Tight results and heart stoppers in Swindale Shield matches

Action from the OBU-Wainuiomata Premier match at Ian Galloway Park. Photo: Andy McArthur.

• By Steven White, Scott MacLean, Adam Julian & Martyn Bridge

There were a series of tight matches in the six Premier club rugby matches played on Saturday throughout the region in fine, blustery conditions – with four of the six only decided in the closing minutes.

Oriental-Rongotai won their ninth straight bonus point win, despite being pushed all the way by Hutt Old Boys Marist, to hold a nine-point lead at the top of the standings to new second placed Pōneke after their win over Petone today.

In two matches in the Hutt, Ories beat Hutt Old Boys Marist 34-29 for the Bondy Memorial Cup and Pōneke tipped over Petone 28-23 in another Fred Tilyard Trophy thriller and won the Bill Brien Challenge Trophy in the process. More on these games below.

Also significantly is that  there is an 11-point gap between eighth and ninth place, with the WRFU confirming in a social media post a couple of nights ago there will be a 4-week finals series meaning the top 8 finishers will start the second round in the coveted Jubilee Cup group.

Tawa occupy that eighth spot at present on 31 points, following their 54-24 Sammy Saili Memorial Trophy win over Northern United at home at Lyndhurst Park this afternoon. Eight different scorers crossed the tryline for Tawa in the 8 tries to 4 win.

Defending champions Old Boys University are back in ninth on 20 points and will live to fight another day following their 28-26 win over Wainuuomata at home at Ian Galloway Park for the Peter Dunford Cup. More on this game below.

Following second placed Pōneke, there are five teams occupying positions three through seven and separated by just two points.

Despite their losses to Pōneke and Ories, both Petone and HOBM are safely ensconced in Jubilee Cup positions, along with round winners Johnsonville, Paremate-Plimmerton and the Upper Hutt Rams.

Johnsonville pipped Marist St Pat’s 22-20 for the inaugural Trent Eagle Cup at Evans Bay Park, while Paremata-Plimmerton perhaps predictably beat Avalon 62-26 At Fraser Park.

Johnsonville broke MSP hearts by scoring a death-knock try for victory. Trailing 17-20, Johnsonville carried their later momentum up into MSP’s 22 through their forwards. Prop Lucas Aukuso made a powerful surge, freeing up the backs to go wide to Finlay Sharp and then fullback Jacob Walmsley who jinked and passed on his outside to try-scorer Ish Perkins.

Johnsonville had taken a 10-5 lead into the closing moments of the first half, before MSP scored their second try to lead 12-10 at the break. It got better for the home team when they went ahead 17-10 after 52 minutes, blindside Preston Moananu scoring in the corner after a lineout and drive inside the 22. A penalty extended the lead to 20-10.

Then the Hawks came back with the first of two tries in the 73^rd minute, winning a penalty from a big scrum under MSP’s posts and tapping and going and halfback Sululu Cama darting over three phases later. The conversion made it 20-17.

The Hammerheads scored 10 tries against the Avalon Wolves, with the competition’s two leading try scorers, halfback Esi Komaisavai and left wing Louis Northcott scoring two tries each.

In the round’s seventh fixture played on Friday night at Maidstone Park, the Upper Hutt Rams beat the Wellington Axemen 62-10. Josh Hunt in his 200th game scored two tries and brother and hooker Eli one.

An unofficial Swindale Shield points table after nine rounds of 13: Oriental-Rongotai 45; Pōneke 36; Petone 34; Hutt Old Boys Marist, Johnsonville, Paremata-Plimmerton 33; Upper Hutt Rams 32; Tawa 31; Old Boys University 20; Wainuiomata 18; Marist St Pat’s 16; Northern United 13; Wellington 8; Avalon 3.

Despite kicking just one goal from eighth attempts, Pōneke beat Petone to carry off the interclub silverware on Petone’s 140^th anniversary weekend.

Pōneke led 15-11 at halftime and in a fluctuating second half hung on grimly to win.

Petone were served by the return of New Zealand U20s fullback Stanley Solomon, who played a blinder, kicking two first half penalties and engineering much of Petone’s good attack. Unfortunately however, when Petone were five metres out from the Pōneke line he threw an errant pass which was knocked out and snuffed out any chance the Villagers has of winning.

Pōneke scored three tries in the first half. Bustling No. 8 DJ Taoipu was one of those try-scorers as was hard-running centre Caleb Robson and hard-running centre Ifeanyichukwu Nnebechukwu. These tries made it 15-6 to Pōneke.

