Sideline Conversions 23 June (some rugby news and information to start the new week)

Above: fulltime at Ngati Toa Domain on Saturday. Photo: Stewart Baird.

One round to play in the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield competitions and several teams will be looking for a pot of gold to improve their chances when the Championship rounds kick off in a fortnight.

Swindale Shield matches at a glance this coming Saturday (Harper Lock Shield replicates this, full preview at the end of this week):

• Pōneke v Northern United (Cyril Collett Memorial Shield), Kilbirnie Park
• Wellington v Marist St Pat’s, Hataitai Park
• Wainuiomata v Oriental-Rongotai, William Jones Park
• Hutt Old Boys Marist v Petone (McBain Shield), Hutt Rec.
• Paremata-Plimmerton v Tawa, Ngati Toa Domain.
• Old Boys University v Avalon, Ian Galloway Park.
• Upper Hutt Rams v Johnsonville (Bill Brien Challenge Cup), Maidstone Park.

More school rugby this week, including the annual Quadrangular Tournament involving Wellington College, which Adam Julian is at, and the resumption of the Beard Trophy series on Wednesday evening from 5.00pm at Porirua Park between holders Tawa College and challengers Porirua College and St Pat’s Silverstream First XV v HIBS First XV at 3.00pm Wednesday at Silverstream.

There is also an U15 and second XV exchange on Wednesday between hosts Silverstream and visitors Palmerston North Boys’ High School. It is understood that these two First XVs meet in Palmerston North in the first week of the school holidays next week.

The U18 Wellington schoolgirls competition officially starts this Wednesday with 12 teams taking the field.

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A Monday afternoon update: The Wellington Axemen’s 9-point deduction for fielding an unregistered player has been rescinded. They are back to 9 points on the table and back to 9 ahead of Avalon on 4. 

With one round to play in the Swindale Shield, 34  of 84 games have ben decided by 20 or more points this year and 24 by seven or fewer .

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A couple of questions as to who finishes ahead of who for the championship rounds in the case of ties on the points table it is who won their head-to-head encounter. If three teams are tied it’s who had the most wins in the Swindale Shield amongst those sides, then points-differential. Look out for our preview at the end of this week, but in the meantime see the table and recent form guide and who plays who this coming weekend below.

Note the update above that theWellington Axemen’s 9-point deduction for fielding an unregistered player has been rescinded. They are back to 9 points on the table and back to 9 ahead of Avalon on 4. 

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The All Blacks are named this afternoon. We wonder if Scott Barrett will be captain, given they are being named in his rugby club.  Any “bolters”? Anyone new from Wellington or the Hurricanes?

Update: Congratulations to Du Plessis Kirifi for his selection for the first All Blacks squad of the year.

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A proposal by a group of single-sex boys’ schools to form a breakaway First XV competition in the South Island is facing considerable opposition from a large cooperative of co-educational schools.

Forty-three school principals of co-ed schools from around the South Island have put their names to an email to New Zealand Rugby’s general manager of community rugby, Steve Lancaster.

Read more HERE 

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Best wishes to 200+ gamer Norths Women’s stalwart Patsy Schwalger, who we understand suffered a suspected ruptured Achilles in the team warmup ahead of Saturday’s Tia Paasi Memorial final against Petone.

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Ahead of this year’s Quadrangular Tournament, the @Tackld podcast spoke to former Wellington College captain and 2023 winner Harry Law. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eTClC5xIsy9X0ejM5OOzj?si=wNZOEUgDT3W8ZIqgcPD-oQ&nd=1&dlsi=fb10a5d89e564508

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When it comes down to the business end of this season, goal kicking could be a vital element. Which team has the best goal-kicker? If the number one goal-kicker goes down who is the back-up? We were thinking this during the Johnsonville – Norths game on Saturday with Ish Perkins scoring one and setting up another try, but also missing at least two fairly easy conversions that made their game closer than it should have been. This backed up by going through the results on Sunday, a number of points left out there across several games.

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Here is one for the judiciary. If a player in the curtain-raiser gets red-carded, is he still allowed to bench and come on for the Premiers game that follows? We guess he is as he is innocent until proven guilty the following week!

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Which club rugby players do you think the Wellington Lions selectors are looking at this year? A starting point is which positions do they need to fill to make up their squad of typically 34 players?

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Four tries to MSP loosehead prop Antonio Vaka in their Harper Lock Shield 62-3 in over Avalon on Saturday – following up his hat-trick against Wainuiomata a few weeks ago.

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Welcome back to the competition Campbell Woodmass, who was Norths 2019 Jubilee Cup winning halfback, but has been in exile in Taranaki since 2021. He marked his three and a half seasons away with a try for Norths at the of the game after playing the second half. It is understood this appearance was a one-off and he’s heading back to New Plymouth where he lives and works as a builder  if he hasn’t already.

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Speaking of halfbacks, congratulations to Kyle Preston for being a Super Rugby winner, in his first year in the competition with the Crusaders. Preston played 14 matches for his team this year and came off the bench in the Super Rugby Final.

Another top level halfback Folau Fakatava played club rugby on Saturday at home in the Hawke’s Bay. He scored two tries for Hastings in their 29-29 draw with Napier Pirate featuring Sheridan Rangihuna.

