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Sideline Conversions 21 October (some news and information to start the week)

Welcome to finals week…NPC finals week.

The Wellington Lions have a shot at shooting for their sixth NPC Division 1/Premiership title when they host the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the final at Wellington Stadium this coming Saturday. It is a daytime match, kicking off at 3.05pm.

The Lions were previously NPC champions in 1978, 1981, 1986, 2000 and 2022. The Steamers have won before – they won the inaugural NPC Division 1 title in 1976, which was a straight round-robin series and matches and dates were all over the place. Wellington and Bay of Plenty drew 18-18 at Athletic Park in 1976, with Wellington leading 18-9 at one point only for the competition’s leading point scorer Greg Rowlands to kick three penalties in the second half.

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Wellington club rugby sevens tournaments dates have been confirmed, but not venues yet. These being:

  • Saturday 2 November (hosted by the Upper Hutt Rams)
  • Saturday 9 November (hosted by Oriental-Rongotai)

Local schools sevens tournaments coming up are:

  • Monday 28 October: Wellington Condor Sevens, at Naenae College
  • Saturday 2 November: Hurricanes Schools Sevens, at Feilding High School (note the clash with the club tournament)

It is still unclear whether the Regional and National Sevens tournaments are being held this year.

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The 2018 NPC final won by Auckland 40-33 against Canterbury in extra time at Eden Park was unquie in that attendance was free, and a crowd of more than 20,000 was drawn. The Lions wouldn’t have attracted 20,000 combined this season with an entry fee. Come on, Wellington Rugby, step up and made this weekend’s final FREE.

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Look out for our annual ‘Club Rugby Awards’ article on this website and shared to social media channels later on (probably Monday night).

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The semi-final between Wellington and Waikato hung in the balance for long periods before the Lions pulled clear to win.

Waikato lost a third of their lineout possession. Wellington won 15/16 throws.

So that will be a key area of the match to look out for in Saturday’s final.

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The Lions beat the Steamers 30-25 in extra time earlier in the round-robin, so the final promises to be another close match. The Steamers have a workmanlike pack and efficient backs. They also have a strong Wellington connection, led by former Poneke player and coach and Wellington lock Richard Watt. Others include Naitoa ah Kuoi (MSP), Benet Kumeroa (HOBM), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (MSP/Johnsonville), Reon Paul (Norths), Willis Halalolo (MSP) and Justin Sangster (Hurricanes).

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The last time the Lions and the Steamers met in a final was the then tier 2 decider in 2017. Scoring: Wellington 59 (Tolu Fahamokioa 2, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Sam Lousi, Brad Shields, Alex Fidow, Wes Goosen, Sitiveni Paongo, Julian Savea tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 2 pen, 4 con) Bay of Plenty 45 (Joe Webber 2, Luke Campbell, Tyler Ardron, Jesse Parete, Terrence Hepetema, Mitchell Karpik tries; Mike Delany 5 con). HT: 20-14.

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By our count, Jackson Garden-Bachop is sitting on 99 first-class games for Wellington. He missed the semi-final through injury, which would have been his 100th game for the Lions. So a return to the field in the starting XV or off the bench in the final would be his milestone game. The last player to achieve this for Wellington was Tana Umaga in 2007 against Manawatu.

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When Bay of Plenty last beat Wellington in Wellington in 2010 Ben Smith scored a try. Not the accomplished All Black. More here: https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/highlanders/other-elusive-ben-smith

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To be fair, this would be a Sky Stadium rule, not  a Wellington Rugby one?

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Pantsings come as no surprise on drunken stag nights … but on a rugby field? If Penieli Poasa had not scored a try would Waikato have been penalised for misconduct? Josh Balme’s deliberate pulling down of Filo Paulo’s shorts (and undies if he was wearing any) must surely contravene law 9.27 “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship.”

See the highlights reel (or perhaps don’t watch it in this instance) –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OiQ8GFTo14 – around the 8 minute 20 sec mark.

