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The Tawa Ducks on Saturday following the presentation of the U85kg JC Bowl. They finished the first round with 10 straight bonus point wins having scored 559 points and conceded 83. The second round starts this coming Saturday and the Ducks will be hoping to do the double by winning the Paul Potiki Shield. Photo: Tawa Rugby Facebook.
That’s the first round over with. Now on to championship rugby throughout July.
Four weeks to play in the 2024 Premier club rugby season. As in recent past years, it gets ruthless now. Lose this coming weekend and it could be all over for many teams.
Matches this coming Saturday at a glance:
Jubilee Cup (Premier tier 1):
#1 – OBU (1) v Tawa (4)
#2 – Petone (2) v HOBM (3)
#3 – Upper Hutt Rams (5) v Marist St Pats (8)
#4 – Ories (6) v Pare-Plim (7)
Hardham Cup (Premier tier 2):
#5 – Wainui (9) v Avalon (14)
#6 – J’ville (10) v Wellington (11)
#7 – Poneke (12) v Norths (13)
It’s also the start of the second round for Premier 2 and U85kg competitions, while there is one more week to run in the Colts before they adjourn for a three-week finals series (finishing on the same day as the others). More in our week 14 preview on Friday.
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In school rugby, St Bernard’s College hosts Francis Douglas Memorial College on Wednesday, kick-off at 12.00pm.
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Not two but three close matches on Kilbirnie Park on Saturday. Petone won the Colts over Poneke with a last-gasp try in the corner, Poneke won the Premier 2s over Petone with a similar death-knock try and over on Kilbirnie 3, the Upper Hutt Rams j8s beat the Poneke Ruffnuts 33-31. The J8s are 4-0 with bonus points to start the second round Reserve Grade John Davies Cup competition. In the second tier Alan Seerup Cup the MSP Internationals are also 4-0 on maximum points, their latest win being a 25-17 win over the OBU Righteous/Pink Ginners team.
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What about the wheels being put back on the Johnsonville bus? Their 43-17 win over Marist St Pat’s who were seemingly improving was the eye-catching result of Saturday’s round. Johnsonville are back at home at Helston Park on Saturday and will be favoured to beat the Wellington Axemen. MSP are away to the Upper Hutt Rams so the pressure is back on.
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What about both HOBM and Poneke posting Instagram videos this weekend featuring the Hawk Tuah meme? Appropriate?
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The 2024 Wellington Pride squad was “released” last week by the union. The squad was posted to Instagram and Facebook only as a list of names, but if that is the way their comms roll that’s the way it is. Look out for some commentary about the team and what’s coming up for them here soon.
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Tawa College retained the Beard Trophy last Wednesday in their third challenge, beating Bishop Viard College 36-5. Their fourth and final defence of 2024 is after the upcoming school holidays, on 24 July against Aotea College.
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A familiar face on the bench for Marist St Pat’s on Saturday, with Peter Sciascia taking his place on the pine in Wellington club rugby for the first time in seven years and five days.
It was 20 years ago that Sciascia joined Avalon from Napier Boys’ High School. He played for Avalon between 2004-07, before joining MSP and doing the Swindale-Jubilee Cup double in 2008. He played for MSP until 2017, notwithstanding a couple of stints playing in Ireland. Sciascia is a former Billy Wallace Best & Fairest competition winner (in 2006 with Avalon) and was player of the Jubilee Cup final in 2009 when MSP beat Norths 21-16.
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In changing positions news, last week Ale Peni was at second five for the Avalon Wolves; this week he was in the front row for the Premiers at Maidstone Park. Last week Michael Reid was at tighthead prop for Tawa and six days later he was at blindside flanker and scored two tries in Tawa’s big win over the Wellington Axemen.
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Town’s extended First XV is made up of players from the following junior clubs:
Petone, Poneke, Wests Roosters Tawa 1 from each
HOBM, Wellington, Paremata-Plimmerton 2 from each
Oriental Rongotai 5
MSP 7
Norths 11
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Peter Lakai has resigned with the Hurricanes for three more years through to 2027 – that is if Super Rugby still exists in three years.
Lakai, of Tongan and Ghanaian decent has long been touted as a future star of NZ Rugby, coming through the Hurricanes development pathway and playing his schoolboy rugby at St Pat’s Silverstream under the tutelage of former Hurricane, Tim Mannix.
Selected in the New Zealand U20 side straight out of high school, An NPC debut followed, becoming one of Wellington’s youngest debutants, aged just 18 against Southland in 2021.
