Tight at the top of the Swindale Shield as Tawa new outright leaders at halfway point

Above: Northern United Women’s flanker Leah Conley celebrates a try in her 200th club match today. Norths beat Oriental-Rongotai 31-5. Photo: Andy McArthur.

• By Steven White & Scott MacLean

The Swindale Shield pecking order is starting to sort itself out, as the Wellington club rugby first round Premier club rugby competition reached its halfway point this afternoon.

New outright leaders Tawa head a group of five teams separated by four points at the top of the points table, followed by a gap to the chasing pack that will become increasingly hard to make up over the coming weeks should current form continue.

It wasn’t pretty, but Tawa earned their sixth straight bonus point win following their horror opening round loss to Petone, to lead that same side by a point at the head of the table.

Tawa overcame a 22-24 halftime deficit to beat Johnsonville 41-24 this afternoon in a gritty Carman Cup fixture at Lyndhurst Park. The home side had two red cards, with No. 8 George Risale and returning Isi Saumaki both sent off in the win. Johnsonville fought hard with second five Luke Walmsley amongst their best and wing Finlay Sharp scoring two first half tries. For Tawa, flanker Luke Bidois and lock Ryder Sao played well.

Petone enjoyed a 39-10 Old Timers’ Day and Jim Brown Memorial Trophy win over Oriental-Rongotai. More on this game below.

A group of three teams are just behind on 27 points – Paremata-Plimmerton, Old Boys University and Hutt Old Boys Marist.

Paremata-Plimmerton hosted HOBM today for the inaugural Paddy Quin Memorial Trophy with the visitors winning 36-31.

Openside flanker Rupeni Raviyawa crossed for two of their six tries including the match-clincher, and they had a stranglehold on the game but Paremata-Plimmerton came home strongly and almost stole victory in the closing stages.

Other tries were scored by Silverstream school leaver and hooker Riley Browne, prop Brett Manaia, halback Waylon Tuhoro-Robinson and Bili Leberi. Openside flanker Christian Fa’avae scored two of four tries for the Hammerheads and the Eagles led 24-12 at the break.

Old Boys University beat the Avalon Wolves 50-5 at Fraser Park in their fixture. More on this game below.

The Upper Hutt Rams round out the top echelon of Swindale Shield contenders after their 44-19 win at home and Bill Brien Brien Challenge Trophy defence against Marist St Pat’s. This was a match-up that MSP won every time between 2002-19, but on this occasion the Rams were too strong on the day for MSP who are occupying the bottom section of the standings. Six different try-scorers crossed the line for them and MSP scored three tries.

Wainuiomata lead the mid-table contenders after beating the Wellington Axemen for the Bill Jones Cup on their home ground named after the same man.

Wainuiomata crossed for eight tries, with Ray and Raymond Va’a scoring twice each and the Solomona brothers, Emmanuel and Elijah, scoring three between them. The Axemen scored four tries and Wainuiomata led 31-12 at halftime.

Northern United have moved ahead of both Pōneke and Johnsonville on the ladder with a 36-28 win over Pōneke at home at Porirua Park #1 at Porirua Park Stadium. Their match for the Cyril Collett Memorial Shield was closely fought throughout and Norths led 19-14 at halftime.

Blindside flanker Waylon Baker scored two of six tries for Norths, who had the services of Moana Pasifika’s Jackson Garden-Bachop at first-five.

Petone were back on their beloved Rec, and delivered for their Old Timers’ Day crowd with a solid if mostly unspectacular 39-10 win over Ories to win back the Jim Brown Memorial Trophy and keep the heat on leaders Tawa.

The opening exchanges were somewhat even, though it was the visitors playing with the gentle southerly behind them who opened the scoring through a Jordan Soli penalty. Petone hit back when they shifted the Ories defence left and right, and fullback Jermaine Pepe crossed. A second would soon follow; lock Sam Thomson found himself with the ball 10m from the Ories line was somewhat unsure who to pass the ball to. That indecision sucked in the defence and a yawning gap opened in front of him which he needed no invitation to accept.

The balance of the half saw no further scoring, but was punctuated by two huge tackles. One by David Leota-Johnson on his opposite Braith Ingram came at a cost as he left the field not long after, while Ngane Punivai timed his tackle on Isaac Bracewell chasing a box kick to perfection. Ories probably had the better of the last 10, but their only real scoring opportunity was a second penalty shot which Soli missed.

