and we are into semi-finals of college rugby and Reserve Grade club rugby.
Premiership First XV semi-finals at a glance are (both games kicking off at 12.30pm):
- Scots College (1) v Hutt International Boys’ School (4)
- St Pat’s Silverstream (2) v Wellington College (3)
Reserve Grade Division 1 semi-finals are to be confirmed.
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There is also a midweek U85kg match listed in the draws, with the Tawa Ducks and Stokes Valley down to meet at Lyndhurst Park at 7.00pm.
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The Wellington Samoans and Wellington Fijians meet at NZCIS on Saturday at 1.00pm.
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Hutt International Boys’ School made the semi-finals for the first time in the Premiership with a 5-4 record. Their previous best season was in 2014 when they beat Wellington College, Rongotai College, and Palmerston North Boys’ High School.
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Another team that was in action yesterday was the ‘Wellington Barbarians’ against Manawatu. We had no idea who this team was/is, particularly in this post-comms era, but have been told that the Wellington Barbarians are the Wellington Women’s Development team and that they won.
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Looking out for the Wellington Lions NPC squad to be announced on Tuesday. Cutting it a bit fine as their first match is this coming Saturday evening in Palmerston North against Manawatu, for the Coronation Cup.
Looks like James O’Reilly is back. He had surgery late last year on his troubled shoulder/neck and has been rehabilitating all year to date.
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Plus, other WRFU squads such as the Wellington U19s and Centurions (Wellington Development) to be announced any day now.
It is our intention to collate and publish our annual ‘what’s coming up over the next two months’ article. So we have a list of all matches coming up in the school and representative rugby space. The purpose of this is to provide an alternative source of information than sitting on social media 24/7 to read the graphics as they come up on timelines.
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The most incredible week in Ories’ history. Jubilee Cup champions, HD Morgan Cup champions, John E Kelly Cup Colts champions despite losing the semi) and Aride Savea captained the All Blacks to their biggest win at the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere on Saturday night.
An entertaining Colts Division 1 final on Saturday in fine conditions, in front of a large crowd on the Polo 2 ground.
The match was moved from Polo 1 to Polo 2 owing to Ories having played on that same field in previous matches and also due to predicted poor ground conditions on the No. 1 ground.
Ories employed the physical approach throughout the first half as they leapt to a 17-0 lead, which could have been more. OBU regrouped and the comeback was on early in the second spell when they closed to 17-14 and again a bit late at 27-19. But Ories pulled away again for the win.
This was Ories’ second ever Colts Division 1 John E Kelly Cup title, following their first in 1994. Who was in that 1994 team?
It remained 0-0 in the Colts Division 2 final at Maidstone Park up to about the 35-minute mark. Poneke led the Upper Hutt Rams 7-5 at halftime before the Rams took control in the second spell. The final score was 31-7.
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As the presentations were getting underway, the Scots College – St Bernard’s College First XV match was getting underway on the No. 1 ground. This match was moved owing to the apparent poor state of the Scots College fields.
Scots were too strong for St Bernard’s, who nevertheless played well in patches and like to give it a go on the counterattack. For Scots, players like lock Sione Latu and prop Samuela Moli were simply too big for their opposites, while openside flanker Reweti Ngarimu played well. Scots seemed to rest a couple of their first choice players too, such as Ieti Campbell. They also lost a midfielder through injury during the first half.
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Up the road, Rongotai College ended their season on a high, beating Wairarapa College 20-19 – any reports on how that panned out?
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On Saturday, Jonathan Fuimaono won a fifth senior club title when Rahui beat Shannon 23-22 in the Horowhenua-Kapiti Ramsbotham Cup final at the Levin Domain. Meanwhile, the rest of Wellington scratches their head asking who Cameron Orr is from Western Suburbs. Rahui was 14-0 in 2023.
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A premature decision to blanket cancel the entire last round of the U15 grade on Saturday? Plenty of rain last week, but a lovely day on Saturday. This round has been re-scheduled to this coming weekend.
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A Wellington XV was comprehensively defeated by Taranaki on Saturday. The home team won with seven converted tries and led 49-7 after 70 minutes Wellington finished strongly and the final scored was 49-22. Hopefully not too much can be read into this, for example Wellington had several players out such as Du Plessis Kirifi, Xavier Numia, Peter Lakai, Asafo Aumua and Dominic Bird.
Taranaki had the edge up front, largely helped by experienced prop Michael Bent and All Black Josh Lord, who set the platform at scrum time for Taranaki to launch from.
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The Wellington Pride lost 53-20 to Counties Manukau yesterday in the Farah Palmer Cup. IN 2016 they were beaten 60-7 by the Heat in a semi-final. Portia Woodman scored four tries.
The Wellington Pride have lost five matches in a row, their worst run since 2013.
The loss yesterday – their third straight defeat – means they are gone for the season. Avoiding relegation to the Championship will be their chief concern over the next few rounds. The Pride play Hawke’s Bay at home this coming Sunday, followed by BoP (away), a week off for their bye and then Waikato (away).
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Marist Albion beat High School Old Boys 31-26 in the Canterbury Metro Premier club rugby final on Saturday.
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NPC-title winning odds (source NZ TAB):
- Wellington / Canterbury $4.00
- Auckland / Waikato $6.50
- Tasman $8.00
- Bay of Plenty / North Harbour / Hawke’s Bay $13.00
- Taranaki / Otago $18.00
- Northland $26.00
- Counties Manukau $31.00
- Manawatu / Southland $101
Rugby World Cup winners odds (source Ladbrokes Australia):
- New Zealand $3.60
- France $3.80
- South Africa $4.90
- Ireland $6.25
- Australia / England $10.50
- Argentina $23.00
- Wales $34.00
- Scotland $46.00
- Rest of field – no chance
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Ryan Ball: Give it to Scott Barrett a dozen times and only pass it to Reiko Ioane after an hour. Only pass or kick to Will Jordan after 10 phases. Caleb Clarke pick and goes are effective.
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South Africa beat Argentina in Johannesburg in a match dominated by bruising defence.
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