Sideline Conversions 13 April (some news and information to start the week)

Action from Old Boys University’s Peter Dunford Cup win over Wainuiomata on Saturday. 

Monday morning edition: The first full weekend of club rugby was played on Saturday. And we got lucky with the weather. Saturday was fine and warm but 24 hours later it was grey and wet. It’s the second week of school holidays so there are some school games on, ahead of round three of the Swindale Shield and HLS competitions and round two of other grades on Saturday.

Premier Swindale Shield third round games coming up at a glance are (full preview here on Friday afternoon):

• Johnsonville Hawks v Wellington Axemen (Mick Kenny Cup), Helston Park
• Upper Hutt Rams v Oriental-Rongotai (Bob Lendrum Cup & Bill Brien Challenge Cup defence), Maidstone Park
• Old Boys University v Petone (Marc Verhoeven Memorial Trophy), Nairnville Park
• Poneke v Wainuiomata (Hakaraia Trophy), William Jones Park
• Paremata-Plimmerton v Avalon, Ngati Toa Domain
• Marist St Pat’s v Tawa, Evans Bay Park
• Northern United v Hutt Old Boys Marist, Porirua Park Number One Stadium

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In some school contests this week, touring Barker College will hope to make it three from three when they meet Scots College on Tuesday at 11.ooam. Barker College are coached by former Scots coach Earl Va’a. On Thursday St Pat’s Town host Brisbane State High School at Evans Bay Park at 2.45pm.

On Tuesday is the annual ‘Hope Cup’ tournament amongst Hutt Valley schools and teams, at Fraser Park.

On Saturday, Wellington College meet Nelson College at their school grounds at 1.30pm, as part of their 150th celebrations weekend.

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The Wellington Axemen came back from 17-7 down in the first half to lead Pōneke 19-17 at halftime. They then scored 31 unanswered second half points to win 50-31. Let’s put a couple of things in perspective about their win:

• It was their first win over anyone except Avalon since they beat Pare-Plim 8-7 on a Hataitai bog back on 12 June 2021. That’s a span of 1,765 days
• It was their first time scoring 50 points in a match since before a thing called Covid came along. That was 22 June 2019 in a 53-13 win over Johnsonville; only 2,486 days prior

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A hat-trick in his starting debut for Oriental-Rongotai first-five Avent Va’a, first year out of Scots College. It was also three tries in a losing cause, which is reasonably rare. Can you recall notable hat-tricks in losing causes?

Premier hat-tricks for Wellington Axemen fullback Luke Kapene  -including one from a length of the field breakout –  and for HOBM No. 8 Rupeni Raviyawa as well.

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The last time the Oriental-Rongotai Premiers lost four matches in a row?

It was in 2019, with consecutive losses in the last two rounds of the Swindale Shield and the first two of the Jubilee Cup to HOBM (31-41) , MSP (15-22), Wainuiomata (12-21) and HOBM again (27-39). They had also lost to Wianuiomata  first time (0-27) prior to these games so they lost five games in a row that year.

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Haircut of the day had to go to Tawa’s George Risale. He came on and played a big game to go with his big hair.

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Speaking of all things well-manicured, the grass at Hataitai Park is a lot longer than everywhere else in the region… Does someone know the groundsmen and the type of footy the Axemen want to play this season?

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James Coburn reacquainted himself with the deadball line at Lyndhurst Park on Saturday, when he was sinbinned in the second half for Paremata-Plimmerton. We recall the former Tawa player has been there before!

Even in his advanced ‘age’ we feel that Hemi Fermanis could easily play higher honours – he is playing as well as ever.

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Speaking of Hemi Fermanis, his older brother TJ came off the bench in the Tawa Premier 2s side against Paremata-Plimmerton.

Tawa’s Premier 2 side raised some eyebrows at Club Rugby HQ, particularly its loose forward trio of Jeff Makepelu, Jon Masaga, and Peni Tokakece. Veterans in the absolute sense of the word, all three are over 40, leading to our own Scott MacLean – no spring chicken himself – dubbing them “The Rest Home Squad”.

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Jokes aside, it’s good to see a bunch of 40-somethings (or near too) still out there doing their thing in the Premier 2 grade. The elder statesman in this regard is still Petone’s Tamahou Waikari, who is closer to 50 than 40, but others include Pare-Plim duo Danny Herewini and Matt Nolan and Rams midfielder Konelio Feaunati while Norths Parekura Lalaga was sighted last weekend.

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In the same Tawa-Pare-Plim Premier 2 game, Paremata-Plimmerton lock Willie Vaalepu scored a hat-trick in a 33-24 win.

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Elsewhere, the Wainuiomata Premier 2s had a 34-15 win over the Old Boys University Premier 2s in the Harper Lock Shield curtain-raiser. Almost a reversing of when they met in this game last year in the ‘Cage’ when OBU won 33-12.

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A malaise has gripped Wellington. In the year ending June 2025, the region lost 1,700 people through internal migration and saw population stagnation. This “exodus” was driven by a weak economy and high living costs. From September to October 2025, 133 businesses in the city closed. The wider Wellington region had the worst employment growth in New Zealand.

​These grim times have extended to rugby, with the Wellington Rugby Union posting losses of over $1 million in the past two seasons.

