![](https://clubrugby.nz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Web_banner-Rugby33.png")
Random celebration shot – Upper Hutt wins the Hardham Cup in 2006. Random future All Black back left?
Updated late morning: When the WRRA appointments page goes quiet.
The season is on a fast-track to its conclusion, with just the Wellington Lions versus Waikato NPC semi-final to come this coming weekend.
Both semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday, as shown below:
Your Bunnings NPC Semi-Finals 🔐
Who's going to claim provincial glory in 2024?#BunningsNPCPlayoffs
📺 Watch live on @skysportnz pic.twitter.com/Wg8pH1mfzp
— Bunnings NPC (@BunningsNPC) October 13, 2024
The Lions and Waikato didn’t meet in the round-robin. The last time they did was last year’s quarter-final, which Wellington won 32-28. This was typical of their meetings, with high scoring close games the norm rather than the exception.
In the other semi-final match, Bay of Plenty will host a resurgent Canterbury after their 62-14 win over Tasman yesterday.
+++++
The WRFU Wellington Lions and community awards were last Wednesday night.
The winners can be found here at this WRFU article: https://www.wrfu.co.nz/news/2024-wellington-rugby-award-winners
+++++
We also await details of local sevens club tournaments. Mark down Monday 28 October for the Condor 7s at Naenae College (a fortnight from today).
+++++
A big result last Thursday, with the New Zealand Schools team beaten by the New Zealand Māori’U18s. Scoring from that game: NZ Māori’U18 Ngā Whatukura: 22 (Dallas Rata-Makene, Jayden Broome, Wiremu Brailey tries; Rata-Makene 2 cons, pen) New Zealand Schools: 15 (Tyi Sinkinson, Aio Keith tries; Mason Verster 2 cons, pen) HT: 19-8.
The last time New Zealand Schools had lost a non-test fixture was on September 25, 2012, when they were beaten by a record score of 11-37 by Waikato Under 20s. In the same campaign, New Zealand was beaten 14-16 by Australia on October 6. No future All Blacks featured.
In 1990 the New Zealand Schools were beaten by Wales 11-17 and Australia 7-9. Future internationals included: Todd Miller, Tabai Matson, Marc Ellis, Filo Tiatia, Charles Riechelmann, Taine Randall and Perry Freshwater (England). Ellis, Tiatia and Freshwater all went to Wellington College.
++++++
The Hurricanes U18s and Crusaders U18s met at Upper Hutt on Friday. Both teams had been in camp all week at Upper Hutt and Christchurch respectively with the Crusaders flying up on the morning of the match. Both teams fielded big squads of 35 or more players, and the match was played in 3 x 35 minute spells and teams and combinations chopped and changed, so little to report as far as the breakdown of the match. The Hurricanes side led 12-10 and then 29-15 after the first two thirds, but the Crusaders came back strongly to level 41-41 on fulltime.
+++++
What has been Bradley Crichton been eating? He’s gone beast-mode – if he stays injury free a player for us to watch in 2025. Because of his size and he also has a high work rate and good ball skills as the best modern props tend to have.
+++++
Northern United’s Tamati Ellison now the fulltime assistant coach of the All Blacks, in place of Leon MacDonald who left the coaching group in curious circumstances recently.
+++++
It was confirmed by a third source on Friday (SENZ Radio) that Kyle Preston is heading to the Crusaders so good luck there.
A hole for Old Boys University’s Swindale/Jubilee title defences next season! Although the club has depth at halfback. Mitchell McLeod for one. Plus young players coming through such as Ollie Cuff who chose to play Premier Reserve rugby this year for the Billygoats (and often on the wing) over Colts rugby.
+++++
A bit of a stinker that eligible All Blacks and All Blacks XVs players will all be potentially taken out of the NPC for the business end of the competition. Over 65 players gone, just as the semi-finals and finals are reached. It’s normal now not to have All Blacks involved but New Zealand XV players as well is a blow for fans.
+++++
Heartland Championship chat
The longest winning streak in New Zealand first-class rugby was halted at Fraser Park, Timaru on Saturday when Mid Canterbury stunned South Canterbury 17-16 in a Meads Cup semi-final (1 v 4). South Canterbury had won 39 consecutive games without suffering defeat since October 2019 (1827 days ago) but blew a 16-6 lead after 71 minutes to succumb. A 30m penalty kicked by Tom Reekie with 84:23 showing on the clock won Mid Canterbury the game. Reekie had kicked a 72nd-minute penalty to close the gap to seven. In the 74th minute, Raitube Vasurakuta (40 games, 26 tries, 22 wins) scored Mid Canterbury’s only try of the game.
