UPDATED All teams fighting to stay in the mix in round six

Action from Kilbirnie Park last Saturday. Home team Poneke are away playing Paremata-Plimmerton tomorrow, while Johnsonville are back home hosting Old Boys University. Photo: Tane Nathan.

• By Scott MacLean and Steven White

It is the sixth round of the Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and the promise of more tight and thrilling rugby around the region in the top flight and other grades. It is also the second week of college grading fixtures.

+++++

Round 6 teamlists: At this story link here: https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2025/05/09/wellington-club-rugby-swindale-shield-round-6-just-the-teamlists/

Tipping Competition: Enter your tips by Saturday 2.30pm at:  https://www.faceyoursfears.com/games/WGTN2025/join  make your picks by 2.30pm Saturday. Expect movement on the tipping leaderboard this week as the leading tippers have mostly used up their wildcards, meaning the only way is down for them!

Podcast: Listen to the @tackld club rugby preview podcast at Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6DucJeYssjxyuGNYugFwG5?si=A9AxRCnAQy-C237yixNZFw

Radio Commentary. This Saturday, the E Tū Whānau Footy Show comes from the Petone Rec in the fixture between Petone and Wainuiomata. Ken Laban is on air from 2.00pm Catch all the action on Te Upoko Radio – 87.6FM in the central city, 1161AM across the region, or stream it on iHeart Radio, the Whare Kōrero app, and online at www.teupoko.nz.

++++++

Draws & Results website. These pages and all historical information 2005-24 at at https://clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/games-results.php?competition=71&season=22&Submit=Go  (Access to our administration pages remains offline)

• For Draws & Results please visit this page here: https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2025-wgtn-club-live-scores/
• For this week’s line-ups please visit the article link here: https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2025/05/09/wellington-club-rugby-swindale-shield-round-6-just-the-teamlists/

Premier Swindale Shield

This week’s preview starts out on the peninsula with leaders Oriental Rongotai, who look to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign and their quest to finally get their name onto the Swindale Shield. Neighbours Marist St Pat’s come past the airport and through the cutting to the Polo Ground, and despite their narrow loss to Petone last weekend seem to have got their ship pointing in the right direction.

(Updated): Ories have come in late but very hot with their line-up for tomorrow. They welcome back Sione Halalilo to openside flanker, to partner Ronaldo Seumanufagai and Dom Ropeti in the loose. Declan Hay lines up at first-five and a change at the back with in-form Tom Maiava moving to the right wing and Ethan Smyth-Rangi at fullback.

Across Wellington Harbour are Ories’ closest pursuers at this point, Petone. The Villagers arm-wrestle win against MSP last week will have filled them with confidence and they will need that, as neighbours Wainuiomata come over the Hill having won three on the bounce and a fourth here will have them right back in the mix. Petone though will be in front of their Old Timers’ Day crowd and celebrating their 140^th so will be tough to beat, and will be wearing a one-off jersey paying tribute to William Hardham, the namesake of the WRFU trophy and winner of the Victoria Cross during the Boer War.

Rory Woollett is handed the keys to the Villagers attack at first-five this week, though Tjay Clarke is in reserve on the bench while upfront Ryan Imrie, Marcus Roil, and Braith Ingram all come into the starting XV. Braydon Soi is back at No. 8 for the visitors so Teru Time drops to the bench while a backline reshuffle puts Renata Kotuhi in midfield and Mikade Fono at fullback.

Poneke are in the heady-heights of joint-third, and hit the highways tomorrow to Ngati Toa Domain to be the guests at Paremata-Plimmerton’s Old Timers’ Day. The Hammerheads have won the last two matches between the pair so this shapes as a test of how far the visitors have come so far this season, but locals have moved themselves into fifth after a bumpy start to the year and looking to go ahead of the opposition.

The hosts have named All Black and Hurricanes prop Pasilio Tosi to start tomorrow, and he and the starting return of former Poneke lock Zeek Fiso are the only changes to their run-on side. The bench includes recent Lions back Joe Faleafaga on the comeback trail from injury. Poneke are unchanged in the pack with Jimmy-Lee Hongara at halfback. Carlos Hihi seems to have recovered from the knock that forced him off against Johnsonville while fullback Nick Robertson is bracketed with Isaiah Opai.

