Sideline Conversions 26 May (some news and information to start the week)

27 May – a couple of Tuesday rugby updates:

• St Mary’s College travel to Palmerston North on Wednesday for the inaugural rugby/netball/basketball exchange against Manukura.  The rugby match at Manukura kicks off at 10.00am.
• In the First XV Premiership, Scots College have defaulted to Wellington for this coming weekend. For reasons unknown at this stage. That is 40+ young players without a game this weekend.
• In u20s news, Petone’s Stanley Solomon will be Wellington’s sole representative at the upcoming U20s Rugby World Cup in Europe, with th

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A lighter weekend of rugby across the board coming up, owing to the upcoming King’s Birthday break.

The only club grades in play this weekend are Premier Men and Women and Premier 2 Men.

There is one Colts game, that between HOBM and Norths that was originally defaulted by North last Saturday and there is one catch-up Reserve Grade fixture between Johnsonville and Wellington.

There is also no club rugby in either Manawatu, Wairarapa-Bush or Horowhenua-Kapiti.

There is a full round of Premiership and Premier 2 college games but other grades also have the day off.

So if the Hurricanes can’t get 20,000 plus to Wellington Stadium on Saturday night to play Tana Umaga’s and Ardie Savea’s Moana Pasifika, and featuring others such as Jackson Garden-Bachop, Julian Savea, Losi Filipo and Pepesana Patafilo something is very off.

Round 9 Swindale Shield matches at a glance this coming Saturday 31 May:

• Upper Hutt Rams v Wellington Axemen, Maidstone Park 1 (NOTE Friday night game)
• Marist St Pat’s v Johnsonville (Trent Eagle Cup), Evans Bay Park
• Avalon Wolves v Paremata-Plimmerton, Fraser Park
• Hutt Old Boys Marist v Oriental-Rongotai (Bondy Memorial Cup), Hutt Rec
• Tawa v Northern United (Sammy Saili Memorial Cup), Lyndhurst Park.
• Old Boys University v Wainuiomata (Peter Dunford Cup), Nairnville Park
• Petone v Pōneke (Fred Tilyard Shield and Bill Brien Challenge Shield match), Petone Rec

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The second leg of the Beard Trophy series is this Wednesday at 5.00pm at Porirua Park, with holders Tawa College facing the challenge of Bishop Viard College.

Taita College First XV takes on Masterton’s Makoura College 1st XV on Wednesday, kick-off.100pm  at Taita College. This is Taita’s first of 7 Traditionals for the year and is for the ‘Fuller Cup’, named after Simon Fuller the current Makoura Principal and former Deputy Principal at Taita College.

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St Pat’s Silverstream play New Plymouth Boys’ High School this week in their traditional – away in New Plymouth. This game is at the famous Gully ground that has recently been turned into an artificial field. Thoughts on playing rugby on artificial fields versus grass ones?

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Marist St Pat’s host Johnsonville for the inaugural Trent Eagle Cup on Saturday.  Trent Eagle played 125 games for the Hawks, including many as captain, before making the move to MSP. He played 95 Premier games for MSP, winning three Jubilee Cup’s including captaining the side to a Jubilee Cup title in 2002.

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A big day at the Hutt Rec for the Tunuvasa family. Midfielder Francis Tunuvasa played his 150th Premier match for the Eagles, while himself and his brother and right wing Nathan scored four tries betwene them (two each), in the 54-10 Billy Herbert Memorial Trophy win over Avalon. Francis was out of Hutt Valley High School and played over 50 matches for that team’s First XV. Joining the Eagles, he made his Hutt Rec debut for the Premiers in the 2014 home Spillane tournament, which they won. His Swindale Shield debut was a couple of weeks later alongside Chase Tiatia at Lyndhurst Park against Tawa, and he was part of the Eagles’ 2024 Jubilee Cup winning squad.

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Luca Rees career Premier try scoring update (covers Petone, Ories and Norths since 2019).

