Sideline Conversions 16 March (some rugby news and information to start the week)

Above: Club rugby returned to Johnston Park, Feilding on Saturday when the home side hosted Paremata-Plimmerton. Photo: Stewart Baird.

The nights are drawing in and the mornings are darker, but that can only mean that the start of a new rugby season is almost upon us.

The second weekend of pre-season is in the books, here’s much of what is happening this coming Saturday:

• Upper Hutt Rams v Hutt Old Boys Marist, Maidstone Park
• Tukapa v Pōneke (Zemba Cup match), New Plymouth
• Nelson Marist v Marist St Pat’s, Blenheim
• Kia Toa v Oriental-Rongotai, Bill Brown Park, P.N.
• Petone v Paremata-Plimmerton, Petone/North Park
• Tawa v Northern United, Lyndhurst Park
• Avalon Wolves v Freyberg, Naenae College
• Varsity Rams v Waikato University, Turangi
• Wainuiomata v Wellington Axemen, Mary Crowther Park
• Also: Hawke’s Bay Premier Nash Cup Round One, Horowhenua-Kapiti Premier Ramsbotham Cup Round one (see below), Highlanders v Hurricanes Super 11 and Development games ( Dunedin).

This is not a comprehensive list and all fixtures are subject to change – check back on this website Friday afternoon for a confirmed list of schedules.

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We are working on content for several lead-in stories to start the Wellington competition on Easter Saturday, starting next week. This includes the annual Gains & Losses article, which was inherited by default from the newspaper a few years ago. For news and information for this and anything else, please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz

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Great to see multiple pre-season games on Saturday amongst clubs from different provinces and some competitive rugby and even scorelines.

Old Boys University and Massey University played out a tight fixture at Massey. OBU held on and won 27-26 and had to defend the line in the dying moments to protect that score.

Massey opened the scoring but OBU struck back to score four times to lead 22-7 at halftime. Included here were two tries in five minutes to Jake Lawson, usually a halfback, but at first-five at the time and then briefly at fullback before he was subbed off in the second half. Lawson also showed some nice touches and even channelled Callum Harkin with a nice 50-22 touchfinder.

The Rams came back with three second half tries, including two long-range strikes in the SRI corner, but OBU scored what was their winner through new lock Lachie Earl out of St Bede’s College. He was one of several new players in the Goats squad who impressed on the day. Some others included centre Ben Gordon (a former Wellington College player), former Wairarapa-Bush halfback Sam Walton-Sexton (playing inside Lawson in the first half) and the Maene-Lokeni brothers, Tana and Elijah at No. 8 and second-five respectively. There are still several players at a minimum to come back for OBU so they should be happy with their game against the defending MRU champions.

Both sides also lost players to injury within the opening five minutes, a Varsity midfielder and OBU tighthead Laurence Jarel-Lim. Varsity’s strength was in their forwards, a strong scrum and a group of strong ball running forwards across the board. They will be hard to beat again in this year’s Hankins Shield competition.

There were two more games in the Manawatu hosting Wellington clubs. Feilding Yellows and Paremata-Plimmerton contested a close match, with Paremata-Plimmerton winning 36-26.

A shout out to Yellows right wing Brad Carr who has played over 400 Premier/Senior A games for his team and is back in 2026. Carr made his debut in 1999 as a teenager, so how many players in New Zealand top flight club rugby are still playing who were playing last century, and how many players have played over 400 Premier/Senior 1 games for the same club? It would be great to compile a list of most capped club rugby players in New Zealand!

Down across Palmerston North, Kia Toa hosted the Wellington Axemen. No ‘score’ known, but reports received said this was a close game and both sides scored some half a dozen tries. For the Axemen, Te Aranga Hakiwai, Caleb and Lei Aiulu and Archie Treadwell all hit the new season running with strong games, while for Kia Toa Fuka Paongo was always threatening in the midfield.

At NZCIS, the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles hosted Napier Pirate and this was another entertaining fixture with former HOBM Jubilee Cup halfback Sheridan Rangihuna the visiting team’s coach. HOBM won 31-29.

