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Petone with the first round Division 1 Tia Paasi Memorial Trophy after today’s extra-time final at William Jones Park. Photo: Andy McArthur.
- By Steven White, Scott MacLean & Adam Julian.
The Petone Ponies and Oriental-Rongotai drew 24-24 at the end of 100 minutes of today’s Division 1 Tia Paasi Memorial Cup final, but Petone was awarded the silverware because they scored more tries in the final. Paremata-Plimmerton won the Division 2 title, beating Poneke/OBU 29-12 in their decider. More on these matches below.
The Premier Men’s Swindale Shield could go down to the final whistle next Saturday, after leaders Old Boys University pulled out their get out of jail card with a last-gasp converted try to beat Marist St Pat’s today.
In winning 22-20, OBU took four competition points from the day and moved to 54 points on the ladder. Second placed Petone defeated Paremata-Plimmerton 35-25 with a bonus point to go to 50 points in their match for the Ken Gray Cup. So OBU will need to beat Northern United in next week’s final round with a bonus point to ensure the first round title is theirs.
After earlier turning down a succession of shots on goal in the first half, to trail MSP 13-12 at halftime, OBU needed all of 80 minutes to beat their rivals for the Jack Lamason Trophy.
In a lively contest, each team lost a player to the sin-bin, before OBU first five Callum Harkin kicked a penalty to put OBU up 15-13. MSP took the lead at 20-15 with a converted try to centre Iosefo Aukusitino and it looked like they would hold on and win at home at Evans Bay Park. After previously been kept out, OBU scored their match-equalising try to centre Elijah Maene-Lokeni and then replacement kicker Malo Manuao stepped up to kick them to victory with a sideline conversion.
With the scores locked up at 20-20, Malo Manuao had this kick to win…. #clutch
Goats win 22-20 🐐 pic.twitter.com/Y1y8bEtxlp
— The OBU Goat 🐐 (@TheOBUGoat) June 22, 2024
The round started with a minute’s silence in all matches to mark the tragic passing of Connor Garden-Bachop earlier in the week.
Garden-Bachop’s home club Northern United earned an emotional victory over the Avalon Wolves at Fraser Park. In a spirited contest, Avalon led Norths 13-12 at halftime, before Norths pulled clear to win the match 28-23.
Two other sides heading for the Hardham Cup in a fortnight, Johnsonville and Wainuiomata contested a high scoring match at Helston Park. Wainuiomata blindside flanker Teru Tme was playing his 200th Premier match and he helped his side to a 43-26 win over the Hawks. Second five Tyler Tane scored a hat-trick for the visitors.
Oriental-Rongotai had star power for their match over the Wellington Axemen, with All Blacks No. 8 Ardie Savea on show for the Magpies. Aided by Savea, Ories led 44-0 at halftime and then went on to win the match for the Alby Jack Memorial Cup 90-7.
The Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles are outright third on the Swindale Shield points table with a week to play, following their 29-18 Roy Johns Memorial Shield win over Poneke at home. Despite the loss, Poneke remain 10th on the ladder, below ninth placed Wainuiomata.
In the final match of the afternoon, emotions ran high at full time at Lyndhurst Park when Tawa first five Solomon Uelese scored a try with the final play of the game to lock the scores up at 32-32 and then following a skirmish on the tryline, Uelese composed himself to kick the winning conversion from 15 metres inside the touchline to win the game for the home side.
It was heartbreak for the Upper Hutt Rams who had defended feverishly over the final 10 minutes after second five Emmanual Solomona had scored a converted try off a lineout in the corner to see the Rams regain the lead, followed by a penalty to replacement first five Tynan Barrett that gave the Rams an eight point lead that meant Tawa had to score twice to win.
Uelese cut the deficit to 32-27 with a penalty before being a central figure in the heroics at the end.
In an exciting end-to-end match, the Rams had led 17-7 late in the first half, scoring three tries to one in this period.