In the same Maddison Trophy competition, Taradale beat Napier Old Boys Marist 64-29 with 17 tries scored – that’s a long highlights reel.

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Staying with halfbacks, Wellington club rugby top try scorers after 12 rounds of 13 of the Swindale Shield:

The record for most tries in a Swindale season is 19, by Buxton Popoalii for Northern United in 2010. This was achieved in an 11-game round-robin.

In recent times, Luca Rees also scored 17 tries a few years ago for Norths, again in an 11-game competition. He is poised on 99 Premier tries to his names

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Are the Upper Hutt Rams serious contenders for the Jubilee Cup? Knocking over Hutt Old Boys Marist who had been coming into some imperious form was a big result from the outside looking in.

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Gutsy effort from flanker Christian Faavae of Paremata-Plimmerton who fronted off the bench despite a serious bout of flu in the Hammerheads 27-25 victory over Petone.

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Jarrod Hirstch is set to play his 100th game for Petone in the McBain Shield. Petone has 64 wins, Hutt 20 with five draws in the historic Hutt joust.

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Should they both play, MSP will have two centurions in their forwards this coming weekend in their last round match against the Wellington Axemen, Tui Tuia and James Zino. It is understood that in the same game Axemen hooker/No. 8 James Tuiatua will play his 150th Premier game, which includes many appearances for MSP.

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Andrew Jones played his 100th game for Pōneke last weekend and will have his 100th start this coming weekend.

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Despite a bandaged knee that resembled a mound of clay, James Coburn lasted 80 minutes and destroyed Petone’s scrum. On Ken Gray Cup day how fitting a veteran of his calibre rises above adversity.

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Wellington club rugby top points after 12 rounds of 13 of the Swindale Shield:

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Just prior to kick-off of the 1.00pm Harper Lock curtain-raiser at Porirua Park there was a small private ceremony on the bank involving Jackson Garden-Bachop and family beside the scoreboard for one of the two seats that have recently been built into the bank. At halftime, we went up and had a look. It is in memory of Sue and Connor Garden-Bachop. It will be well used. The other new seat hasn’t been christened yet.

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Are we going to get a Swindale Shield where the winners finish with a perfect 65 competition points?

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One round to play in the Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield and there’s lots to play for several teams as the second round comes sharply into focus.

Unofficial points table, with Petone in the box seat to take the spoils and several sides in the mix just behind them: Petone 55, Pōneke 51, Hutt Old Boys Marist 50, Old Boys University 50, Marist St Pat’s 48, Tawa 46, Ories 30, Upper Hutt Rams 28, Pare-Plim 24, Wainuiomata 20, Northern United 20, Johnsonville 16, Avalon 11, Wellington 7.

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Most wins by an individual without a Super Rugby title:

• 96 – Tendai Mtawarira
• 91 – Kurtley Beale
• 91 – Damian McKenzie
• 89 – Ma’a Nonu
• 89 – Tatafu Polota-Nau

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You would have to have been a diehard rugby fan to actually watch the Super Rugby final.

There were 73 kicks in the Super Rugby Final. That’s the same number as the dire Springboks v Wales Rugby World Cup semi final in 2019. The Black Ferns kicked the ball less in six matches at the 2022 Rugby World Cup.

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A mercy rule in rugby? The first half of the Harper Lock Shield match between Ories and Pōneke lasted 38 mins 30 seconds of running time (i.e. no stopping the clock) while the second half lasted a mere 34 minutes. Poneke ran out 99-10 winners but would probably have breached the ton with the missing 7 or so minutes (plus stoppage time).

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Club Rugby’s Wairarapa arm made his first visit to the Gladstone club on Saturday. Founded in 1902, its a hub of the local community which is very much a farming one but with some vineyards and wineries now in the mix, and hosts hockey and netball teams as well as rugby ones. “Gladdy” were celebrating their Old Timers’ Day and a reunion of their 1980 Championship side who defeated Masterton 16-13 that year. That was one of 11 Wairarapa championships they’ve claimed but their only one between 1963 and 2001, and their small but warm clubrooms were packed after the game. Their 2001 triumph was one of five titles this century including going back-to-back in 2017-18, but a change in fortunes saw them go winless in 2023 and make the decision to leave the Premier ranks for now. Their only senior side plays in the Senior Reserve grade, which they won last year over Tuhirangi in the final and they currently sit second to the Pirinoa-based team this year.

Gladstone have had two All Blacks come from their ranks, 1929 player Watty Reside and 1949’s Ben Couch, with those two alongside 1930s-era trio Jack Hemi, Dick Nunn, and Johnny Walker as Māori All Blacks. Far more recently Sam Henderson, Cam Hayton (currently the Rugby Manager at the WBRU), Andrew McLean, and Eddie Cranston have been selected for the Heartland XV.

The heart and soul of the club though is Stevie Thompson. A Gladdy man through and through he’s been part of the club for well over 60 years. He was the hooker and vice-captain of that 1980 side, later coach, and since Mr. Everything and deserved recipient of Life Membership. The main field – which like several in the Wairarapa you can just drive up to and park sideline at – is named in his honour.

This regular Monday column is a collaborative effort by a handful of contributors – to help out or if you have news or information please get in touch.