Great days in club rugby 002: Memorable fightbacks

Petone’s Willie Moala on the way to the tryline in their roaring 39-34 win over Marist St Pat’s in the last round of the Jubilee Cup in 2007. MSP had led 26-8 earlier in the match. 

In this new series for 2024 to usher in a new season of community rugby in Wellington, we have broken into the ‘Today in Club Rugby History’ files, selected a small sample of these matches and divided them up into similar categories of occurrences.

Since the first season that the Jubilee Cup was contested in 1929 there have been approximately 8,000 Senior A/Premier club rugby matches contested in Wellington.

This looks at some instances of memorable fightbacks during games; capturing the changes of ascendancy and momentum swings during the 80 minutes of battle when both teams leave it all out there on the field. Of course, these are just a small sample, for every one highlighted below there could be several more of these types of games.

12 memorable club rugby fightbacks

7 April 1984 Poneke come back from 0-24 down at halftime to beat WCOB 32-24 in one of the great fightbacks. Second half tries to John Alefalo (2) and Harry Bryon close the gap to 20-24 after 70 minutes before Dale Keith scores the winning try.

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20 May 1994: Marist St Pat’s lead Harlequins 30-0 at halftime but Harlequins come back to win 33-25.

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7 April 2001: The cliché “game of two halves” is no more appropriate as in this match at the Polo Grounds between home side Oriental-Rongotai and visitors Johnsonville. Ories turn around a 7-22 deficit to beat Johnsonville 34-29 in a 9-try thriller. Johnsonville dominate the first half, but whatever was said at in the halftime huddle works and Ories come back into the game and Ma’afa Pale scores the winning try in the 76th minute.

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14 August 2004: Jubilee Cup final: Petone claw back from a 6-20 deficit to win the Jubilee Cup. First five-eighth Earl Va’a kicks a late penalty for the Villagers to give them a 21-20 win over favourites Norths.

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2 July 2005: Avalon come from 3-19 down to pip MSP 28-26 at Fraser Park in a classic Jubilee Cup encounter. As part of a rousing comeback, Avalon wing Noel Woods scores the match winner with time almost up. Centre Finau Hopoi is the Player of the Match, making several incisive breaks in the second half. Fullback Andrew Turner is also dangerous, while prop Errol Weston is a powerful force up front for Avalon. As it transpires, if MSP had held on for the win, they would have made the semi-finals, but they instead finish fifth with Avalon sixth.

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3 June 2006: Upper Hutt beat Petone 34-20 after being behind by a whopping 17 points at the turn. Petone have a chance to push further ahead early in the second half but a missed penalty serves as a catalyst for Upper Hutt to get back into the game. Ben Aoina helps them establish field position and Petone’s discipline crumbles as two players are sent to the sin-bin. No. 8 James Mei scores two second half ties for Upper Hutt for a match hat-trick.

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29 July 2007: Petone produce the fightback of the 2007 season to secure their spot in the Jubilee Cup semi-finals, beating top qualifier Marist St. Pat’s 39-34 at home at the Petone Rec. Long-serving wing Willie Moala scores in the corner at the end to break a 34-34 deadlock and complete a blockbuster Petone win – after they had trailed 8-26 at halftime. Super-sub Neemia Tialata has been a key cog in Petone’s fightback. The two teams meet again a week later in the playoffs and this time MSP wins 24-23 in another epic contest between the established rivals.

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13 July 2013: Poneke roar back to beat competition leaders Hutt Old Boys Marist 32-16, scoring 24 unanswered points. HOBM led 16-8 at the break, with Dylan Hayes scoring their only try and first five-eighth Brandyn Laursen kicking the rest of their points. After scoring his first try earlier, Poneke wing Tauasosi Tuimavave crosses for the game-sealing try after a tighthead scrum win and late surge.

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2 July 2016: The Upper Hutt Rams end Oriental-Rongotai’s unbeaten record in the second round with a stirring come-from-behind 46-29 win at home. The Rams were seemingly dead and buried at 7-24 behind late in the first half, but instead of rolling over they flick the switch and launch a furious five-try assault. Flankers Mitchell Markov and Daniel Schrijvers and centre Max Pearson are key players in the comeback that see them snatch a 26-24 lead at halftime and then 38-24 midway through the second spell. Ories rally and briefly threatened again, but the cocksure Rams score another try and then for good measure fullback Salesi Rayasi scores on the hooter. The Rams will miss out on the upcoming semi-finals, but this loss ultimately means they miss out on a home semi-final.

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7 May 2022: Northern United’s dramatic 31-30 win over the Upper Hutt Rams proves a catalyst for kick-starting their season into gear, and they will go on to win the Jubilee Cup. The match at Maidstone Park for the Terry Farrow Memorial Cup comes alive with about 20 minutes to play. Norths fight back from a 30-17 deficit with two tries after sustaining a red card. Centre Losi Filipo’s second try of the game makes it 30-24 to the Rams, before Norths get themselves back into the 22 and create pressure with phase play, before an all-in pile-up of bodies over the line results in lock Boston Hunt coming up with the try. First five Dale Sabbagh adds the conversion and Norths take the one-point win.

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3 June 2023: Never say never for the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles. In a gritty match at Lyndhurst Park, HOBM have hung in there all game and are rewarded by beating Tawa 23-22 in their Bill Brien Challenge Shield match. HOBM’s Brandyn Laursen kicks a 45m penalty to win almost on time. Tawa had scored an early try and had the upper hand throughout the contest.  HOBM kept in touch and held Tawa to just a 10-5 lead at halftime and won’t lie down as the second half develops. A key moment is a penalty try to HOBM in the last quarter, off a lineout drive, also seeing Tawa lose a player to the sin-bin for the next 10 minutes.

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1 July 2023: A Premier 2 comeback story from last year. The first week of the finals series sees second seed Petone hosting third seed Poneke at Poneke No. 2. Petone have seemingly sealed the win when leading 31-13 with 8 minutes to play. Petone then lose a player to a yellow card off the next kick-off and Poneke score with a try to replacement prop Lupe Tafaovale. This is the catalyst for two more tries, to lock  Adam McRandle  and Dom Ririnui – Sipa – the winning try. Max Rodgers slots all three conversions and Poneke win 34-31.