Tawa had opened the scoring with a textbook 20 metre rolling maul try from a lineout. But the Rams’ forwards hit right back with a penalty and lineout in the opposite corner and hooker Leon Tuiloma scored their first try.
The Rams had made a late change to their lineup, Hurricanes fullback Salesi Rayasi starting the match in the 15 jersey and sporting a pair of bright pink boots. Rayasi was involved in the next two tries, the first of these off another Rams lineout, and Rayasi running strongly inside the 22 and passing to right wing Todd Svenson for try number two in the corner. The Rams led 10-7 after 20 minutes.
The third try was all Rayasi. He picked up the ball from a ruck on halfway and glided 50 metres to score under the posts untouched.
Tawa then missed two consecutive try-scoring chances of their own, the first from some big defensive play on their own line by the Rams forwards, and the second when right wing Sene Nofoaiga was tackled into touch in the far corner. The Rams then also lost the first of two players to the sinbin when try scorer Svenson was shown yellow by referee Mexted.
The first half continued with action aplenty, leading to Tawa centre Connor Sharrock chasing up a kick-and-chase by Nofoaiga and scoring in front of the clubrooms. Uelese’s conversion cut the score at half time to 17-14 to the Rams.
In gathering darkness, the second half quickly developed into an arm wrestle between the two evenly matched teams. Tawa went close to scoring but were held out, although the Rams lost a second player to the sinbin with Solomona dispatched. Tawa eventually scored from this passage of play, and they retook the lead at 21-17.
That man Rayasi stamped his mark on the game a third time by kicking a 50/22 immediately following the next restart. With the lineout throw, the Rams pounced, and energetic hooker Tuiloma scored his second try to put the visitors up 22-21.
Tawa retook the lead with a Uelese penalty to make it 24-22 ahead of the fireworks to come in the fourth quarter. In winning, Tawa won the Mexted Motors Cup and defended the Bill Brien Challenge Cup.
Petone overcame a rough start to ultimately subdue a stubborn Paremata-Plimmerton 35-25 at the Petone Rec and regain the Ken Gray Memorial Cup in a match where both sides struggled to meet the standards set by referee Charlie Harris.
Petone suffered a loss even before kick-off when Losi Filipo was withdrawn – apparently at the request of Wellington Lions management – and it didn’t get better after less than 90 seconds after the ball found Hammerheads livewire Esi Komaisavai who fended off Riley Higgins and Te Manawa Staples-Rei fielded the following kick through to cross, and two Sam Clarke penalties had the visitors up 11-0 in as many minutes.
Petone responded twice through their tight forwards; first hooker Ryan Imrie profited off a driving maul and then tighthead Kafaonga Katoa barged his way over. Both were converted by Harry Godfrey, but the Hurricanes player suffered an ankle injury soon after and was replaced, pressing Cam Ferriera into action sooner than he’d anticipated. Clarke added a third penalty for the visitors when Sam Tonise headed to the bin and had lanky flanker Keepa Cherrington held up under the sticks after a superb offload from Werdna Maligi-Leota before Logan Henry, substituting for Godfrey as both first-five and kicker added two penalties to have Petone up 20-14 at the break.
As fast as Pare-Plim started the first, Petone were almost as quick in the second as they had the visitors under pressure from the restart, and inevitably profited from close range. Pare-Plim would survive Cherrington being sent to the bin for a late and low shot on Belgium Tuatagaloa, and two further Clarke penalties reduced the margin to just 5 with 15 to play. Henry would kick Petone into a two-score lead with his third penalty, before and with veteran prop James Coburn in the bin Higgins fought his way through a number of defenders to score. As the game got a bit spiteful late Pare-Plim had the last say through Louis Northcott, but it was too little too late.
Premier 2
The Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield is also OBUs to lose with a round to go, and a win over Norths next week will see them lift the Trophy.
The Goats trampled over MSP 73-24, while Tawa – the only other side in contention – beat Upper Hutt 45-29 at Redwood Park.