Marist St Pat’s and Petone met in Colts/Premier Reserve and Premier fixtures at Evans Bay Park. In the Premier game, Petone won eight tries to two. That is the same margin that MSP beat Norths last week, but its all just ‘pre-season’ so little can be read into these scores until showtime on 4 April.

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Martinborough beat Waikanae at home in their pre-season fixture 45-10. But that didn’t tell the entire story. It was only 17-10 at three-quarter time when Waikanae brought on their second stringers and the home side broke through for several late tries.

The Horowhenua-Kapiti Premier season starts this coming week, the season draw is below. Horowhenua-Kapiti then have Easter weekend off, which is the weekend that Wairarapa-Bush starts (along with Wellington).

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The New Zealand Rugby Museum is hosting “Rugby Jamboree IV” this coming Saturday and Sunday at Palmerston North. It features networking, display of memorabilia, and talks. Day 1 is at the Marist Sports Clubrooms in Pascal Street; Day 2 is at Te Manawa. For more email info@rugbymuseum.co.nz

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We have  been informed that NZR have taken “oversight” of WRFU’s finances.

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Following 1965 Jubilee Cup winning Athletic club captain Nev MacEwan’s passing last week aged 91, we asked ourselves who is now the oldest living Jubilee Cup winning captain? The answer is Gary Hermansson, who captained University to the joint title in 1964 with Marist. Hermansson was born on 17 Janury 1941 and is 85. Marist’s captain that season was Mick Horan who passed away in 1982 aged 47. Hermansson also captained University to their 1966 win, while the late Ken Gray captained Petone in 1967-69.

Who is the oldest living Jubilee Cup winner? Who is the oldest living Jubilee Cup player? The former could be JHR Walker who won the Jubilee Cup with University in 1958 as a player and was born on 13 August 1938.

Who is the oldest living Wellington player? That would be Brian Steele, who is also the oldest living All Black. Steele was a halfback who played for Onslow and played in the three-test series against the Wallabies in 1951. More on his career here: https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2024/09/18/pioneers-of-rugby-in-wellington-088-brian-steele/

After Steele, who is Wellington’s oldest living non-All Black representative? We don’t know that.

Who is the oldest living Wellington representative coach? This would be Earle Kirton, who was born on 29 December 1940 so is 85. He coached Wellington to 27 wins in 36 matches and one NPC title in 1986-87.

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Until just last week, former international referee Peter McDavitt was likely the WRRA’s oldest living Jubilee Cup referee. McDavitt passed away last week. He made a Life Member of the Wellington Rugby Referees Association in 1983, after his stint as WRRA President in 1981-82. and of the NZRRA and Centurions. He refereed the first test of the 1977 All Blacks-British and Irish Lions Test. He was 94.

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Why is Jordie Barrett doing the goal-kicking for the Hurricanes when Callum Harkin is also there on the field and clearly a better goal kicker?

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Devan Flanders has already played more Super Rugby Pacific in 2026 (4 starts, 287 minutes) than he did last year. In February 2025, he broke his leg in the pre-season, returning to action in May in a 31-27 win over the Reds in Brisbane. The Hawke’s Bay and former Hastings Boys’ High School loose forward was already good before his injury but has raised his game to a higher level of consistency since returning. The All Blacks XV loose forward playing at No.8 instead of his usual six in the Hurricanes’ 31-23 win against the Force in Napier, continued the all-round excellence that has defined his campaign. He topped the carry count with 16, gained 114 metres, and scored the Hurricanes’ third try as the visitors’ challenge faded at the start of the second half. Flanders’ value was further shown by ranking in the top five of the match for tackles, lineout catches, offloads, and defenders beaten. Could he become an All Black, or are the rumours that he’s Japan-bound true?