Alongside Poneke in third are the Upper Hutt Rams, who return to their Maidstone home having put Avalon to the sword last week. Tomorrow’s assignment is rather trickier as Tawa come into town, and looking themselves to get back in the winner’s circle after falling to the leaders. There will be some familiarity here having played in preseason, but several of those playing tomorrow weren’t involved then. This could be a cracker.

The Rams restore several players rested last week including captain Matt Luamanu. They are still without Emmanuel Solomona so the partnership of Ieti Campbell and Dan Schrijvers continues in midfield.  Cullen Dexter and Mona Uelese start in the halves tomorrow for Tawa who are without James So’oialo for this one. They’re also without Hugo Plummer so veteran Hemi Fermanis comes in for him, while in another blast from the past Lapana (Jeff) Makapelu makes his return to the Tawa Premier side – aged 40-something – on the bench.

Down the road at the Hutt Rec, Hutt Old Boys Marist will be looking to push upwards from sixth having – in the end – comfortably beaten Wellington after their very flat home opener against Pare-Plim the week before. Norths provide the opposition, and after a pair of hefty defeats desperately need a morale-boosting outing lest this season starts to quickly resemble the last two.

Something of a hooker issue for the Eagles, but there’s adequate cover in tomorrow’s starter Freddie Sunia and Damian Henare on the bench. Jason Hoffman also returns up front, while Waylon Tuhoro-Robinson moves back into halfback with Flynn Ruscoe starting outside him. Norths have Siale Lauaki with them tomorrow and he’s a straight swap for an absent Bradley Crichton. The ageless Faifili Levave is at No. 8 with Jermaine Collins returning to halfback.

Two sides that have produced cracking contests the past two seasons clash at Helston Park, but each find themselves outside the top eight and a win is a must for both. Johnsonville need to quickly exorcise the late-loss demon that’s returned the past two weeks, while Old Boys-University are looking for a way out of the nightmare that their title defence has turned into with only bonus points to show for their efforts so far.

The Hawks can welcome back openside Louis Magalogo and he joins Serge Hollis and Regan Herbert in the loose. Olly Paotunu makes his first start of the year and silky-skilled midfielder joins another returnee in Aukuso Tuitama. The Goats are without their NZ Universities trio tomorrow as well as regular skipper Louis Calvert who has been called up to join that squad. Geordie Bean takes over the captaincy and the hooker position, with last years Wellington College Head Boy Ollie Church making his starting debut on the openside. Jake Lawson and Malo Manuao form an ex-Scots College halves duo.

And finally, there’s a matchup that attracts attention for the somewhat perverse reason of the competition wooden spoon as Avalon hosts Wellington at Fraser Park with the loser of this match having taken that dubious honour the last three seasons. On current form the Axemen would be favourites here, but if the chance of a drought-breaking win doesn’t get the Wolves excited for this then you would have to wonder what will.

Prop Jacob Faifai will play his 50^th for the Wolves when he comes off the bench. Koli Bower returns to hooker this week, and veteran Jordan Aquila comes in to run the side at first-five. Cam Roseingrave is back upfront for the Axemen which allows James Tuiatua to switch back to No. 8, while amongst their back Ben Tuiatua moves into midfield to partner Siose Lokeni.

As usual, there’s a number of interclub trophies in play tomorrow:

• Petone and Wainuiomata will contest their Darren Larsen Cup. Larsen is no stranger to either club, having propped for Wainuiomata and then coached at Petone, and is currently the recruitment and development manager at the Hurricanes. Petone hold this, and will also be defending the Bill Brien Challenge Cup they won off Tawa three weeks ago.
• Upper Hutt and Tawa play for their Mexted Motors Cup, donated by the family business that operates in the two localities. Tawa holds it from their 34-32 win towards the end of last season.
• And finally, the Bill Cavubati Kava Bowl gets its second outing when Johnsonville face OBU. A cult hero of the Lions and early Hurricanes sides “Big Bill” played for Harlequins (as OBU were first known) and for Johnsonville, winning the Swindale Shield with the Hawks in 1998. It’s held by OBU from their 41-37 win on Opening Day last year.

All seven matches are at the regular 2.45pm kickoff time.

Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield

In contrast to their Premier side, OBU’s seconds lead their competition and will be expected to keep their unbeaten record against Johnsonville in the early game at Helston. Elsewhere the rest of the top six all face opposition from the lower half of the table. Poneke are out at Ngati Toa to face Pare-Plim, HOBM are at home against Norths, and MSP are over at neighbours Ories. Tawa will look to keep their resurgence going as their head to Maidstone and the Upper Hutt Rams, with Petone looking to rebound at home against Wainuiomata.

