UPDATED Sideline Conversions 8 September (some rugby news and information to start the week)

General action from the match on Saturday at Ngati Toa Domain between the Wellington Fijians and Manawatu Pasifika. Photo: Stewart Baird. 

The Wellington Centurions men’s team have scored 163 points in their last two outings, but their final fixture of their campaign against the Canterbury B team could be their sternest test of all. That match is scheduled for Rugby League Park at 1.00pm this coming Saturday.

In other fixtures at a glance coming up (preview here on Friday with more), it’s the second round of the HYRC U18 competition, with the Centurions playing against Poverty Bay in Palmerston North and a double header at Maidstone Park with Wellington Samoa playing Hawke’s Bay and Wellington Māori meeting Horowhenua-Kapiti.

It is also the opening round set of matches in the Hurricanes region U16 tournament, with both Wellington teams playing away. The Wellington Maori U16s play defending champions Hawke’s Bay in Napier and the Wellington U16s play Manawatu in Palmerston North in first-up Division A games.

The U16s tournament proper is being played over three days next week at Whanganui Collegiate.

There are other matches scheduled away for Wellington representative teams on Saturday, including Wairarapa-Bush Development versus Wellington Fijians in Masterton, the Wellington U85kgs v North Harbour U85kgs in Taupo and the Wellington U18 Girls against Bay of Plenty U18 girls in Taihape.

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Pōneke are the last Wellington team standing in the National U85kg Knockout Cup competition, following Avalon’s loss to Christchurch’s High School Old Boys on Saturday. This coming Saturday Pōneke are in action at home against New Plymouth Old Boys. The game is at 1.00pm at Kilbir

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The All Blacks are also playing their second test against the Springboks at Wellington Stadium this weekend – saturation coverage of that at the expense of anything else going on to be found on other websites.

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Its sink or swim time for the Wellington Lions in Whangarei this Thursday, up against the Northland Taniwha. Owing to the clash in kick-off times (2.05pm on Saturday) with other rugby being played we did not see their game against Hawke’s Bay so can’t really comment on it. But not a good loss – the Hurricanes NPC teams’ wooden spoon for 2025!

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Update. Current St Pat’s Silverstream captain and flanker Elijah Solomona (pictured below) is the sole representative out of Wellington schools in the New Zealand Schools or Barbarians teams. Solomona is in the Barbarians side.

Other Wellington players in the Barbarians side are Corban King (Marist St Pat’s) and Drew Berg-McLean (now in the Hawke’s Bay).

Current Tawa College midfielder Malachi Osman has been selected in the New Zealand Maori U18s

The Hurricanes region players in these teams are below:

New Zealand Schools Alani Fakava (Feilding High School), Isireli Qaranivalu (Hastings Boys’ High School), Jamie Viljoen (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), Nehemiah Su’a (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), Noah Rogers (Lindisfarne College), Rupeni Raviyawa (Feilding High School), Triumph Voice (Hastings Boys’ High School)

New Zealand Barbarian U18 Alex Palazzo (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), Drew Berg-McLean (Napier Pirates Rugby & Sports Club), Corban King (Mart St Pats RFC), Elijah Solomona (St Patrick’s Silversteam), Hunter Kennedy (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), James Tuituba (Feilding High School), Nehemiah Lauvao (Hastings Boys’ High School), Peni Havea (Feilding High School)

New Zealand Māori U18

Jericho Wharehinga (Napier Pirates Rugby & Sports Club – Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa), Malachi Osman (Tawa College – Ngāti Porou, Ngā Rauru), Raef Robinson (Hastings Boys’ High School – Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga), Richie Stephenson (Aotea Sports Club – Rangitāne, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti)
Tylerjay Wallace (Palmerston North Boys’ High School – Kāi Tahu/Ngāi Tahu)

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Accolades aplenty for Ardie Savea in reaching the milestone of 100 tests for the All Blacks on Saturday, the second player from his former school Rongotai College to do so after Ma’a Nonu. Check out the video praising him is below:

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A reason why we still run this website after over 20 years and haven’t succumbed to social media or AI just yet is the satisfaction of seeing players rise through the ranks from school rugby to club rugby to the top. There have been several players to have done this in Wellington and the rugby areas we cover in this time and the latest and one of the most spectacular is Kyle Preston.

Preston was always a player on many people’s radar, but for us it was January 2023 when he stood out for the first time playing in that year’s Bula 7s tournament at Porirua Park for the Fijian Flyers and catching fire throughout that afternoon (see below in the final). When we first interviewed him a few months later he was working as a roofer! He then spent two years playing well for Old Boys University, then was picked up by the Crusaders after winning the NPC for Wellington last year. On Saturday he became the second Preston brother to wear a black uniform this year after NZ U85KG brother Adam when he debuted for the All Blacks. Now he is line to feature in his first home test this Saturday.