Petone then scored a rolling maul try to hooker Conley Alexander. Then after halftime there was a thrilling try scored by centre JG Bradbrook. Solomon made a break from 22 to halfway, linking with Bradbrook who was converted upon by five defenders but all five fell over and he scored.

Pōneke first five Carlos Hihi missed three kicks in the same place closer in before kicking a 35 metre penalty to make it 18-16.

Pōneke then went ahead 23-16 with a try to flanker-turned hooker Andrew Jones, scoring from a rolling maul following an outstanding 50-22 kick by first five Carlos Hihi.

Petone regained momentum and then scored the match-levelling try to replacement prop Katoa.

Pōneke had the final say several minutes from fulltime, disputing the defensive Petone lineout in the same scoreboard corner as the previous try. replacement Petone halfback Ben Brooking wobbled  a pass back to Petone’s first five but Andrew Jones leapt out of the air to steal the ball and score the try, his second on the day, to make it 28-23.

A late Tom Maiava try got Oriental Rongotai home and preserved their unbeaten record at the Hutt Rec, and in doing so take the Bondy Memorial Trophy back home for the first time in nearly a decade.

It was a helter-skelter start with three tries in the opening 10 minutes. Firstly Ories let a seemingly harmless Waylon Tuhoro-Robinson box kick bounce and Sapati Tagoai couldn’t believe his luck as he ran 40m to score. The Magpies responded as some smart work by Maiava put Sam Tautiaga over, but they quickly undid that work in allowing Lise Soloa to stroll over from 25m out. Things settled down after that, but then Ories flanker David Leota-Johnson produced an outrageous 50m solo effort where he beat or stepped out of several tackles, with a Tuhoro-Robinson penalty thrown into the mix. Leota-Johnson left the field minutes later, preceded by midfielder Johnny Maiava who appeared to suffer a painful lower leg injury.

By now, HOBM’s discipline was a problem as firstly prop Vili Tauofaga and then David Filipo went to the bin, the latter on the stroke of halftime after Dominic Ropeti barged over.

Turning with the dying breeze now at their backs, Ories were initially content to put boot to ball and play the territory game, adding a Maiava penalty and a converted try to powerhouse winger Herman Seumanufagai. The Eagles however flipped the script with two tries in four minutes. Firstly their backs found some space and Kapu Broughton-Winterburn crossed out wide, before replacement Ben Tuiomanufili found himself in space and crossed next to the posts to put the hosts ahead with 20 to play. That period was hard fought, until Maiava made the difference at the end.

It was a fitting conclusion to a game played with great intensity, but at times sadly lacking in accuracy. With a nine-point lead and with both Avalon and Wellington left on their slate, the Swindale Shield is Ories’ to lose

Old Boys University broke Wainuiomata’s hearts by scoring two late converted tries to give them a 28-26 win at Ian Galloway Park.

Trailing 28-14 with about 10 minutes to play, and pinned inside their own half and under pressure, OBU scored the first of these tries by stringing some phases together and breaking out to score against the run of play through centre Elijah Maene-Lokeni. First five Tom Henderson kicked the conversion to make it 26-21.

Two minutes later OBU took the lead when Henderson booted the ball down into the 22 with the wind behind him, and forced a fumble. The ball was turned over and in a flash, Maene-Lokeni flew through to score his second try which was converted by Henderson from under the posts.

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There was still about five minutes of time left to play as Wainuiomata dug deep, but couldn’t break through and OBU held on for what was an unlikely win not 10 minutes earlier.

For the neutral observer, it was a tough way for Wainuiomata to celebrate captain and flanker Greg Lealofi’s 200^th game. Wainuiomata had been all over the Goats like a rash throughout most of the game, matching them in all departments and winning a consistent barrage of penalties, particularly at the breakdowns.  They will rue some mistakes of their own at key moments. OBU also lost wing Reece Plumtree to the sinbin for a high tackle.

Wainuiomata had led 16-7 at half time. With the wind behind them, they had built a 16-0 lead, courtesy of three penalties to first five Andrew Wells, and a well constructed try in the 20^th minute to fullback Campbell Cowie. Cowie’s try was scored directly off an attacking scrum about 20 metres in from the lefthand touch, running on to an inside pass by Wells and crashing over to score.

OBU finally hit back with a try right on halftime to halfback Mitchell McLeod. This was a stunning solo effort in which he ran 50 metres from a lineout on the far side, and sprinted all the way to the tryline.

