One more U18s match to come, Hurricanes U16s tournament starts on Monday

The two Wellington teams meet Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay on Monday and Tuesday in the first two days of the Hurricanes U16 tournament, both vying for a place in the Don Broughton Shield final on Wednesday. More on their tournament below.  

• By Steven White & Scott MacLean

Including the international match on Saturday night, this weekend is the final bumper weekend of rugby in the capital for the year, while it continues through to the middle of next week with the Hurricanes U16s tournament being played. A brief preview follows.

U18s

An added bonus for Wellington rugby supporters tomorrow, with the Wellington Samoa U18s and the Wellington Māori U18s meeting in a non-competition end-of-season clash.

Wellington Samoa were unlucky beaten finalists in last weekend’s Hurricanes U18 tournament A final, while Wellington Maori were convincing B division final winners over Wairarapa-Bush.

With nothing on the line in this fixture, expect a fast-paced open match with lots of action. Kick-off down at Evans Bay Park is 1.00pm.

Heartland Championship

The penultimate round of the Heartland Championship sees both of Wellington’s neighbours at home. The draw has done sixth-placed Horowhenua-Kapiti no favours, as after taking on unbeaten leaders South Canterbury last Sunday at Eden Park, they face second-placed Whanganui tomorrow at the Levin Domain. HOBM’s Mika Alaifatu returns to the ‘Nua side at No.8 in place of Pare-Plim’s Alex Fidow, joining his clubmates William Rua and Brandyn Laursen in the run-on side along with Esi Komaisavai.

Wairarapa-Bush sits second-bottom, and to make the playoffs likely need bonus point wins against both West Coast – who they take on tomorrow at Memorial Park – and East Coast away in Ruatoria next week AND a swag of other results to go their way to sneak into the Lochore Cup. Wainuiomata prop Jordan Sului returns to the side off the bench with loose forward and captain Logan Wakefield and midfielder Fiula Tameilau both playing their blazer games.

In the other matches South Canterbury are at home against East Coast, Thames Valley head east to face Poverty Bay in Gisborne, Mid Canterbury are across the Alps in Westport against Buller, and North Otago make the journey to Te Kuiti to take on King Country.

NPC

The Wellington Lions are in Pukukohe tonight, ahead of the Under 85kg National Club Cup between Pakuranga and Christchurch HSOB and thBledisloe Cup clash at Wellington Stadium.

Wellington goes into the match with Counties Manukau top of the table, though Tasman do have a game in hand as they face their “storm week” with Otago tomorrow, then Auckland midweek and Taranaki to follow with the last two potentially also Ranfurly Shield defences. There’s a trophy at stake against the side from the Bombay’s with the Jonah Lomu Memorial Trophy – currently held by Wellington – in play.

The Lions have made a handful of changes to the side that got past Bay of Plenty in Golden Point last week. Two are enforced with both Penieli Poasa and Akira Ieremia rule out after failing HIA’s against the Steamers, so Leni Apisai and Dominic Ropeti are elevated from the bench in their place. Siale Lauaki replaces PJ Sheck as the starting tighthead in their regular rotation, while the only change in the backs sees Stanley Solomon starting on the left wing in place of Pepesana Patafilo who was also an injury casualty last week. The bench gets reinforced with the returns of Callum Harkin, Tom Maiava, and Teofilo Paulo, with Upper Hutt’s Leon Tuiloma likely to make his debut as Apisai’s back-up.

At the other end of the NPC table, the Manawatu Turbos will look to re-start their engine against western neighbours Taranaki in New Plymouth on Sunday afternoon.

Hurricanes U16s Tournament

the Hurricanes U16s tournament returns in full next week, to be played at Playford Park, Levin, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

As always, the teams are split into two divisions. The Division 1 teams play for the Don Broughton Shield and the Division 2 sides for the Saracens Cup.

There has already been one pre-tournament round, with Wellington Black pipping Wellington Gold 29-23 and Hawke’s Bay beat Manawatu 24-19.

In Division 2, Whanganui beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 62-31 and Poverty Bay defeated East Coast 43-33.

Rounds two and three are played on Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday being Finals Day when the 2024 champions will be crowned and the Player of the Tournament and a tournament team will be selected.

The draw for the three days next week is:

2023 recap

Recapping last year, Wellington Gold won the 2023 tournament in a thriller.

In the final, Wellington Gold and Hawke’s Bay A fought out a 22-22 draw as Hawke’s Bay came back from a 10-point halftime deficit. The Wellington team won the tournament and Don Broughton Shield on the countback that they had won their pool play match. This had been a 17-15 win on the Monday. Manawatu beat Wellington Black 26-19 in the playoff for third.

The Division 2 Saracens Cup, Hawke’s Bay Development came from behind to beat Poverty Bay 19-17. Whanganui beat Wairarapa-Bush 29-0 to finish third.

About the Don Broughton Shield

A full article about the Broughtons and the silverware that bears the family name can be read here: http://hyrc.org.nz/news/the-broughtons-of-punahau-maori-football-club.html

An extract from the link above about Don Broughton, of whom the Shield is named after is below:

“On moving to Levin from South Taranaki, Don Broughton joined the Levin Wanderers Rugby Football Club and is said to have played in the Horowhenua Māori team against the Wellington Māori side in 1954 and 1956. He played for the Levin Wanderers Club until he was well over 50 years old, as a flanker and No. 8.

“It is believed that Don married Mona Paki (Muaupoko, Rangitane) from Hokio Beach and his only son Tane (now deceased) represented Horowhenua at the Under 16 representative level. It is thought that it was at this time in 1972, that Don presented the Hurricanes Youth Rugby Council Shield that carries his name.

“Don worked for the Levin Municipal Abattoir, and he was actively involved in youth rugby in the Levin area, also donating a trophy for the local Saturday morning competition. He was a great supporter of youth rugby, with a strong sense of community spirit.”

Winners and tournament MVPS

Our records on this website go back to 2012 – see below.

Division A winners since 2012:

2012: Wellington
2013: Wellington
2014: Hawkes Bay
2015: Wellington
2016: Wellington
2017: Wellington
2018: Hawkes Bay
2019: Wellington
2020: Tournament not played owing to COVID
2021: Hawkes Bay
2022: Manawatu
2023: Wellington Gold

The Players of the Tournament since 2012 have been:

2012: Leni Apisai (Wellington)
2013: Nese Solia, (Wellington)
2014: Braydon Iose, (Manawatu)
2015: Naitoa Ah Kuoi, (Wellington)
2016: Malo Manuao, (Wellington)
2017: Ropati So’oalo, (Wellington RFU)
2018: Treyah Kingi-Taukomo, (Hawkes Bay)
2019: Dominic Ropeti, (Wellington)
2020: Tournament not played owing to COVID
2021: “Tournament Team” not named owing to COVID disrupted Tournament.
2022: Ryder Crosswell (Manawatu)
2023: Isireli Qaranivalu (Hawke’s Bay)

Teams (as received)

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