Petone are third after seeing off Pare-Plim 36-7, with HOBM fourth after beating Poneke 45-27. In the remaining matches Ories beat Wellington 53-15, Johnsonville beat Wainuiomata 52-20, and Norths edged out Avalon 40-35.
A kicking masterclass from Rory Woollett underscored Petone’s 36-7 win over Pare-Plim in their Harper Lock Shield clash as the sometimes temperamental first-five kicked five 50/22s with halfback Josh Tanner adding a sixth.
The Villagers dominated territory and possession to be up 17-0 at the break with Woollett scoring a try, penalty, and two conversions. That continued into the second as they added two more – the second through Sam Blackburn, scorer of THAT McBain try two years ago – before the visitors finally found some space and got on the scoreboard. But Petone’s strength would prove too much and they added a fifth for the final margin. They could have had a sixth, but veteran back Tamahou Waikari – the only player older than referee Scott MacLean who was refereeing his 100th match in this grade – twice had his hands let him down with the line wide open.
Colts
There might be two rounds left in the Paris Memorial Colts, but the trophy will be remaining at the Hutt Rec. HOBM recorded their 11th bonus point win of the season in thumping Poneke 82-0, but the only other contender, Upper Hutt lost 10-26 to Tawa.
Petone are now second, surviving a 25-24 result against Pare-Plim, with Ories now third from their 47-8 over the Axemen. Elsewhere Norths beat Avalon 20-7, OBU beat MSP 45-30, and Johnsonville finally got their first win in beating Wainuiomata 19-17.
In the Colts curtain raiser at Lyndhurst Park, home side Tawa beat the Rams Colts four tries to one. In a game that promised a lot but ulitmately fell flat for long periods as neither side could wrestle ascendancy and both had misfiring lineouts at different stages of the contest. Tawa were leading 14-10 with a few minutes to play and pulled clear with two late tries which delivered themselves a bonus point win.
The first of these was scored after an attacking scrum platform and the backs cashing in off the set-piece platform. Following the very next kick-off, fullback Euta made a searing break into space and passed inside to halfback Paenga to score the match-sealing try.
The game had started promisingly for the Rams Colts when No 8 Jackson Mendoza kicked and ran straight through Tawa’s defences to score the first try. The Rams added a penalty to go 10-0 up, but that would be their final scoring of the match.
Tawa scored their first try from a lineout in the corner which was converted to put them up 10-7 at half time. After a long period of no further scoring in the second spell, Tawa prop Vagana bulldozed his way over under the posts after a 90 second build-up with multiple phases.
U85kgs
The Tawa Ducks just need to return from their bye next weekend to beat Wellington with a bonus point win to annex the first round JC Bowl on their own terms. Tawa are on 45 points, with defending champions OBU Scallywags behind them on 40 after they beat that Wellington side 53-22 this afternoon.
Avalon will finish no lower than third, after being defaulted to today by Petone and earning 5 points without taking the field. Poneke occupy fourth after beating the Paremata-Plimmerton Piranhas 17-12 this afternoon, while the HOBM Howlers are fifth after beating Eastbourne 46-12. The other match was the closest of the day, with Johnsonville beating Marist St Pat’s 34-31.
Women’s
As noted at the top of this article, Petone won the Women’s Tia Paasi Memorial Trophy after drawing 24-24 with Oriental-Rongotai, while Paremata-Plimmerton won the Division 2 Izzy Ford Cup after beating Poneke-OBU 29-12.
It took Petone 100 minutes to officially win their first Wellington Women’s Championship title since 1993, winning four tries to three. A 24-24 draw with Ories was sufficient to give them an undefeated season and overall honours.
Petone was down 21-12 after two tries early in the second half to left wing Ayesha Leti-L’iga. Both were long-range efforts. The first an intercept from halfway and the second a 40 metre dash where she turned the Petone fullback in knots. She had earlier scored the game’s first try as Ories went up 7-0 very early on. Petone came back with two tries to lead 12-7 at halftime.