• Matches played: 160
• Tries scored: 97

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The Hurricanes haven’t lost the five games Billy Proctor has played in 2025. In the 31-27 victory against the Reds on Friday night Procter scored a try while gaining 66 metres with 16 carries and beating nine defenders. He also made eight tackles and won a breakdown turnover. Down 27-26, Proctor had two vital touches in a second try for Fehi Fineanganofo that propelled the visitors to what proved to be a winning lead. Compare that with the underwhelming Rieko Ioane who has only scored three tries in his last 44 games.

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This week’s OG shoutout is to Upper Hutt Rams midfielder  Konelio Feaunati who is one of a handful of players to have been playing just about since the start of our website database (which we still can’t update). According to our records he started at Norths in 2007, and has been at the Rams since 2017 except for a season at Paremata-Plimmerton in 2022. He played much of the curtain-raiser for the UH Rams Second XV on his old home ground and later came off the bench for the Premiers. Making a number of deft touches like the assist for the try below shows you don’t need searing pace or footwork to foot it with the young guys!

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The All Blacks announced the venue for the naming of the 2025 All Blacks team naming next month, Coastal Rugby Football Club in Taranaki. The drums have been beating for former Rongotai College midfielder Ardie Savea to be All Blacks captain, but this venue obviously means that Scott Barrett is a lock for the All Blacks captain again.

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It looks like Riley Higgins will be out for  a while, which may  eat into the NPC for the Lions. His brother Kienan departed for the Hawke’s Bay last week too, so local rugby will be Hig-less for a while to come.

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The WRFU announced on Friday that the Men’s Club Finals will return to the city for the first time since 2010 and be jointly hosted by WRFU, Pōneke FC, and Marist St Pats RFC, and will take place across Kilbirnie Park and Evans Bay Park.

The Finals Day will showcase Division 1 and 2 Finals across the following grades: Under 85kg,  Under 21, Premier 2, Premier Men

Field allocations and match timings:

Further details, including event logistics, will be shared in the coming weeks. Let’s hope for nice weather that day, and for the WCC parking wardens to not find out about it being on.

One other thing missing from that release last week was the date. As far as we are are concerned this is set down for Saturday 26 July, as the culmination of the scheduled four-week Jubilee Cup series, as has been the draw all along and has been for the past four seasons 2021-24.

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One of the quieter crowds at Jerry Collins Stadium on Saturday in the match between home side Northern United and the Upper Hutt Rams. Norths have been struggling for a couple of years now and with it the famous atmosphere in the stand. Also, no scoreboard operating (it was last Wednesday for the Beard Trophy match) so supporters had to keep their own score, and whilst there was a team of ball boys and girls patrolling the sideline in the first game, they mostly dissipated during the main game. Rams hooker Connor Lemon had to go on ball retrieval missions on to the concrete or over the dead-ball line himself on several occasions.

Still, Porirua Park remains one of the best places in Wellington for spectators to watch the game, and  – no offence to Kilbirnie Park –  a far superior venue to host events like Club Finals days.

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Hutt International Boys’ School‘s  25-12 win over St Bernard’s College in the Premiership on Saturday snapped a dozen game losing streak in the competition. Seven of those defeats were by less than a converted try.

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Club Rugby Tipping Competition Top 10 and Ties after eight rounds:

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Some tight contests in the Reserve Grade Mike Copeland Cup. The MSP Internationals were beaten 22-38 on Saturday by the Paremata-Plimmerton Punters, to see their 23-game winning streak come to an end. But they finished the first round on top on 31 points, ahead of the Petone Brotherhood on 29 and Norths on 27. In the other pool, Wellington and Johnsonville are tied at the top on 28 and they play each other in a catch-up game this coming Saturday to decide the leader heading into the second round which starts on 7 June. We await clarification from the union how this competition is being run for the remainder of this year.