Two more years in the U20s followed, culminated by being named co-captain of the side which attended the 2023 U20 World Championship in South Africa.
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In Colts news, if Northern United (7 wins and on 38 points) beat Wainuiomata with a bonus point (1 win, 8 points) and Ories (8 wins, 41 points) lose to Tawa (8 wins, 43 points) at Tawa then defending Colts champions Ories are in Division 2 for the championship rounds. Ouch.
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Great to see Callum Harkin selected in the Wellington Lions squad 2024. Update Penieli Poasa is also in the squad, see graphic below.
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Are there too many teams in Wellington Premier club rugby?
Would a reversion to the 12-team Swindale Shield with a full Jubilee and Hardham round work again? What about a 10-team competition and a couple of extra clubs merging their top sides on geographical reasons but otherwise retaining their identities and lower grade teams. It’s already been happening in women’s club rugby for several years.
Because even for the stronger clubs its almost a case of last-man standing on the injury and player depth front.
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For years, the Crusaders plundered locks from the North Island and the Hurricanes region. Recently retired Sam Whitelock is one notable example. It goes the other way next year when Zach Gallagher joins the side ahead of 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season. A product of Christs College and the Crusaders Academy the 197cm Gallagher will add some size to the Hurricanes locking department, when he joins the side for preseason this November. Making his NPC debut for Canterbury in 2020, the then 19-year-old went on to join the Crusaders ahead of the 2022 season making a total of 19 appearances. It is unsure who Gallagher is replacing in the squad, they rarely tell you who is being let go.
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Rest in Peace Lolani Koko
The former Western Suburbs and Petone and Wellington Lions wing recently passed away, aged 60.
He was a big, strapping wing and scored 11 tries for Wellington in 1992 and was an All Black trialist that same year. He also played for Samoan XVs and Samoan 7s teams
He represented Wellington out of Petone in 1986-87 and out of Wests between 1990-92.
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Lock Tom Allen and half-back Jordi VIljoen have also signed their first full-time contracts with the Hurricanes through until the end of 2026. Bailyn Sullivan and Pouri Rakete-Stones have recommitted to the Hurricanes for 2025.
Great for these players. But who else has noticed that the Super Rugby franchises are making more of these announcements earlier and earlier?
In a previous era of Super Rugby, one thing that made it popular was less is more. It started in February and was all over by the end of May. Then there was a break and the NPC started, and we didn’t hear or see of Super Rugby again until the end of the of the year. Rinse and repeat.
One aspect that made the NPC competition compelling was watching for the first time the next crop of young players coming through . Or the players a bit older whose NPC form resulted in late year Super Rugby call-ups. Sure, sign all these young guys early, it makes sense from their point of view. But from a marketing perspective at least, they could refrain from announcing all these signings until after the NPC. That way the viewers, the fans, have more interest in watching and following and speculating who these next level players from this season’s competition will be.
Look at the All Blacks – Ninety five percent of the players are locked in, but it’s the one or two that make it compelling for the fans, many of whom weren’t expecting the Wallace Sititis and Pasilio Tosis to be included. And thus extra interest is generated.
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A month this week to the start of the 2024 National Provincial Championship season. Round one: Wellington v Auckland for the Fred Lucas Cup, Friday 9 August at Eden Park.
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Five from five in the Maddison Trophy Hawke’s Bay Premier club rugby competition for Taradale. They beat the Havelock North Villagers 38-7 on Saturday. Can they be stopped this season?
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The Auckland and Canterbury Premier women’s club competitions were won by the same teams that prevailed in 2023. In Auckland’s Coleman Shield final Ponsonby defeated Marist 26-13. In Canterbury, University defeated Christchurch 39-5.
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The Alan McEvoy Trophy was first contested in 1954, a few months after McEvoy, a 26-year-old Grammar prop who was an Auckland regular and who had trialled for the 1953 All Blacks, had drowned near Dargaville in a swimming accident. McEvoy played 29 matches for Auckland and was a regular at the time of his death. He had also appeared in half a dozen first-class matches for the B team, played for North Island and a New Zealand XV in 1952 as well as playing trials in 1953.
In their 150th Anniversary season, Ponsonby will win the Alan McEvoy Trophy as Auckland’s first-round champions in 2024 after a staggering 97-7 thrashing of College Rifles on Saturday. Ponsonby has a 12-0 record and is seven points ahead of second-placed Pakuranga with a round to play. Pakuranga is 11-1 with their only defeat to Ponsonby, 40-29 in May.