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The Heartland Championship came to its riveting conclusion this weekend, with the top 4 Meads Cup final on Saturday and 5 v 8 Lochore Cup decider on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Thames Valley Swampfoxes beat Mid Canterbury 37-29 at their home patch at Te Aroha. This was their second Meads Cup title and first since 2018.

On Sunday, the Lochore Cup went the way of the home side too, with King Country beating West Coast in an extra time thriller. The Rams won 46-44 after 100 minutes – but only after 2021 Wellington College first five Jacob Waikari-Jones had his winning conversion attempt at the end of regulation time hit the post and miss.

The first Heartland Championship game decided in golden point extra time was won by Mid Canterbury over Whanganui in 2021.

Combined the Meads and Lochore Cup finals had 13 lead changes.

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Purchase tickets: www.galabid.com/poneke

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New Zealand’s leading U85kg players are set to wear the black jersey for the first time with the national representative team announced late last week.

New Zealand Rugby are currently in discussions with another National Union about the overseas tour in 2025. National U85kg selections have been named in recent years but never assembled, the first weight-restricted representative side was assembled by the Barbarians in 2012 and featured Morrinsville’s Simon Sia who is selected again in 2024.

Wellington players named are:

  • Pasia Asiata (Poneke Wanderers, Wellington)
  • Matt Treeby (Tawa Ducks, Wellington)
  • Adam Preston (Tawa Ducks, Wellington)
  • Kees Jensen (Old Boys University Scallywags (injury cover/wider squad)

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The New Zealand Heartland squad was also recently announced.

Read more HERE (note headline is the wrong year, hopefully they will spot this and update)

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Forty-nine players have spent the past few days attending the 2024 New Zealand U20 Women’s Rugby Development Camp held at NZCIS in Upper Hutt. The three Wellington players involved have been:

  • Keira Su’a-Smith (Petone)
  • Eva Maora (Petone)
  • Arene Landon-Lane (Norths)

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In other news, the All Blacks are back in action this Saturday in Japan.

The upcoming fixtures for the All Blacks are:

  • Saturday 26 October- All Blacks vs Japan, 6.50PM (NZST), Nissan Stadium, Yokohama
  • Sunday 03 November – All Blacks vs England, 4.10AM (NZST), Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Saturday 09 November – All Blacks vs Ireland, 9.10AM (NZST), Aviva Stadium, Dublin
  • Sunday 17 November – All Blacks vs France, 9.10AM (NZST), Stade de France, Paris
  • Sunday 24 November – All Blacks vs Italy, 9.10AM (NZST), Allianz Stadium, Turin

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In other sports news, a great day/night for New Zealand Cricket. The Women’s White Ferns turning round a despairing losing streak to suddenly come good and win the T20 World Cup is why we love sport! Inspiration for those battling rugby clubs out there. In 2019 the White Ferns captain Sophie Devine played a rugby match on the right wing for Petone. This was against Ories and she was marking Ayesha Leti-L’iga!

“All the girls knew what I was getting in for and who I was up against in my first game but I had no idea and they didn’t want to scare me off,” Devine told Club Rugby afterwards.

“They didn’t tell me until after the game, that must have been why she ran rings around me!”

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Last, some more good news on the rugby front.

The Sunday Star-Times can reveal that New Zealand Rugby will soon announce that participation numbers have enjoyed an increase in 2024, including in the crucial areas of teenage boys and senior males.

The lift follows an increase of 11% in NPC crowd figures compared to last year, driven by strong figures in provinces such as Taranaki and Southland and the success of the Canterbury-Wellington game in Rangiora, a fixture that drew more than 5000.

Combined with the broadcast rise of 12% reported by Sky Sport in June for Super Rugby Pacific figures, and the overall picture for rugby is starting to look rosier after some undeniably hard post-Covid years.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/sport/350456245/new-zealand-rekindles-spark-rugby-after-some-rocky-years

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This column is coming to a close for 2024, as we wrap the year in rugby. Hoping to return in 2025 all going well. It is a collaborative effort so to contribute or send us information please get in touch.

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