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Some tight matches in Premier club rugby this past weekend, including Johnsonville’s 36-29 win over Avalon at Fraser Park. Photo: Hugh Pretorius.
Monday morning edition: Welcome to week seven, where rugby supporters and players will be in rugby heaven with what is coming up.
There are a couple of mid-week First XV fixtures. On Wednesday, St Pat’s Town hosts Hato Paora College at 12.45pm. On Thursday, Scots College host Hastings Boys High at 12.00pm at their school grounds.
The Hurricanes will look to bounce back from their 27-31 defeat to the Blues against Moana Pasifika on Friday night at Wellington.
Unlike this Saturday just played, there are no Premier matches in Wellington city. There are three in the northern regions and four in the Hutt Valley. These are at a glance (home teams first, Premier 2 and Colts the same draw):
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Two first fives in good form a couple of kilometres apart on Saturday – Sam Clarke for Paremata-Plimmerton and Calum Harkin for Old Boys University.
Sam Clarke: 46 Premier club rugby games, 363 points, 34 wins. Tjay Clark: 33 Premier club rugby games, 250 points, 21 wins
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A Swindale Shield thriller down at the Hutt Rec on Saturday – with HOBM winning 27-26 but not before Tawa’s Kemara Hauiti-Parapara had a penalty kick at the end to win but it hit the post and missed.
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OBU’s Dougal Perrers is not the biggest N0. 8 going around, but he’s amongst the heartiest.
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Niko Patelesio 20 tries in his last 10 matches for Wainuiomata.
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A shoutout to the WRRA referees this past weekend. Their resources to stretched to breaking point on Saturday, but their line held in the end.
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Emmanuel Solomona was hard to miss on Saturday, with his purple hair and pink boots. He also played well to match his livery. Daniel Schrijvers also played well at centre for the Rams. An all action player, with his sevens and loose forward background.
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Good to see Ieti Campbell come on for the last 20 minutes and make his Premier debut on the left wing for the Upper Hutt Rams. He is coming back from a nasty knee injury sustained while playing for Scots College last August.
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On the subject of injury returns, it has been reported to that Cam Roigard is making good progress and could be back sooner rather than later.
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If St Pat’s Town don’t make the Premiership, does that make their Traditional fixture against Wellington College on 22 May (next Wednesday) a ‘friendly’? Same with Wellington College’s midweek fixture a fortnight later against Rongotai if they are in the same boat?
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Four tries to Ories women’s fullback Ivana Samani on Saturday. She has now scored 28 tries in 23 games for Ories.
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Mustaches of Wellington club rugby – who has the best?
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Bring back All Black trials.
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Reserve Grade watch. The UH Rams J8s made it three from three to start the Mike Copeland Cup Division 1 competition, beating the Poneke Ruffnuts 43-20.
In other Division 1 matches on Saturday, the UH Rams Pirates beat the Johnsonville Cripples 31-24 and the Petone Brotherhood beat Norths 64-17.
The MSP Internationals and the UH Rams Thirstys are the two unbeaten teams in the Reserve Grade competition.
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Congratulations to No. 8 Siaosi Lavea who played his 50th Premier match for Ories on Saturday.
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Another good game on Saturday by MSP halfback Sam Connor, scoring two tries and kicking 4 conversions for 18 points.
This match was initially recorded and reported as a 33-27 win to MSP, but was revised to 35-27 so the Wellington Axemen are still searching for their first bonus point.
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Try time for Ories against Wainuiomata in their Swindale Shield match on Saturday. By Peter McDonald.
Featured photo gallery: When four All Blacks played in the 2012 Jubilee Cup semi-final between Ories and Wainuiomata at the Polo Ground. Ories won 45-17. https://clubrugby.smugmug.com/2012-Archive/2012-Jubilee-Cup/Semifinal-Ories-45-v-Wainui-17
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The Collins Medal for Player of the Day in the Petone – Norths Premier match was awarded to Petone lock Sam Tonise.
