OBU captain Calvert looking forward to big early season clash this Saturday with Petone

Hooker Louie Calvert carries the attack to Johnsonville in the opening round. He returns to the Goats for his second season and is captain this year. The Goats are hosting Petone this Saturday on their Old Timers’ Day. PHOTO: Andy McArthur. 

• By Steven White

It’s been a mostly even start to this year’s Swindale Shield for Wellington club rugby’s championship aspirants, with plenty of questions still to be answered heading into this coming weekend’s third round set of matches.

One such week three fixture carrying plenty of intrigue for Swindale Shield followers is that of the two clubs meeting at Nairnville Park, Old Boys University and Petone, on the occasion of OBU’s Old Timers’ Day.

OBU came back from a big deficit to pip Johnsonville 41-37 in round one and then picked up from where they left off to lead Wainuiomata 33-0 at halftime and then win 55-12.

Petone had an equally convincing first-up 37-10 win over Tawa but were then defeated 26-18 by the Upper Hutt Rams.

OBU’s new captain this year, Louie Calvert, agrees its is a tight competition. “Any team can beat each other on the day, so it’s close and teams know they have to play well every week to stay on top,” he told Club Rugby this week.

“For us, two wins from two is always going to be a good way to get our season underway. It was tighter in the first game but all teams are still trying to work out their combinations and we were no different, with some players away with the Wellington and Hurricanes U20s during our pre-season games.

“We wanted to focus on getting our start right against Wainuiomata and that worked out for us, and we were happy with our win on Saturday.” In less than ideal conditions, OBU led 33-0 at halftime.

The result was eye-catching for some given that rain. Although conditions at William Jones Park reportedly weren’t as bad as other venues such as Helston, Lyndhurst, Evans Bay and Hataitai Parks where the southerly hit hard right about kick-off.

The good news as we publish this 48 hours out from kick-off, is that the sun is forecast to be shining for this round.

Wainuiomata’s Keanu Kotuhi clears a path with openside flanker Greg Lealofi following the action closely, in OBU’s Peter Dunford Cup win over them this past Saturday. Photo: Peter McDonald. 

OBU has a handful of new players in their forwards who are settling into the Goats. New loosehead prop Gareth Ward-Allen has joined the team from the BoP via Otago and lock/loose forward Harry Irving was last year’s CSW Player of the Year out of Scots College.

Plus, a couple of others in their second years such as hooker Calvert, loose forward Dougal Perrers and lock Oskar Lynch who played in 2022 but not last year and who calls the lineouts in league with Calvert.

Calvert also points to greater depth this year. “Our depth has improved, and this shows that we are still fronting a healthy Premier 2 squad and are fortunate we have a wider squad of players we can rotate. There might be a couple of new faces who will get their Premier debuts coming up. The Colts have also made a good start in their competition.”

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This year’s OBU captain and hooker Louie Calvert scores two tries against the Upper Hutt Rams last year. The lineout drive has always been a strength of OBU’s and expect more of the same through

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OBU and Petone meet for the Marc Verhoeven Trophy this coming Saturday, which carries special significance for both clubs.

Marc Verhoeven captained both Petone and the Wellington representative side in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning several Jubilee Cups with the former, and was later OBU’s (then Harlequins) first Premier captain in 1992 and 1993 following the merger. He passed away in Australia in 2011.

The Goats are the current holders, having won 20-13 in this corresponding round last year.

In 12 meetings, OBU have won nine, Petone two and there has been one draw (the first one in 2012)

Current OBU manager Dave Calvert (captain Louie’s dad) and assistant coach Glynn Champion played with Verhoeven in those first Harlequins sides.

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Louie said the club is looking forward to a big Old Timers’ Day crowd on the terraces at Nairnville Park, their first match since 2022.

Father Dave was a flanker and played eight times for the Wellington Lions in 1993, while uncle Matt was a loose forward and hooker who was a NZ U21s player in 1987/88 and played for Marist St Pat’s in the 1990s.

Louie has predominantly always been a hooker, having spent his formative years at Hutt International Boys’ School and spending his final year in the HIBS First XV in 2018, a year HIBS earned promotion to the CSW Premiership.

He then moved to Dunedin to study sports science.

“I played for the Dunedin Sharks club, but actually didn’t play much down there. I tore my ACL in my first year and spent most of that season and my second in 2020 doing my rehab from surgery. I came back to play Colts in 2021 and we won the championship that year, but then took 2022 off to concentrate on my post-graduate studies.”

Returning to Wellington, Calvert played a full season at hooker for OBU and was selected in early season Wellington Lions training squads for Ranfurly Shield defences, but didn’t play owing to injury. After the club season he played some matches for the Centurions last year.

He is currently working as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach at the BuildABody gym in Lower Hutt.

He will lead his side out of the Nairnville Park Recreation Centre clubrooms on Saturday for his 17^th Wellington club rugby battle. In 16 matches he has scored 13 tries, so would like nothing more than to add to that tally and raise the Marc Verhoeven Trophy aloft.