First five Amanda Rasch kicked a penalty after Petone scored a try to make it 24-19, and then the drama really began in the last 10 minutes.
Petone’s first-five Keira Sua-Smith dotted down for a hat-trick to make the score 24-24 with two minutes to play.
From the re-start, Ories snaffled possession and busted down field. Rasch had a penalty to win the game, but this drifted narrowly wide of the target.
Mayhem ensued in extra time, with Leti-L’iga remarkably being yellow carded as Ories initially made the best attacks but were denied by stoic Petone defence. Petone replacement Tia Brown scampered 50 metres clear and thought she had scored a try, but it was denied after a consultation between the officials.
The second period of extra time followed a similar pattern to the first, but it was Ories who were finishing the stronger, with Ories threatening in midfield and Rasch looking to play wide. Inexplicably, with the last play of the game, Ories won a penalty about 22 metres out directly in front and Jane Bryce chose to tap. She got tackled, and Ories went left and a prop out wide dropped it and that was the game.
In the Division 2 final, Paremata-Plimmerton made a positive start with first five Te Arani Te Puni slicing through in clean air off a lineout on the far side to score under the posts to put her side up 7-0.
Another break into space and inside pass to the try-scorer put them up 14-0 after 21 minutes.
Poneke-OBU’s forwards and lineout went well, and following lock Zara Feaunati being bundled into touch going for a try, she came up with the try off a subsequent lineout to see them trail 14-5 at halftime.
Early in the second half, Paremata-Plimmerton chased up and regathered a kick ahead and powered on to attack and centre Shakira Baker crossed to extend the lead to 19-5. More consistent pressure led to their fourth and match-winning try with a 15 minutes to play, followed by a turnover by first five Te Puni and a second try to Baker to make it 29-5.
Poneke-OBU fought hard to the end and left-wing Mollie Leota-Wolves had the final say of the Division 2 final with a try off an intercept.
College
Wellington College lead the First XV Premiership on 23 competition points after their 52-7 win in Lower Hutt this afternoon over St Bernard’s College.
St Pat’s Silverstream are second on 21, following their 73-0 win over Rongotai on Wednesday, and St Pat’s Town third on 20 after beating Tawa College 34-19 this afternoon.
Scots are fourth on 16 ahead of Rongotai on 15 after Scots’ 36-19 away at Wairarapa College today.
In the tightest battle of the day, Paraparaumu beat Hutt International Boys’ School 16-13.
In Premier 2, the Silverstream and Wellington College Second XVs are joint first on 21 points after today’s fifth round. Silverstream beat Hutt Valley High School 22-12 in a feature match today. HVHS are on 20 a point back from the leaders. Wellington College beat Taita 57-19.
In other games, Bishop Viard beat the Town seconds 25-22, Porirua were 38-7 winners over the Rongotai seconds and Aotea College defeated Naenae College by default.
Elsewhere
Away wins for both Massey and Feilding Yellows in today Top Five matches in the Manawatu.
Yellows beat College Old Boys 31-21, with Massey topping Old Boys Marist 47-24. Kia Toa had the bye. In the Bottom Four Linton Army continued their recent run beating Freyberg 32-19, and Te Kawau kept Feilding Old Boys-Oroua winless winning 46-10.
The Rahui machine rolled on in Horowhenua-Kapiti, easing past Levin Wanderers 79-5, while Levin College Old Boys topped Paraparaumu 59-29 at the Domain. It was closer in Waikanae where visitors Shannon beat the home side 29-22.
Close games were the order of the day in Wairarapa-Bush. Leaders Marist stay top, but only just after a 40-38 win over Martinborough, but Carterton were tipped over 27-26 by Pioneer. Eketahuna edged out Masterton Red Star 14-10, while Greytown kept their hopes alive with a 34-26 win over East Coast.