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Openside Veveni Lasaqa was in fine form for Paremata-Plimmerton in their 27-23 win over Poneke on Saturday. Lasaqa played for the Hurricanes in their 38-33 extra-time win over the Reds in R2 of Super Rugby Pacific. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, he moved to New Zealand to attend Tauranga Boys’ College. He has played 18 games for Bay of Plenty and scored three tries.
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The weight 'restriction' for U13 rugby in Counties Manukau this season is 85kg.
Israel Adesanya weighs 84kg.
My 12 year old weighs 37kg.
It's not going very well— Steve Deane (@SteveDeane2029) May 10, 2024
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Has Norths ever conceded as many as 88 points on their home ground at Jerry Collins Stadium?
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Auckland club rugby watch. Defending Gallaher Shield champions Manukau Rovers were beaten 85-12 by ninth-placed Waitemata in Auckland on Saturday. Manukau is 0-6 in 2024.
It was even worse for Waitakere, losing 134-0 to Grammar Tech. Historian Paul Neazor believes only Ponsonby has posted a bigger score in a Gallaher Shield match.
With the heavy emphasis on the First XV competition (despite the principals moving to suppress coverage of it) and the Blues kicking off at 4.30pm at Eden Park on a Saturday afternoon, perhaps its a bit of a neglected competition?
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Not much was learned about the Black Ferns in their 57-5 thrashing of the USA on Saturday. The start was hot with four tries in eight minutes, but a 28-minute scoreless period was poor. Blindside Freda Tafuna was the Eagles’ best player. A floor installer of Tongan extraction out of Lindenwood University in St Charles, Missouri, she scored the American’s only try after 14 gutsy phases. Tafuna scored a try against the Black Ferns last year and in 2023 won the MA Sorensen Award named after Maryann Sorensen, who was a women’s collegiate rugby trailblazer at William & Mary and was the starting prop for the USA when they won the 1991 World Cup and made the next two World Cup finals in 1994 and 1998.
There were no Wellington players in the Black Ferns 23 for this match.
No men commentating on the Black Ferns Test. Sexist?
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Daniel Sinkinson scored two tries for Wainuiomata in their upset of Ories on Saturday. Sinkinson played the last of his four matches for the Hurricanes in a 54-28 win against the Rebels on March 22. He has played 22 games on the wing for Waikato and scored 11 tries. He started his rugby as a loose forward, good enough to make the Hamilton Boys’ High School First XV in 2018 that won Super 8 and made the National Top Four losing to eventual winners St Peter’s College, Auckland in the semi-finals. Sinkinson reflected in 2023.
“As a flanker, I was quick on the side of the scrum, strong in the tackle, and a general menace.
“I enjoyed Hamilton Boys’ First XV but the second XV a year before was even better. The firsts are run like a professional team. We were training seven times a week with shuttle runs on Monday mornings before school. It was pretty hectic, good for some, others it broke.
“I grew to love sevens and had a crack at it after leaving school. I was really fit and found my skills and the extra space suited the game. Physically I’m not big enough to dominate the tackle area. I even tried centre but there wasn’t much doing.”
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The New Zealand U20s enjoyed a 36-25 win over their Australian counterparts in the final of the U20 Rugby Championship on the Sunshine Coast yesterday. It was touch and go, as Australia came back from a 19-6 halftime deficit (two tries to left wing Stanley Solomon) to take the lead with about 15 minutes to go and NZ having had their second player sent tot he sin-bin. But NZ got their noses in front and sealed it towards the end. As well as Solomon on the left wing, Fuko Paongo started at second-five and Jeremiah Avei-Collins came off the bench as a loose forward. Feilding hooker Vernon Bason captained the side, while Manawatu’s Sam Coles also played well off the bench and would go well in the Swindale Shield.
When you’re 80-0 down.
Take the three.
And miss!
Priceless reaction from the Gloucester fans… pic.twitter.com/LPENYv09qy
— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) May 11, 2024
