Sideline Conversions 11 May (some rugby news and information to start the week)

The HOBM and MSP President’s teams after their match at the Hutt Rec on Saturday. HOBM won 55-17, but rugby was the winner. Photos: Warwick Burke. Gallery HERE

Some teams will be in rugby heaven as we enter round seven, others less so. A look at the seven Swindale Shield games coming up this coming Saturday 16 May are (Premier 2 games the same, full preview here at the end of the week):

• Paremata-Plimmerton v Hutt Old Boys Marist  Ngati Toa Domain
• Avalon v Old Boys University, Fraser Park
• Northern United v Poneke (Cyrill Collett Memorial Shield), Porirua Park #1 Stadium on Park Park.
• Petone v Oriental-Rongotai (Jim Brown Memorial Shield), Petone Rec
• Tawa v Johnsonville (Carman Cup), Lyndhurst Park
• Upper Hutt Rams v Marist St Pat’s (Bill Brien Challenge Trophy defence), Maidstone Park
• Wainuiomata v Wellington (Bill Jones Cup), William Jones Park

There is also midweek rugby this week

Paremata-Plimmerton and the Avalon Wolves play their catch-up third round Swindale Shield match at Porirua Park #1 Stadium on Park Park on Wednesday, kick-off 7.30pm. Note their Premier 2 catch-up match is booked for the same venue and time the following Wednesday.

There are two school First XV matches on Thursday. St Pat’s Silverstream host New Plymouth Boys’ High School at Silverstream #1 at 12.20pm and St Pat’s Town host Palmerston North Boys’ High School at Evans Bay Park at 3.30pm.

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Updated (unofficial) Swindale Shield Premier points table at https://stats.clubrugby.nz/table/2026-swindale-shield/

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Six weeks into the season and Petone’s senior teams have lost just one match combined; their Premiers defeat to OBU.

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Tawa have recovered from a 3-48 first round loss to Petone to win their next five matches and top the Swindale Shield standings. There’s a stat in the NRL that no team has conceded 50 in a match and won the title in the same season. Does that apply to Wellington club rugby and conceding 40?

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Tipping competition update – https://www.faceyoursfears.com/games/WGTN2026 – just waiting for the administrator to update results after round 6 – before the new leaderboard is all confirmed. Plus confirmation on this Wednesday’s third round Paremata-Plimmerton v Avalon match.

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From a reader: Unfortunately, a handful of cards were dished out in the top-of-the-table clash between Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa, which Tawa won 36-32. Unless there are major episodes of foul play, when does the match become a farce of behaviour management, and who is at fault? Has the referee antagonised the players so much that they refuse to listen? Are the players too slow to adjust to fair rulings, or is the referee inconsistent and out of their depth? Either way, five cards is a venture towards tragic territory.

Our own Scott MacLean – who was one of the Assistant Referees on that match notes: Of the five yellow cards issued, three were for repeated high tackles. The edict from NZ Rugby has been in place for a number of seasons now, so it isn’t new. And if players don’t comply or change their behaviour, what else is the referee meant to do?

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Hat-trick watch on Saturday:

• Premier: Shohn Hunt (Upper Hutt Rams), Jacob Kennedy (Johnsonville), Hemi Fermanis (Tawa), Tom Carter (Petone)
• Premier 2: Max Hosking (Petone), Noah Guise (MSP), Sam Meo (Paremata-Plimmerton)
• Women’s: Manaia Maxwell-Puohotaua (OBU)

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Soli hits the ton – top points scorers after six rounds of the Swindale Shield:

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Three current OBU players have been selected in this year’s New Zealand Universities squad to take on Japan U20s in two matches later this month. Goats captain Geordie Bean is joined by lock Harry Irving and outside back Hunter Kennedy, with former OBU players Tiaki Fabish also selected.

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Watch classic NPC matches here https://www.youtube.com/@NZProvincialRugby – they have been uploading some matches in full from the 2000 NPC season in recent days.

They dropped this on Friday:

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Erin Rush became the first woman appointed NZR president, a richly deserved position for someone who’s done it all since starting in Christchurch in 1989. Black Fern #113 was a loose forward who played for Wests, Wellington, Old Boys University, and Wellington. She captained the Pride and played in two wins for the Black Ferns against a World XV in 2003. She has been an administrator, citing commissioner, coach, and commentator.