According to the Rugby Database, the most consecutive wins in a New Zealand Provincial competition are 39 South Canterbury (2019-24), 36 Hawke’s Bay (2001-04), 27 Auckland (1989-91), 25 Auckland (1986-88), 21 Wanganui (2015-17) and 19 Wellington (2022-23).
In all competitions, the longest winning streak in New Zealand first-class rugby belongs to Auckland who won 34 games in a row from 1987 to 1989. Following a loss to New South Wales in Sydney in 1989 they bettered that record with an unbeaten streak of 45 games from 1987-1991. Auckland holds the women’s record for most wins in a row with 71 between 1994 and 2006.
It was less stunning, but another upset at Cooks Gardens in the 2 v 3 semi-final with Thames Valley beating Whanganui 38-15
The upshot is next weekend’s Meads Cup final will be in the Coromandel between the Swampfoxes and Mid Canterbury and the Lochore Cup someone in Meads country between King Country and West Coast.
+++++
West Coast had a wild 52-51 win over Horowhenua Kapiti in Levin, the hosts scoring the most points by any side to lose a Heartland Championship match. With time up on the clock, the visitors were down 47-51 when they had two scrums and two hold-ups over the try line. Halfback Jamie Mitchell and No. 8 Gordie Lloyd both went within centimetres of scoring. Finally, the Horowhenua Kapiti defence cracked out wide when left wing Jamie Garland rushed over jubilantly for his third try. Garland had only scored four tries in his previous 30 appearances. Earlier hooker Troy Tauwhare had scored two tries. Tauwhare was one of the major architects of Kiwi’s (Hokitika) phenomenal 93-match winning streak in the Wallsend-Taylorville Estates Cup West Coast senior club rugby competition, and his second try broke the all time West Coast scoring record record and he now has has 28 career tries in 107 matches.
The match was barnburner from the start, with both sides piling on the entertainment and the tries. West Coast, who were strong up front and had the breeze in the first half, had their noses in front throughout much of the contest. HOBM’s Willie Rua was a popular first half try scorer. He started at blindside but later moved into hooker. Later in the second half, two of the Nua’s Wellington club rugby players helped spark the comeback that ultimately put them in the lead in the 76th minute, with Esi Komaisavai making a typical bombastic break in broken play to set up a try and then the educated boot of captain Brandyn Laursen giving them field position inside the 22 to attack and score again. With the visitors Earning a penalty and lineout in the opposite 22 with a couple of minutes to play, big defence was called for. It initially held, but as described above it couldn’t prevent the winning try – as seen below.
+++++
+++++
+++++
Two unusual features of Waikato’s 15-14 win over Taranaki were openside flanker Ollie Mathis playing on the wing. The Hamilton Boys’ High School prodigy managed 10 tackles, two turnovers, and a try. He dotted down twice against Canterbury last Saturday.
Fullback Tepaea Cook-Savage (All Blacks Sevens) kicked an outrageous 45m drop goal to stretch Waikato’s lead to 15-0. There were only four drop goals in all first-class rugby in 2023 and Cook-Savage kicked one of those in Waikato’s 27-12 win over Auckland (Xavier Roe scored three tries). Waikato has only kicked five drop goals since 2005.
+++++
82000 people attending a single URC game today!!
82000!!……that's the combined season attendance for an entire season of Super Rugby!!
— Scrumming Flyhalf (@scrumming_ten) October 12, 2024
Big crowds in Europe.
+++++
Following our post about the Australia U18s above – green shoots for Australian Rugby?
RA director of high performance Peter Horne: “Of the Australia under 18 squad that toured and defeated NZ Schools last weekend, 23 out of 26 players have committed to rugby for 2025” 👍 pic.twitter.com/NTP2jqykJr
— OBBY (@OBBY001) October 12, 2024
By our count, Jackson Garden-Bachop needs just 3 points to move into second place on the all-time Wellington Lions top scorers list, ahead of John Gallagher on 797 – look out for Peter Marriott’s stat attack tomorrow.
The Wellington Lions now have 100 wins at Wellington Stadium. Rumours are that they will be moving to Porirua Park fulltime next season, backed up by there being no Lions add-on option for Hurricanes membership renewal for 2025.
Their first win at Wellington Stadium? That was against Canterbury on 11 August 2000 when they beat Canterbury 27-20.
+++++
“Forget the numbers for a second. Disregard the bells and the whistles, turn off the hype machine and pay no mind to professional sport’s reliance on artifice, writes 1News sports presenter and commentator Scotty Stevenson.
Resist the spoon-fed prime time stadium soft serve and grab a double scoop of the regions instead.
This is where the real rugby is still played, and there was plenty of it on show over the weekend.”
Read more: https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/10/14/scotty-stevenson-provincial-rugby-protect-it-at-all-costs/
This column is coming to an end for 2024. It is a collaborative effort and contributions and information always welcome. To assist please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz
