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A tightly contested match on Old Timers’ Day at William Jones Park for the Hakaraia Shield between home team Wainuiomata and visitors Pōneke who won 38-28. Photo: Andy McArthur.
- By Steven White, Scott MacLean and Adam Julian
The Swindale Shield is Oriental-Rongotai’s to lose, following their eighth straight bonus point win today to move themselves to 40 on the points table, seven clear of their nearest challenger Petone.
Ories beat Paremata-Plimmerton 39-14 in their fixture today at Ngati Toa Domain to dispel any doubt that they are the team to beat.
Meanwhile, there is a clear delineation between the current eighth placed team, Tawa, and the ninth, Wainuiomata, with Tawa on 26 competition points and Wainuiomata on 17. The top eight at the end of the Swindale Shield round in five weeks from now contest the Jubilee Cup and the bottom six the Hardham Cup with the final at Kilbirnie Park on Saturday 26 July.
The unofficial points table reads: Ories 40; Petone 33; Hutt Old Boys Marist and Pōneke 31; Johnsonville 29; Paremata-Plimmerton 28; Upper Hutt Rams 27; Tawa 26; Wainuiomata 17; Marist St Pat’s 15; Old Boys University 15; Northern United 12; Wellington 8; Avalon 2.
Also to note near the top of this report is that three previous leaders in other grades all lost today, with previous Premier 2 frontrunners Old Boys University, Colts leaders HOBM and U85kg pacesetters Tawa all losing. In the case of the latter, it means the JC Bowl U85kg competition outcome will be extended to another round. More on these competitions below.
In other matches today, there were two close matches in the lower Hutt Valley, with Petone defeating Old Boys University 35-34 in a Marc Verhoeven Trophy and Bill Brien Challenge Cup thriller and Poneke defeating Wainuiomata 38-28 for the Paul Hakaraia Trophy on Wainuiomata’s Old Timers’ Day at William Jones Park.
Both games hung in the balance for long periods, with Pōneke pulling clear later in the contest after leading 17-14 at halftime and Petone prevailing by a point with an injury time penalty to Hurricane TJ Clarke after OBU’s Tom Henderson had kicked a dropped goal with a few minutes to play to put them in the lead. For Petone, flanker Braith Ingram scored a hat-trick of tries.
For Wainuiomata, wing Raymond Va’a scored two tries and Greg Lealofi and Renata Kotuhi crossed for one each.
In other eighth round Swindale Shield fixtures, which weren’t so close, the Upper Hutt Rams beat Northern United 36-19 at Porirua Park (more on this game below), the Johnsonville Hawks eased to a 71-5 win over the Wellington Axemen at Hataitai Park, Tawa bounced back from their loss to HOBM last week and defeated Marist St Pat’s 58-22 and the HOBM Eagles were perhaps predictable 54-10 winners of the Avalon Wolves.
The Johnsonville Hawks won 11 tries to 1, with Jacob Walmsley scoring a hat-trick and seven other individuals plus a penalty try making this up. For the home team, James Tuia scored their sole try.
At Ngāti Toa Domain, competition leaders Oriental-Rongotai cemented their position at the top of the standings with an emphatic 39-14 win over home side Paremata-Plimmerton.
Paremata-Plimmerton were third going into this match, and they dominated territory and possession during the first 20 minutes. Ories were up to the challenge, however, and snuffed out their opportunities and it remained scoreless.
Like most in-form teams, Ories soon turned that defensive pressure into points. They made only a handful of excursions into the 22 in the first half but capitalised on each.
This started with an opening penalty to fullback Tom Maiava to put Ories up 3-0. This soon became 10-0 when openside flanker David Leota Johnson scored an individual try. Ories soon went back-to-back by scoring their second try and all of a sudden it was 17-0.
It got better for the Magpies before the break when mid fielder Skivvi Va’a crossed the line to make it 22-0 at halftime.
Any hopes of a home team comeback were immediately dashed when Ories left wing Herman Seumanufagi scored to extend their lead to 27-0, which was also their bonus point try.
