Sideline Conversions 24 March (some rugby news and information to start the week)

The Avalon and Wellington Axemen Premier squads in action at Naenae College on Saturday. Photo: Hugh Pretorius. More photos from this game and others at https://clubrugby.smugmug.com/2025

Monday morning edition – check back for updates and editions: It’s the end of the Kali Yuga cycle this week but supporters are gearing up for a rugby eruption, with just one remaining weekend coming up of pre-season matches, trainings and camps before most competitions including Wellington’s are underway.

A couple of games tomorrow afternoon at North Park, Petone, involving teams from the Petone club and the St Mary’s College First XV – details to be confirmed.

Moving to Saturday, and many of Wellington’s senior club squads will be honing their skills and fine tuning their preparations in-house at their home grounds this weekend, but there are still some matches on – details of which will be more specific in our weekend preview here on Friday.

For example, as per the schedule, The Upper Hutt Rams and Tawa Premier/Colts teams meet at Maidstone Park and the Hutt Old Boys Marist and Wellington Premier/Colts sides play at Mary Crowther Park.

There are also several pre-season matches involving other grade teams.

In college rugby, the Rongotai College First XV are at home to play Palmerston North Boys’ High School First XV, while the visitors’ Second XV is at St Pat’s Town, whose First XV meets Tawa College.

Old Boys University head to Taupo for their Universities tournament, playing Auckland University and Waikato University in a game of three halves.

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The Hurricanes U20s finished fourth in their Super Rugby U20s competition, losing to the Blues 38-43 in their playoff for fourth. It would be good to report that the Hurricanes had the game slip from their grasp with a last-ditch try to the Aucklanders but it was the Hurricanes who scored that late try that closed up the margin. The Crusaders defended their title by beating the Chiefs in the final that followed.

The Hurricanes appeared to be without at least a couple of their better players in the last match, including last year’s Player of the Tournament Mosese Bason (see his signing news for Manawatu below) with no explanation beyond the team graphic posting. Unsure if they would have made a difference though. A number of Wellington players will now – hopefully – return to their club teams for the start of the Swindale Shield. Picking a player to have impressed for us throughout this tournament and the earlier U20 provincial games at Massey, how about Jacob Denyer? The second year Tawa wing/fullback has some x-factor about him. Good  footwork, good acceleration and speed and balance, and smart and committed on defence. 

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Winners of the DJ Graham Award for the Player of the Super Rugby U20 Tournament (formerly awarded after the now defunct National U19 tournament), named after the former All Blacks captain and leading educator have been:

2014: Mitch Karpik (Auckland), 2015: Charlie Gamble (Canterbury), 2016: Luke Jacobson (Waikato)*, 2017: Sione Havili (Auckland)*, 2018: Kaleb Trask (Bay of Plenty), 2019: Fletcher Newell (Canterbury)*, 2020: Not Awarded due to Covid, 2021: Sean Withy (Highlanders), 2022: Tahlor Cahill (New Zealand Barbarians), 2023: Harry Godfrey (Hurricanes), 2024: Mosese Bason (Hurricanes), 2025: Eli Oudenryn (Crusaders).

*Denotes internationally capped players. All winners have made appearances in first class rugby. Seven winners have been part of the side that won the tournament. Only Karpik, Withy, Godfery and Bason have not been part of the winning tournament team.

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Ayesha Leti-I’iga watch. The Ories and Black Ferns superstar scored an outrageous try for the Hurricanes Poua v Matatū bursting through the visitors like a sabre. Leti-I’iga ranks inside the top ten of Aupiki for carries, tries, clean breaks, defenders beaten and metres gained. An outstanding effort in a team that has lost every game by 19 or more points. The Poua lost this game by 24-43.

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As previously written here, Wellington College has gone big with its up coming pre-Wellington competition schedule starting next month, with games arranged against some of the leading schools in the country. They squad started their season with their annual match against the OBU Green Colts, as below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wellington College 1st XV (@wellingtoncollege_1stxv)

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Marist St Pat’s beat Feilding Yellows 25-0 in their Premier pre-season fixture in Feilding on Saturday, while the MSP Colts beat the Yellows Colts 17-7 in their game.

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In Whanganui, Wellington visitors Paremata-Plimmerton beat Kaierau 45-12, after it was 12-12 at halftime.

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HOBM Chaplain. Hutt Old Boys Marist have selected Lise Soloa as their new ‘Chaplain’ of the club. With over 100 Premier games, Lise is already a highly respected member of our club for what he brings both on and off the field. In his new role, Lise will oversee pastoral care and personal well-being for our players and community.

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One more team missing from this coming season; the Poneke Wanderers U85s who have announced they won’t be taking the field this year as departures have left them short of numbers to field a team. Hopefully they will be back.