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The Black Ferns sealed the SVNS league title for a ninth time with a 31-10 win over Fiji in pool play at the New York Sevens. Qualifying for the semi-finals secured an unassailable six-point lead over Australia in the standings. Fittingly, Jorja Miller was in galvanic form. Her first try, with a swerve, left-hand fend, and 60 metre surge, broke the stalemate. From the restart, she swooped on an unexpected bounce and galloped 30 metres, celebrating with a Statue of Liberty pose. Miller further endeared herself to the New York crowd with a pass like Clyde Fraser to set up her skipper, Pouri-Lane, who is not glamorous but is the glue of the Black Ferns.

100 Tries for All Blacks Sevens (All Tournaments)

Tim Mikkelson, 257 / Amasio Valence, 169 (Plus) / DJ Forbes, 160 / Tomasi Cama, 153 / Regan Ware, 152 / Eric Rush, 150 (Plus) / Karl Te Nana, 150 (Plus) / Brad Fleming, 150 (Plus) / Scott Curry, 145 /     Kurt Baker, 141 / Sherwin Stowers, 141 / Joe Webber, 123 / Tafai Ioasa, 120 / Lote Raikabula, 117 / Au Rokolisoa, 109 / Sam Dickson, 104 / Zar Lawrence, 102

Note: Clive Akers, who spent thirty years editing the Rugby Almanack, New Zealand Rugby’s annual record, says that Valence, Rush, Te Nana, and Fleming might each have a few more tries, but probably not more than a dozen each. He notes that record-keeping was unreliable during several tournaments in the late 1990s. Justin Wilson (99), Sione Molia (97), and Dylan Collier (95) are the next closest players to reaching one hundred tries.

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France defended the Six Nations title, winning the championship for the 20th time with a 48-46 win over England in Paris. Trailing 46-45 with time up, France’s all-time leading points scorer Thomas Ramos (53 Tests, 563 points, 42 wins) kicked an angled 45-metre penalty to seal victory in a game with a dozen tries and seven lead changes. Ramos was successful with all seven kicks.

French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey did a Jonah Lomu by scoring four tries in a Test against England. Bielle-Biarrey has scored 17 tries in his last 10 Six Nations matches. He is the first Frenchman to score four tries in an international since Maurice Celhay bagged four in a 43-5 win against Italy in 1937. Adolphe Jaureguy scored four in a 61-3 win over Romania in 1924. Previous Six Nations hat-tricks against England were:

Willie Llewellyn, Wales, Swansea, Win, 26-3, 1899 / Michel Crauste, France, Paris, Win 13-0, 1962 / Maurice Richards, Wales, Cardiff, Win, 30-9, 1969 / Duhan van der Merwe, Scotland, London, 30-21, 2024. *Llewellyn played in Wales controversial  3-0 win over the “Originals” All Blacks in Cardiff in 1905.

Flanker Temo Matiu debuted for France in their epic 48-46 win over England in Paris. He is the son of Legi Matiu, the first Kiwi to play for France. The Auckland-born lock played two Tests for France in 2000: Wales (won 36-3) and England (lost 15-9). The week before his international debut, Temo and his wife Careen lost their four-month-old daughter.

French coach Fabien Galthié has won 54 of 73 Tests. He won 38 of 64 as a player. The 2000 World Rugby Player of the Year has won the Six Nations six times: three as a player and three as a coach.

England had won a dozen Tests in a row before the Six Nations. They lost four games in this Six Nations, their worst campaign since 1984. England conceded a record nine yellow cards, though flanker Ollie Chessum produced one of the great performances against France, with two tries just the half of it!

Winless: 1887, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1931, 1948, 1966, 1983

One Win: 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1984, 2026

Two Wins: 2005, 2006, 2018, 2021

Ireland won the Triple Crown for victories against Scotland, England, and Wales for the 15th time and the fourth since 2022, with a 43-21 defeat of Scotland in Dublin. Ireland’s biggest score against Scotland was in Dublin in 2000, when they won 44-22. Head-to-head, Ireland leads Scotland 73-68 in 144 matches.

Wales won their first Six Nations match in 15 attempts when they beat Italy 31-17 in Cardiff. Number eight Aaron Wainwright scored two tries and was named Player of the Match. Alexx Mann was the Six Nations’ top tackler with 88. Tomos Williams put up 61 box kicks in five matches, yawn!

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