Paremata-Plimmerton did rally from that point and came back to score two tries to close the gap to 27-14, the first of these by halfback Esi Komaisavai which was his 12th try of the season. wing Hoe Faleafaga, his fourth try of the season.
The match tightened up, but Ories were the next team to score, and at 32-14 ahead, their lead proved too great for the home side. Ories still weren’t done and scored the final try of the afternoon with a few minutes to play.
The Upper Hutt Rams beat Northern United 36-19 away at Porirua Park to retain the Terry Farrow Memorial Cup. The Rams led 17-0 at halftime and extended their lead to a match-winning one at 36-12 with about 20 minutes to play with their sixth and final try of the afternoon.
That last try was engineered by Hurricanes squad member and first five Lucas Cashmore who put in a 50-22 kick for touch from broken play, the chasing Rams players followed up and took a quick lineout, and right wing Josh Love ran in his second try of the day.
The remainder of the match was a scrappy affair that won’t make the highlights reel, except for the final play of the game that saw Norths break out and fullback Toby Kennett score a consolation try under the posts.
Earlier, the match kicked off in bright sunshine with the Rams having a slight northerly breeze behind them. The Rams, who went into this match with up to five first choice backs injured, and with regular No. 8 Pene To’o playing in the midfield alongside veteran centre Josh Hunt, amassed a 10-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes with two unconverted tries.
The first try was scored by right wing Love after the Rams won a turnover near halfway and counter-attacked up the grandstand side for Love to easily beat his marker and score.
The second was a well-executed first phase try from a penalty then a lineout on the same grandstand side. From this, the Rams moved the ball through the backs and left wing Liam Slight flew in to score in the far corner.
The Rams completely dominated the remainder of the first half in both possession and territory, but failed on at least four occasions to score again, including twice being held up over the line.
The exception was in the 30th minute when industrious loosehead prop Senio Sanele offloaded close to the line to lock Gelu Lafaele who extended his long levers to plant the ball over the chalk to score their third try.
The Rams started the second half with a positive period on attack, and after a 90 second build-up, prop Sanele ran in to score their bonus point try to make it 24-0.
Norths rallied, and following a penalty and lineout in the far corner, No. 8 Luca Rees scored their first try to make it 31-7.
However, the Rams regrouped and soon replied in kind with their fifth try to Alex Hewitt.
Once more, Norths climbed back on to attack and scored their second try to cut the lead to 31-12, with fullback Kennett making the final pass to veteran No. 8 Rees, resplendent in his pink boots, who darted through traffic from close range to cross the line for the second time and give Norths a whiff of a comeback.
Perhaps 15 years ago in their pomp with the crowd in full voice and the drums beating, they might have been able to, but they were lacking the power and precision of old, and the Rams were able to carry their victory home.
Premier 2
A new leader at the head of the Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield. OBUs unbeaten run was brought to a shuddering halt, beaten 45-12 by Petone.
That moved the Villagers ahead of the Goats, but Poneke are on top after winning 34-19 over Wainuiomata.
HOBM and MSP share fourth. HOBM beat Avalon 38-0, while Tawa broke a deadlock with a late intercept try to beat MSP 33-28. In the remaining matches Ories beat Pare-Plim 55-17, Johnsonville beat Wellington 28-17, and lastly the Upper Hutt Rams accounted for Norths 55-36 (report below).
In the early game at Porirua Park, visitors Upper Hutt Rams beat Norths in an exciting eight tries to six victory.
Twice in the match the contest was evenly poised, and at one point just before halftime it was 19-19, but on both these occasions the Rams were able to score back-to-back tries and pull clear.
Following Norths’ third and perhaps the game’s most exciting try, following a kick-off receipt, the Rams were able to come back and score immediately, to make it 26-19 at the oranges.
The Rams quickly extended their lead to 31-19, but Norths came back with an intercept try, to make it 31-26. This pattern continued, with the Rams scoring once more followed by Norths crossing shortly after, and it was then 38-31.
The Rams then made sure of the win by scoring two more tries to also register their half century of points. Norths scored a consolation try near the end, followed by the Rams kicking a penalty on fulltime.