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A good night on Friday for a pair of former Silverstreamers in the professional 13-man code. Rocco Berry had a strong performance including a try as he works back from a serious shoulder injury, while Toby Crosby continued his development with a typically robust outing off the interchange bench as the Warriors second-tier NSW Cup side thrashed their Sydney Roosters counterparts 46-12 in the curtain-raiser at Mount Smart.

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Wairarapa-Bush has released their Premier draw for 2025. They’ve reverted to the format used in 2023 which sees the first round played out in two pools for the Lane Penn Cup, before a full round-robin second-round for the Moose Kapene Cup. Like Horowhenua-Kapiti the top-tier will have both Easter and King’s Birthday off, and the season culminates in Finals Day on 19 July at Memorial Park.

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Hawke’s Bay Premier club rugby started on Saturday with five mostly one-sided Nash Cup matches. Chief amongst these was Napier Old Boys Marist’s 78-5 account of Clive. Taradale beat Aotea 52-15, Napier Pirate beat Napier Tech 44-20, Hastings beat Havelock North 38-15 and Central defeated M.A.C 36-7.

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Te Upoko O Te Ika returns as the radio broadcast show for Wellington club rugby in 2025. Lead commentators are Gordon Noble-Campbell and Ken Laban. First broadcast is the replay of last year’s Jubilee Cup final between Old Boys University and Tawa at Rugby League Park.

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New Zealand Rugby unveils comprehensive Concussion Risk Management Plan

New Zealand Rugby (NZR), in partnership with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA) and the New Zealand Rugby Foundation (NZRF), have today unveiled an enhanced Brain Health and Concussion Risk Management Plan – a major step forward in player safety.

Building on the significant progress in concussion management, this plan reinforces New Zealand’s position as a global leader in making rugby safer for all players.

The plan is structured around five key areas to further manage and minimise risks: Injury Prevention, Injury Management, Education & Training, Research & Monitoring, and Communication. Each area contains a set of targeted initiatives designed to further reduce concussion risk, improve player health, and ensure the future of the game remains safe for everyone.

Key Initiatives include:

• Enhanced Injury Prevention Programmes: Building on evidence-based programmes, the plan will introduce further measures to reduce both the severity and frequency of concussions. NZR’s current work, such as the RugbySmart injury prevention programme, is already reducing injuries and this plan expands these efforts with the latest science and technologies.
• Education and Training: In-depth education for players, coaches, and referees on concussion recognition and management is critical to the ongoing success. NZR’s existing initiatives are already setting the benchmark in concussion education, and this plan will elevate those resources to ensure everyone in the game is equipped with the knowledge to act swiftly and responsibly.
• Injury Management Support: NZR has developed clear, actionable protocols for concussion management, including the innovative Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocols, already being used at the elite level. This new plan will continue to improve these processes, ensuring a player’s health is always the top priority.
• Ongoing Research: Commitment to staying at the cutting edge of concussion research is unwavering. NZR has been a founding partner in several groundbreaking studies, and this plan commits to ongoing investment in world-class research that will continue to inform concussion management strategies.
• Transparent Communication: NZR will continue to lead the way with clear, consistent communication with players, families, medical professionals, and all rugby stakeholders.

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Avalon hooker Asafo Aumua has recommitted to the Hurricanes and New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2027.

The 68 capped Hurricanes player debuted for the side in 2018 vs the Crusaders after his 2017 breakout season with the Lions. The 27-year-old has represented New Zealand for Secondary Schools, Under 20s and the All Blacks.

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 Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie passes on

Sad news on Sunday with the passing of the Canterbury and All Blacks legend.

Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie coached the All Blacks to 58 wins in 64 matches (25 Tests out or 29) between 1988 and 1991. With Canterbury he won 76 of 92 matches inculding the 1983 NPC championship and 25 defences or the Ranfurly Shield between 1982 and 1985.

Grizz made the St Andrew’s College First XV in Form 2 or Year 8.

Murray Mexted recalls early in his career being petrified at the prospect of marking Grizz for Wellington against Canterbury at Athletic Park. A day before the game Wellington legend GC Williams (174 games) called Murray and explained that to win Grizz’s respect you have to “strike hard and strike early.” Mexted was lukewarm about that idea and started the game doing his best to avoid Grizz. When Grizz was on the ground he received a hard thud on the head and rose with a clenched fist exclaiming, “Bloody Mexted.” GC interrupted, “It was me.” Grizz replied, “settle down mate.”

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The England Women’s team have won 40 Tests in a row at home. Their last loss at home was in 2016 against the Black Ferns. The All Blacks won 47 Tests in a row at home, between 2009 to 2017.

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As seen below, Download the 2025 SWINDALE SHIELD DRAW