Fittingly, one of her first duties as President on Friday night in Christchurch was making a presentation to Crusaders and All Blacks prop George Bower from Avalon after his 100th game for the Crusaders. Another was being sideline at Evans Bay Park on Saturday for the MSP-Wellington Swindale Shield match.

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Great to see former leading referee Monique McCarthy (nee Dalley) out running the line at the Polo Ground on Saturday afternoon.

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A media release last week announcing that Devan Flanders is heading to Japan next year. Perhaps not surprising as without All Blacks selection he has reached his ceiling in New Zealand and has a few good years left in him. Flanders was a member of the 2017 Hastings Boys’ High School team – one of the best First XVs in modern times and featuring, amongst others, his current Hurricanes teammates Kini Naholo and Jacob Devery.

The Flanders release was 338 words long and contained the word ‘club’ six times. Are Super Rugby teams now accepted as being called clubs? They are still technically franchises aren’t they?

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We were going to come off the medium run-up here to ask why when professional sports in the Wellington region have their own stadium to play in do they encroach on community sports venues. But it was pointed out there was a lifestyle expo on at Hnry Stadium this week so the Phoenix Women had to turn elsewhere and book Porirua Park. But what if they had the option? Is it fair for professional sports to come along and come over the top of community ones with venue bookings? At least it wasn’t raining up on Porirua 2 on Saturday!

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Top try scorers after six rounds – 10 other players on five tries:

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Lester Maulolo celebrated his return to Premier rugby with two late tries for Petone. His last Premier match in Wellington was in 2023. His first was in 2015. 

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The New Zealand Rugby (NZR) Board has confirmed Steve Lancaster as the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer. He had been the interim CEO since late last year. He was their community rugby head for almost a decade, so an emphasis on that side of the game would be welcome

Here is one idea …Tier 3 nations for in-bound tours. Lesser rugby countries like Portugal, Germany, Chile and Canada could tour New Zealand and play a series of matches against teams their level like Heartland unions. It could be a way to bring back that ‘old-school’ vibe to these sorts of tours.

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This is a good point by a reader, suggesting that the new shiny stadium in Christchurch could actually start working against red and black teams:

There was often dread playing the Crusaders/Canterbury, because you had to play them in the cold and the wet in Christchurch. So, Canterbury or the Crusaders used to win plenty of games for that reason. But now all of their home games are on a dry ground with no wind. Their advantage is gone, and there is nothing to fear from them anymore.

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Hamilton Boys’ High School beat Wellington College 33-26 on Saturday, not 32-26 as reported by us in our round-up.

Having no working scoreboard seemed a good idea for shellshocked hosts Wellington College when Hamilton Boys’ High School jumped into a 19-0 lead after barely 13 minutes but by halftime College had fought back to level terms. The teams traded converted tries before Hamilton took the lead for the third time at 33-26. College were camped on the Hamilton tryline in the dying minutes but to no avail and, despite a spirited performance, fell to a narrow defeat against a more fancied opponent.

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Palmerston North Boys’ High School retained the Wallace Cup with a 31-14 victory over Wellington Premiership champions, St Patrick’s College Silverstream.

The Wallace Cup is an annual tradition that stretches back to 1933 and honours the Wallace family, four of whom were high achievers at Silverstream and three of whom were First XV players. Palmerston North BHS enjoys a 55-32 winning advantage.

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Hastings Boys’ High School dramatically flipped a 24-17 halftime deficit to trump St Patrick’s College, Wellington (Town), 64-29.

Despite three debutants and nine enforced injury changes, Town appeared in control against a wayward Hastings with tries to Decodah Silva (2), Donncha McNamara-Taele, Remy Fitisemanu, and Gia Johnston, who added two conversions.

More battle-hardened Hastings suddenly flicked a switch and the growth in confidence was startling. Jimione Ratuere scored four tries and kicked a conversion. TeAriki Maui, Kingston Reid, Junior Peia, Oscar Perese, Paeraro Mikaele, and Mika Ioasa also scored, with Ioasa kicking six conversions in Hastings’ biggest win against Town since the 100-0 crushing by the 2017 National Top Four champions. In that game, present Hurricanes winger Kini Naholo scored six tries in the first half.