Earlier, there had been a flurry of early scoring, and the visitors had led 12-7. They extended this to 19-7 with their third try off an attacking scrum, but like the second half that followed, Norths came back with the next two tries to make it all square just before the break.
Women’s
The two joint first round winners flexed their muscle in a big way in the opening round of the Tia Paasi Memorial Trophy. Petone atoned for their lone first round defeat by thumping MSP 60-0 at home, while Norths had a fruitful visit to the Polo Ground beating Ories 52-17.
Results were closer in the Izzy Ford Cup matches. Wainuiomata were winners at home 17-5 over Poneke, with Pare-Plim 27-17 victors over Avalon at Fraser Park
Colts
Having cooled their jets last week after being defaulted to, the HOBM Green Colts lost their unbeaten record this afternoon. HOBM were defeated 23-17 at the 1.00pm match at the Polo Ground.
The Tawa Colts enjoyed the sun on their backs with a 59-27 win over the MSP Colts in the Lyndhurst Park curtain-raiser, while Petone defeated Paremata-Plimmerton 34-24 and Pōneke beat strugglers Johnsonville 55-5. In one match that was played on Friday night, the Upper Hutt Rams Colts beat Norths Colts 50-10.
U85kg
As noted in the introduction above, U85kg competition pacesetters the Tawa Ducks lost today. Victory over the Wellington Axemen would have sealed the first round win for them with the next and final round to spare. But the Axemen beat them 36-34.
This grade has the week off for King’s Birthday, resuming on 7 June, with Tawa (on 35 points) with more work to do to take home the JC Bowl outright ahead of Johnsonville (30).
The Johnsonville Terrahawks had a 41-19 win today over Eastbourne in perfect conditions beside the harbour at HW Shortt Park.
Elswehere, Avalon beat HOBM 33-17 at home and the OBU Scallywags beat MSP 17-10 at MacAlister Park.
College
Some big scoring in the opening round of the College season. Favourites Silverstream were in a mood in thumping Wairarapa College 81-10, while Rathkeale showed they’ll be a force with a 69-21 win over Rongotai. HIBS started with a 25-12 win over St Bernard’s and Scots College reversed an unfortunate defeat at the hands of Napier BHS by beating Beard Trophy holders Tawa College 34-27.
In the Premier 2, champions the Silverstream 2nds beat Mana 64-5 while their 3rds lost 41-17 to the Wellington College 2nds. Porirua crushed Bishop Viard 74-3, HVHS beat the Town 2nds 41-24, and Paraparaumu won the coast derby 31-6 over Kapiti College.
Elsewhere
Big wins for the leading trio in Wairarapa-Bush today. Greytown crushed Marist 73-15, with Carterton likewise big winners 66-10 over Eketahuna. Martinborough returned to winning ways with a 40-12 win away over Masterton Red Star, while across the river Pioneer sent their support home happy with a 24-12 win over East Coast.
The latter fixture was where the Wairarapa-based arm of the Club Rugby was. It was an even first 20 minutes at Jeans Street, with the Coasties perhaps shading matters enough that it wasn’t a surprise when they were the first to score. But in a theme for the afternoon Pioneer hit back immediately from set piece, and it took some work for the visitors to unlock the hosts once more and take a 12-7 lead into the break.
Attacking opportunities off set piece proved to be Pioneer’s domain as all three scores in the second half came from lineouts or scrums Each were well-worked and rehearsed moves, and they got an impact from their bench that the visitors couldn’t match. Coast got close a couple of times which did cost Pioneer a man to the bin in the closing stages but the home side held out for a popular win.
In the Horowhenua-Kapiti, Waikanae beat Paraparaumu 41-28 in a minor upset that saw Paraparaumu slip from second to third on the Ramsbotham Cup standings. Rahui continue to lead the standings after their 42-10 win over Shannon, while Foxton are now in second after beating Levin Wanderers in another high scoring match. Levin COB had the bye.
In the Manawatu Senior 1 competition, the union’s Facebook administrator continues to be missing, but looking elsewhere the only score available to report is that Varsity beat Freyberg 62-8.