On Saturday Pakuranga defeated third-placed Marist 24-20 in a brutal and compelling tussle at Bell Park. Marist took an early lead through two cracking tries to winger Toara Ruben. Former Tawa halfback George Sims was instrumental to Pakuranga’s revival. He kicked four penalties and converted a try from second-five Tane Dunn when Pakarunga led 17-15 with six minutes remaining.
Pakuranga’s win was even more extraordinary if you consider Marist had Rugby World Cup winners John Kirwan, Terry Wright, Bernie McCahill and Zinzan Brooke playing for them. Well, at least in spirit. In a brilliant tribute to some of their past greats, each player wore the name of a legend in their position on their backs. Imagine Bob Scott returning for Petone. Graham Williams bolstering the Wellington Axemen?
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The New Zealand Under 20s started the World Rugby Under 20 Championship with a 41-34 victory over Wales. Stanley Solomon made the most carries in the match with 16. Vice-captain Xavi Taele was possibly New Zealand’s best. Taele carried a dozen times, made the most tackles by a back with nine, and scored two tries. His opposite Louie Hennessey impressed as well with two tries. The ‘Baby Blacks’ lineout was a source of two tries and disrupted Welsh ball but 29 missed tackles will be a concern, especially those missed in the last six minutes when New Zealand conceded two tries. In the 12-team tournament, only the top qualifier in the three groups and the fourth-best team overall goes through to the semis. New Zealand’s major rivals England, Ireland, France and Australia all won by a greater margin of points with a four-try bonus point each.
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A resounding 50-14 win by defending champions Scots College over Rongotai College should be enough for Scots to see off the nearest chasers and make the semis of the Premiership alongside Wellington College and the two St Pats schools. Though there are three rounds to play there is a distinct gulf between the top four and the bottom six. Rongotai has conceded a shocking 173 points in defeats against Scots, St Patrick’s College, Silverstream and Wellington College, a step backward for a side that consistently knocked on the door of the semis from 2016 to 2022.
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The Wairarapa-based arm of the Club Rugby team was in Martinborough on Saturday and in the middle for their 62-22 win over Masterton Red Star. Founded in 1903, Martinborough is a relative youngster compared to the clubs along State Highway 2, and like most have had their fortunes ebb and flow over the years. The past two years “Marty” has won the first-round Lane Penn Cup, but last year missed the major playoffs and this week need to avoid defeat when they host Eketahuna in order to skip the same fate this year. The side is coached by local builder and club centurion James Bruce, assisted by former Chiefs and Maori All Black Robbie Robinson who lives in the district and played for the team until suffering a serious concussion last year.
Like many country clubs Martinborough can’t claim to have an All Black. However in 1953 a-then 18-year-old Wilson Whineray played for the club and made the Wairarapa representative team, his first in his legendary association with the game here. But there is no bigger name in their history than the late Chris “Moose” Kapene, who played for both NZ Maori and the Junior All Blacks – the NZ “B” of it’s day – and was an All Black trialist three times during the early 1980’s. In those parts it’s considered something of a travesty he never played for the national side.
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A blockbuster secondary schools clash happens on Thursday at 12:30 pm when Hamilton Boys’ High School hosts Tauranga Boys’ College in a top-of-the-table Super 8 fixture. Tauranga has slayed four opponents by more than 40 points each in 2024 and boasts one of the best teams in the country. Hamilton is a perennial powerhouse and farewells legendary coach Nigel Hotham after this match. Hotham is bound for Hong Kong. He has won 351 out of 411 matches as Hamilton’s coach since 2003, including five National Top Four titles. TBC beat Hamilton to make the National Top Four in 2023. The last time TBC won in Hamilton though was in 2002. The match is featured on the Whakaata Māori channel at 12:30 pm.
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The Māori All Blacks made a winning start to their two-match tour, however the 36-10 win over a Japan XV in Tokyo was tinged with poignancy.
Coach Ross Filipo said post-match that his side had the memory of Connor Garden-Bachop motivating their performance, and that the “emotion was definitely high”.
“We thought we would honour him and his family by having his initials on our jersey, and the only way we wanted to respect it was by giving all we could on the game. Being physical and just giving that extra effort for Connor and his family to be proud of,” said Filipo, who was coaching the Māori All Blacks for the first time.
Read more HERE
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As always, this Monday column is a collaborative effort. If you have news or information to share or reveal or want to contribute please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz or contact us through social media.