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The Wellington U19s finished their season on a high on Saturday. Their 49-5 win over the Hurricanes Heartland U20s was not unexpected, but they played well against hearty opposition. With previous wins over Hawke’s Bay (24-22) and Manawatu (87-0) they lifted the Central Region Shield for the 23rd time.

That is the end of their season, which is perhaps a bit premature as a return match against the Canterbury U19s whom they had a scratchy loss to a few weeks back would likely be much closer.

A number of these players will go on and be leading Premier Swindale Shield performers next season, if not already this year for a handful of them.

Johnny Falloon is one such player, the lock in his first year in Wellington out of Rathkeale College was thrown in the deep end for the struggling Old Boys University this year and has ended the season as a leading Wellington U19s player. The lock was a standout on Standout on Saturday – no doubt against some of his former Wairarapa teammates – and he scored two tries. See the second of these below.

Fellow lock Sam Thomson, who plays for Petone and is out of St Pat’s Silverstream and prior to that Paraparaumu College, is another player to have settled into some strong form at the back end of this season and will be a player to watch in 2026.

When thinking about club rugby ‘Rookies of the Year’ for 2025, former Silverstream and first-year Marist St Pat’s player Preston Moananu would be near the top of our list. He was coming off the bench for the U19s as an impact player, although he is just as much as a blindside as a lock whereas Falloon and Thomson are straight locks.

Moananu’s MSP teammate Jayde Burns has seemingly settled into second-five and is playing well . The former St Pat’s Town player has two Premier seasons under his belt, thrown into the fire as the Norths halfback in 2024 before moving across to MSP in 2025 and playing predominantly halfback as well.

Including U19s players Jake Lawson and Mike Brown (and Max Reynolds who can also play there), there is a healthy group of halfbacks coming through to watch next next season.

Also in a rookie of the year category shortlist alongside Moananu would be Tawa openside flanker Luke Bidois. He had a whale of a Premier season for Tawa and played in the Jubilee Cup final. This time last year he was playing for the Poverty Bay U18s having spent his last year in the Gisborne Boys’ High School First XV. With the departure of Drew Berg-McLean to Hawke’s Bay, Bidois can continue to grab his chances as a straight number seven option.

There are also a handful of injured players who would no doubt be in this group if fit. First five Thompson Tukapua only played two games of club rugby this season for Petone before sustaining a knee injury and having surgery.

2024 Taita College head boy and CSW Allrounder of the Year wing/fullback Wesley Faitele is another in that category. Scots College’s head prefect in 2024 Hayden Patu is another.

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In season try scoring watch, Esi Komaisavai scored another for the Wellington Lions on Saturday to extend his season tally to at least 22 tries (did he score in his appearances for the Centurions?) We are not keeping a tally, but Mitchell McLeod must be catching up to too, having scored several tries in the past three weeks for the Centurions.

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If the Centurions beat Canterbury this coming weekend, they would be a contender for WRFU Team of the Year. Even if they don’t they will go close to this award.

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Unless they make a storming finish to the NPC and go on and defend their title or make the final, the Lions will be unlikely to win that award. Likewise the Wellington Pride, whose inconsistent season continued. They weere beaten by Northland 22-13 in wet conditions on a heavy field on Saturday and now must return to face them this coming weekend in their championship semi-final. If they win that then they will likely then meet Otago in Dunedin in the final. So another season in Division 2 could be on the cards.

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In contrast, the Manawatu Cyclones are going well and are channeling the 1997 Hurricanes by playing a fast brand of rugby and attacking from deep. They overwhelmed Counties-Manukau on Saturday.

A fail on the numbers on the back of the jerseys by the Manawatu team though. It is harder sometimes identifying women’s players because of their long hair covering their backs, but white on white in sunshine is not a good combination.

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Continuing our ongoing rant about no scoreboards at games. Two U18 and U19 competition games at Maidstone Park on Saturday and a few hundred spectators watching each game, including visiting parents and supporters from outside the region. But no scoreboards operating. Maidstone Park #1 now has one of the best electronic scoreboard and clocks but there was no sign of it being turned on. Why? On the same subject, we can add in crowd control. Club games are diligently managed, and grounds are roped off for spectators and ground managers are always visible and proactive at ground level. But not for representative games! At one point the 300 or so strong crowd on the southern touchline on Maidstone #2 was spilling out on to the field as one, straining to see the action inside the 22 near the corner.

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What about the beautiful scrum turnover that led to South Africa’s second half try on Saturday.

The scrum will be an area to watch at All Blacks training this week ahead of the Wellington test.

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The Auckland NPC team are on the board with their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon against the Tasman Mako.

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Re-live this year in rugby through photos – more galleries added all the time. Not every gallery goes on social media.

https://clubrugby.smugmug.com/2025 

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