The final match of the round is scheduled for Fraser Park and a duel between Avalon and Wellington who currently occupy the bottom rungs on the ladder.

All matches are timed for 1.00pm, bar a 12.45pm kick-off at the Petone Rec.

Premier Women’s Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy

Remarkably, the leading quartet are all on 21 points with two rounds remaining and each have one of the other contenders still to play. One of those four will fall by the wayside tomorrow, as Marist St Pat’s and Norths clash at Evans Bay. Holders Petone open the club’s festivities against Wainuiomata (11.15am k/o), while Oriental Rongotai head out to Fraser Park where they’ll be warm favourites against Avalon; Ories and Petone meet next week. The fourth match sees Paremata-Plimmerton kick off their Old Timers’ Day against Poneke and will be looking to open their account for the season, with Poneke’s Megan Tulili set to play her 150^th match for her side.

All matches are at 11.30am unless stated.

Colts Paris Memorial

One of the feature clashes of the season highlights the round of age grade matches with unbeaten leaders HOBM facing OBU at the Hutt Rec. The Upper Hutt Rams have also yet to taste defeat and likely to stay that way as they host minnows Johnsonville at Maidstone, while Tawa head north to take on Pare-Plim at Ngati Toa. Petone welcomes Poneke to the Rec (12.45pm k/o) and Norths and Ories have Jerry Collins Stadium to themselves in the remaining matches. MSP have the bye this week.

All matches are at 1.00pm as usual unless noted.

Under 85kg JC Bowl

With leaders Tawa on the bye, there’s an opportunity for Johnsonville and OBU to make inroads into their lead when they meet in the game of the day at Newlands Park. There’s two matches in the Hutt as Eastbourne make the trip to the Hutt Rec and HOBM, while up the road Avalon and Wellington meet with these three matches at 2.45pm. It’s a much earlier 11:30am start in the fourth at Ngati Toa Domain between the current bottom-two as Pare-Plim takes on MSP.

All four are timed for the normal 2.45pm kickoff.

+++++

Content continues below these messages from our partners and supporters:

+++++

College

Qualifying and pre-season action continues tomorrow. Amongst last years top sides Wellington College and Silverstream swap opposition this week. College hosts Hastings Boys (12pm) with Stream again in Palmerston North to face Napier Boys. Town and Scots are idle tomorrow, though Town hosts Hastings on Wednesday afternoon at Evans Bay (3.30pm).

Locally, four schools have the chance to punch their tickets to the Premiership tomorrow and get next week off. Both matches are in Lower Hutt with St Bernard’s hosting newcomers Rathkeale at 1.00pm, while at 2.30pm Hutt Valley High entertains Hutt International. For the other twelve teams it’s another round where the winners get a chance next week at the loser’s head for Premier 2 at best. In those matches its 1.00pm starts for Bishop Viard at home against Wairarapa College, Porirua hosting Taita, Mana visit neighbours Aotea and Upper Hutt/Heretaunga are at home against Paraparaumu, while at 2.30pm Newlands/Onslow take on the challenge of Rongotai at home. Tawa was due to host Kapiti, but the visitors are unable to field a team this week.

Elsewhere

Full rounds in the neighbouring provinces. In the Wairarapa the championship Moose Kapene Cup gets underway with teams bringing through points earned during the Lane Penn Cup. Defending Champions Carterton start this part of the campaign at home in a rematch of last years final against Marist, while Lane Penn winners Martinborough head north to face Pioneer. Across the river Masterton Red Star are at home against East Coast, while Eketahuna make the trek south to face Greytown.

In the Manawatu Kia Toa should have little difficulty maintaining their impressive start to the year at home against minnows Feilding Old Boys-Oroua. Massey are keeping pace, and they host Te Kawau. Both Old Boys Marist and Feilding Yellows will have been licking their wounds from last week and meet at the Arena, alongside College Old Boys and Linton on the adjacent field. Freyberg has the bye.

And lastly in Horowhenua-Kapiti there’s a logjam at the top with Rahui, Foxton, and Paraparaumu separated by just a point. Paraparaumu hosts Foxton in the game of the round, while Rahui host Levin Wanderers. The third has Levin COB hosting Waikanae at the Domain, with bottom-side Shannon having the bye.