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Plenty of blowout – century – scores being posted in various Premier club competitions. On Saturday, it was Clifton that demolished Southern 102-12 in the wet on their Old Timers’ Day in Taranaki club rugby.

Clifton stalwart and former Hurricanes manager Tony Bedford summed it up well on social media comments: “Well done Clifton and on Old Timers’ Day too, but sad state of affairs for Taranaki rugby when a premier team and only one of eight in the competition get beaten by over 100 points.”

There was also a default in Waikato Premier rugby last week. As we have been saying it wouldn’t take much for a catalyst to carry the tide out on the 14-team Wellington Premier and Premier 2 competitions. Just look at the Wellington U85kg grade, from three divisions and over 25 teams 20 years ago to nine teams this year and a default on Saturday so only three games played.

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George Bower scored his first try in his 100th Crusaders game, a 36-20 win over the Blues. A product of Taita College, Bower played for Avalon straight out of school before heading to Otago University in Dunedin. Since joining the Crusaders, Bower has played for Avalon on and off during bye weeks. His two brothers, Koli and William Bower, have also represented the club. Owen Franks scored only three tries in 178 Super Rugby matches for the Crusaders and Hurricanes, going 152 games between 2010 and 2024 without a try. He also played 108 All Black Tests without crossing the chalk. Doctor and 2007 Springboks Rugby World Cup winner Jannie Du Plessis played 151 Super Rugby games without a try. He managed one try in his 70 Tests for South Africa against Italy in a 55-11 win in Buffalo, East London in 2010.

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The New Zealand Under-20s showed significant improvement, sharing a 29-29 draw with South Africa in the Under-20 Rugby Championship. The hosts sealed the title in the 41st minute when centre Sam Bardenhorst scored the fourth Junior Springboks try, giving South Africa the bonus point needed to secure the silverware. However, the opening quarter was New Zealand’s best minutes of the tournament, scoring three unconverted tries to take a 15-8 lead. New Zealand then rallied from 29-15 down to earn a draw despite losing centre Siale Pahulu to a red card in the 67th minute. Referee Ella Goldsmith has a grating Australian accent that is hard to forget! The best performing players for New Zealand in the series were flankers Finn McLeod, Caleb Woodley, and Micah Fale. Lock Jack Frost shows signs that he will be excellent with more experience.  Scottish winger Logan Williams is a great discovery, and Cohen Norrie, who has played NPC for Auckland, looks classy.

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Josh Moorby scored four tries for the Hurricanes against Moana Pasifika in the wet at North Harbour on Saturday.

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The Manawatū Rugby Union put out a statement and media release on Friday about the future of its club rugby competitions, as re-published in full below. 

The Manawatū Rugby Union (MRU) has confirmed that the 2026 club competition structure will remain unchanged, following Board consideration and feedback from clubs.

The decision reflects the Union’s responsibility to maintain strong governance practices, ensuring consistency and fairness across all participating clubs. Avoiding in-season structural changes is an important principle in providing certainty for players, coaches, and administrators.

At the same time, the Union acknowledges clear feedback from the clubs supporting a review of the competition framework.

As previously signalled at the AGM, MRU will now move forward with a comprehensive Community Game Strategy, which will:

• Provide all clubs the opportunity to input into future competition structures
• Ensure clubs seeking entry into Premier competitions have a clear and transparent pathway
• Balance competitiveness, player safety, and long-term sustainability
• Strengthen club capability and participation across all grades

Player welfare remains central to all competition decisions. MRU has a responsibility to ensure that environments are safe, competitive, and positive, particularly for younger or developing players.

As part of this work, MRU will also implement a club health framework, working alongside clubs to support:

• Coaching development
• Player retention
• Sustainable club operations

The Union recognises the proud history and contribution of long-standing clubs across Manawatū and is committed to ensuring they have a strong and sustainable future within the game.

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One News is reporting that New Zealand Rugby is considering buying out Silver Lake.

More here: https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/10/nz-rugby-considering-buying-out-262-million-silver-lake-share/

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When the father calls the daughter’s try – and not a bad one either!