In 2016 there were 11,014 registered players. In  2024 that number was 9,021. That equals 133 fewer starting XVs. ​

Yet despite tumbling numbers, a recent vote on the future structure of the senior club competition ended in a stalemate, and the same Premier competition remains. Across 17 Wellington clubs, there are only 78 teams, 77 on Saturday with the Pōneke seconds defaulting. Furthermore, the Upper Hutt Premier 2s finished with 13 players after starting the game with 15. When Norths was founded in 1989, it had 13 open weight teams; it now has five. There will be other examples of skinny numbers.

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The Hurricanes Poua squad was named last week for the upcoming women’s Super Rugby competition. In the 31-strong squad just five are current Wellington players.

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St Kentigern College maintained its stranglehold on the annual Presbyterian Schools Rugby Quadrangular Tournament, winning the event for a ninth successive year and a 23rd time since its inception in 1989 at Scots College last week.

However, at halftime in the final against St Andrew’s College, the Cantabrians were in pole position to secure their ninth title and first since 2010, leading 17-5.

There was doubt that a twelve-point lead was enough at halftime, with the increasing fury of the Strathmore southwesterly wind.

On cue, St Kent’s rallied to prevail 29-22. Halfback Keanu Graham navigated the tricky wind superbly. He scored two tries and created another in a commanding display. Behemoth lock Razelang Aukuso Slade, previously selected for the Chiefs Under 16s from Manurewa High School, made his presence felt.

Despite the absence of two hookers due to concussions, St Andrew’s won more lineout possession than the Highlanders and rattled St Kent’s with abrasive tackling and quick movement in the backs. Winger Jock Sidey was electric, scoring four tries across the tournament, two in the opening 54-7 win over Lindisfarne College and two in the final. First five Stian Pelser strikes a good balance between courage and caution, and loose forwards Lachie Mitchell and Lesson Tiakai are relentless.

St Andrew’s are coached by Rugby World Cup-winning prop Owen Franks, English international Willie Heniz and Tony Fenner, a real estate agent whose professional rugby career took him to Italy, France, Scotland, New Zealand and South Africa.

Lindisfarne won the playoff for third, 41-21, against Scots, who had been smashed 80-7 by St Kent’s on day one. There were initial fears of a similar score when Lindisfarne quickly jumped to a 24-0 lead. Instead, complacency set in and two Lindisfarne players were sin-binned. Midway through the second half, the score closed to 29-21.

Scots are genuinely better than their feeble combination that defaulted a Wellington College Premiership fixture last year. Their Under-15 premier side was a Wellington finalist in 2025, and they have a larger cohort of Year 13 players. A highlight was a length-of-the-field intercept to dashing blonde winger James Favel.

For Lindisfarne, centre Reid Palmer was classy, scoring two tries and engineering another. First five-eighth Te Awarangi Puketapu-Pene was silky, and No.8 Charlie East was a strapping workhorse.

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Who would be in your Wellington College Quadrangular Team of the Century? Ahead of the 150^th Quad later this winter, Club Rugby has been compiling this for an article closer to the time.

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On a brighter note, the Hurricanes hadn’t beaten a top-five side in 2026, nor the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific since 2024, but any suggestion they were flat-track bullies was emphatically banished when they beat the second-placed Blues 42-19 at Hrny Stadium.

The Blues weren’t allowed to impose their methodical aggression. They were blown away by the hosts’ pack, which demolished them in the scrums and spoiled their lineout.

Japanese captain Warner Dearns has provided the Hurricanes with a powerhouse lock similar in size and approach to Brodie Retallick, something they’ve never really had. Early on, Dearns stole two Blues lineouts, thwarting potentially dangerous mauls that form the foundation of the Blues’ game. Dearns has had at least one lineout steal in the last seven games and claimed the most lineout catches for the Hurricanes on the night with five. Additionally, he made 15 tackles, charged with gusto, and supplied awesome support play in a near length-of-the-field scoring movement sparked by two Cam Riogard kicks. The All Black halfback was once again frantic and clinical, sparking a backline that featured another headline-grabbing performance from Callum Harkin, who scored two tries and led the game in metres carried and line-breaks.

Payton Spencer – would he kick for touch or run it again?

Zarn Sullivan had it in for Ruben Love on Saturday!

Xavier Numia – a great game and running into the kind of form he showed last year before the second half of his season was interrupted by injury.

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What is the name of the beauty salon where the Blues players get their eyebrows done? Asking for a friend.

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Justine McGregor made her Black Ferns debut with 23 minutes off the bench in the 48-15 win over the USA. She made one linebreak as the Black Ferns won the second half 29-0. New Hurricanes Poua recruit Renee Holmes, who scored 23 points. She has 244 points in 30 Tests (23 wins).

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We are currently getting our new Draws & Results website working for the year, but feel like we are on top of this all now and a few more things during this week.

More at https://stats.clubrugby.nz/

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PHOTOS 2026: As well as social media all our photo galleries are put online here: https://clubrugby.smugmug.com/2026  Not all photo galleries are posted to our social media

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This column is a collaborative effort, to share news and information and help to keep people informed in one place and also free and open and not behind a paywall please contribute by emailing editor@clubrugby.co.nz or contacting us via social media.