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Wellington club rugby top try scorers after 8 rounds:

UPDATED: We previously reported that Esi Komaisavai scored a try in the Pare-Plim – Ories game to take his tally to 12. This has since been credited (using video evidence) as Joe Faleafaga’s try, so Komaisavai remains on 11 tries for the season. 

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Wellington club rugby top points scorers after 8 rounds:

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Defenders’ eyes on the game not what’s on the billboard?

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In the miracle injury recovery files, this from a ‘Stuff’ website story last week:

The Black Ferns have suffered an early injury blow, three months out from their Rugby World Cup defence.

Sevens convert Dhys Faleafaga will miss the tournament, and the rest of 2025, after suffering an undisclosed long-term injury during training last week.

The 24-year-old was one of seven members of the successful Black Ferns Sevens team who had committed to New Zealand’s 15s World Cup campaign.

On Saturday she played on the right wing for the Norths Women’s team in their 52-17 win over Oriental-Rongotai.

UPDATE: It is understood that she has upcoming surgery planned, keeping her out of contention from playing at the WRWC tournament, but she was able to still play for Norths on Saturday. Still an interesting thing for us to question!

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At least one new trophy in play in college rugby this year. The Paul Cameron Cup, formerly the prize for the Premier 3 division, has been retired. In its place is the brand new Willie Leota Cup, memorialising the former player and St Pats Town 1st XV coach who passed away suddenly last season aged just 46.

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Club Rugby’s Wairarapa-based arm was at Masterton club Pioneer’s home on Jeans Street on Saturday. The current incarnation of the club was formed in 1945, after previously existing briefly between the world wars, with the slightly unusual name coming from a WWI “Pioneer” battalion, a military term for assault troops. Pioneer is a sports club, also incorporating rugby league (played after the union season), netball, and darts, with the bulk of their membership coming from the lower socio-economic areas on Masterton’s east side. But they’re a passionate bunch, with a history including several Wairarapa titles, and while some clubs struggle for numbers they certainly don’t.

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Got to love Jimmy Lawler, teacher aide, commentator and coach of multiple sports teams at Wellington College. Here Jimmy surmises his wild Saturday. “While coach was I involved in two games at the same venue, 65 Black were playing on the other side! My eyes were drawn to the 4th xv game. Four minutes to go we scored to make it 34-29 then with a minute left a try to Silverstream 34-34, conversion 36-34. Then something happened we had a great break out up the middle and then scored in the corner! I couldn’t actually tell you who scored the try because I was too busy celebrating the win! The team has shown a lot of courage and are staying in the fight the whole game, and when opportunities come they take em! It was a game that had everything! A shout out goes to Archie Sims (First XV 10) who refereed our game.”

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Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored seven tries in the Black Ferns 79-14 thrashing of the USA in Auckland, passing Vanessa Coutts as the Black Ferns all-time leading try scorer with 45 in 26 Tests. Cootes scored 43 tries in 16 Tests. Her most famous performance was against the USA when she scored five tries in the Black Ferns first Rugby World Cup final win in Amsterdam in 1998. he Black Ferns delivered double the passes of the USA, 235-117, and had 18 linebreaks to one. The biggest win the Black Ferns have enjoyed against the USA was 86-8 in Edmonton in 1996. Cootes scored five tries in that match too.

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Thoughts on the Run it Straight sport?

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A post shared by @rugbyworld_official

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Four OBU players have been away with the New Zealand Universities side recently, Gareth Ward-Allen, Mitch McLeod, Jack Riley and Louie Calvert (plus the latter’s father Dave as the manager). These players return this week and could be lining up to play Wainuiomata at Nairnville Park.

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Round two First XV Premiership matches this weekend: Rongotai v HIBS, Scots College v Wellington College, St Bernard’s College v Tawa College, Wairarapa College v St Pat’s Town, Rathkeale v St Pat’s Silverstream.

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Greg Lealofi’s 200th Premier match for Wainuiomata coming up this Saturday.