Now with the wind, Wainuiomata put that try behind them and started the second half with a 90 second attacking foray inside OBU’s 22. This was turned over, but OBU made a hash of the exit play in the far corner, and the visitors pounced to score their second try to go up 21-7.

OBU hit back almost immediately. Their forwards drove into the 22 from a lineout, and hooker and captain Louie Calvert made a short burst, passing to halfback McLeod who scored his double on the far side. Henderson slotted the sideline conversion to make it 21-14 to Wainuiomata.

However, Wainuiomata replied in style with a stunning broken field try to match that of McLeod. This again involved first five Wells and fullback Cowie. Cowie ran back a kick in general play and offloaded to Wells who showed his former athletics sprinting form to score in the far corner, putting Wainuiomata up 26-14.

The next 15 minutes of the match was hard fought as Wainuiomata worked overtime to keep OBU enclosed in their own territory. Players such as No 8 Braydon Soi, the Lealofi brothers Dion and Greg, flanker Matt Jacobs and lock Zane Humphrey all toiled hard.

Prior to OBU breaking out and scoring the first of their two late tries, they didn’t look likely, making this one that certainly got away from Wainuiomata, and one that keeps the defending champions OBU in the Jubilee Cup hunt.

Harper Lock Shield

The table-topping clash in the Harper Lock Shield didn’t disappoint, with Petone beating Poneke 33-29.

OBU returned to winning ways with a 33-12 victory over Wainuiomata (see report  below), while HOBM overcame Ories 30-20 (see report below).

Tawa were narrow 31-27 winners over a plucky Norths side, Pare-Plim eased past Avalon 48-5, while it was also close in the early one out east as MSP edged Johnsonville 24-22.

In the end, OBU sailed home with the gusty winds at their backs to beat Wainuiomata 33-12 in the Ian Galloway Park curtain-raiser.

OBU won five tries to two, scoring three tries in a short space of time during the second half which won them the game.

OBU had earlier led 14-0 in the first half, scoring two converted tries from attacking scrums.

Wainuiomata then lost a player to a red card for a high tackle, which served to galvanise  the visitors and derail OBU’s momentum. Wainuiomata rallied and came back to score a try on half time to make it 14-7 at the break.

Wainuiomata scored again early in the second spell to make it 14-12, and there was a whiff of a boil over in the air, especially after OBU lost a player to the sinbin.

However, OBU did enough to win by defusing the situation with a trio of tries.

A hat-trick from HOBM halfback Ratu Valegatu got his side home in an entertaining early match at the Hutt Rec as they beat Ories 30-20.

The visitors belied their place on the ladder as they took it to their opponents, and opened the scoring inside five minutes. Valegatu had his first in response, with the scoring tit-for-tat in the first half. Ories were next on the board, then HOBM went long-range with Valegatu backing up, and an Ories penalty had them up 15-12 at the break. HOBM were able to stretch their legs through forwards Hugh Bloomfield-Ryan and veteran Enoka Fonoti, before Ories were finally able to get downfield and close it up to 22-20. HOBM knocked over a penalty to give themselves a measure of security, before Valegatu completed his trilogy from close range.

Women’s

This years Women’s Big Two will sort out top seeding for the Tia Paasi Memorial Cup playoffs when they meet next week. Petone beat Ories 52-15 with Norths accounting for MSP 69-10.

In the Izzy Ford Cup matches, Wainuiomata beat Pare-Plim 39-20 to put themselves in pole position for top spot, with Poneke beating Avalon 35-5.

Colts

Plenty of points in the lone Paris Memorial Colts match today, with HOBM beating Norths 84-24 in their catch-up match. Credit due to the Norths team, who battled on with just 15 players.

The Colts competition resumes in full next weekend.

College

In college Premiership matches played today, St Pat’s Silverstream returned form their mid-week trip to New Plymouth via Masterton to beat Rathkeale College 60-0.

St Pat’s Town beat Wairarapa College 45-10 in a second game over the hill.

The remaining two matches that went ahead today saw Tawa College beating St Bernard’s College 34-20 and HIBS overcoming Rongotai College 24-18.

Wellington College beat Scots College by default.

In Premier 2, the Silverstream Second XV beat the Town Second 34-7, Porirua College beat Mana College 34-20, the Silverstream Third XV beat Paraparaumu College 26-24, the Wellington College Second XV beat Mana College 66-0. HVHS beat Bishop Viard College by default, after BVC had sustained a high injury toll in their failed Beard Trophy challenge last Wednesday.