With the breeze freshening and the skies darkening, you would have thought Petone would plug the corners. Instead they came out with a direct approach the quickly paid dividends. First hooker Conley Alexander finished off some solid work in the left corner, before almost off the restart they went right, Pepe danced through some would-be tacklers before finding captain Connor Tuifao steaming up the middle to go under the posts and effectively seal the match with just 45 minutes gone

The next 20 was largely played between the 22s, but there was time for Logan Henry to push the lead further with a penalty. Ories eventually got across the line when replacement midfielder Johnny Maiava shrugged off three Villagers, with the scoring completed by a 52m penalty off the boot of Rory Woollett followed by a 79th minute try to Ngane Punivai after he danced down the eastern touchline.

Thomson was our pick for Man of the Match with a dominant outing at lineout time and regularly involved in general play. He was ably supported by captain Tuifao, while Losi Filipo wasn’t afraid to put his head into dark places. Sione Halalilo was often a lone wolf for the visitors, but brothers Jason and Herman Seumanufagai gave good effort once introduced

Old Boys University piled on 50 points at better than one a minute to overrun and overwhelm the winless Avalon Wolves at Fraser Park. OBU won eight tries to one – but didn’t score their first try until just prior to halftime.

The home side made a passionate and committed start and were ahead 5-0 after 35 minutes. Their try was scored in the 25th minute to lock Mark Savelio, and they could easily have been up 14-0 a few minutes later if the handy conversion had been kicked and there hadn’t been at least two unforced errors under OBU’s posts.

OBU were under the pump, having lost blockbusting No 8 Folau Vea to the sinbin, and having another front rower leave the field through injury.

Avalon played well throughout much of the first half, with players such as try-scorer Savelio, second five Howard Ah-Ching, and No. 8 Mateo Setefano making consistent inroads.

A turning point came a few minutes before halftime when Setefano left the field injured, and OBU subsequently rallied and went close to scoring. The try was saved but Avalon hooker Quinn O’Kane was sinbinned, and OBU first five Jake Lawson soon scored from a tap penalty to make it 7-5 to the visitors at the break.

OBU doubled their score early in the second half when they won a penalty and took the lineout in the corner, and No. 8 Vea crashed over.

Next came perhaps the try of the match when OBU lock Harry Irving made a lineout steal 70 metres out on the far side, and OBU counter-attacked with No. 8 Vea again prominent and fullback Hunter Kennedy running up the grandstand touchline to score unopposed.

At this point Avalon were dropping off numerous tackles that they were making earlier, and replacement prop Haifine Aisea was sinbinned.

OBU soon ran in their bonus point try, scored by captain and hooker Geordie Bean. Second five Malo Tevita Manuao kicked his fourth conversion and OBU led 28-5.

The floodgates were open, and OBU ran in four more tries, including a second try to Bean, two tries to right wing Isaac Wong, and one to replacement back Te Wehi Wright. Backs Wright and Tomasi Palu combined off the bench in the second half as the former OBU regulars wound back the clock.

For the home side Avalon, this was a disappointing seventh straight loss, after showing signs of improvement in patches on Wednesday night and again in the first half of this match.

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Premier 2

Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist are jointly setting a hot pace in the Harper Lock Shield.

Petone did their bit to remain in the joint-lead of the Harper Lock Shield with a strong performance over Ories by 68-10 in the early game on the Hutt Rec. With Premier regulars Alapati Soke, Ryan Imrie, and Jordan Sului up front the Village scrum laid a dominant platform for their teammates. While Ories answered an early Petone try, the home side led 26-5 after 20 minutes and 40-5 at the break.

The scoring slowed up somewhat in the second half, but there was time for winger  Lika Tugalua Moliniu to finish his hattrick, and fellow winger Keoni Ewington and openside Marco Venter to complete doubles.

HOBM beat Pare-Plim 50-45 in an entertaining opener at Ngati Toa Domain.

The Upper Hutt Rams are third after beating Marist St Pat’s 29-0.

In an eye-catching result at William Jones Park, the Wainuiomata and Wellington second XVs contested a 47-47 draw.

Another close match today saw Pōneke edging Norths 36-33 on the Porirua Park #1 at Porirua Park Stadium curtain-raiser, while Tawa accounted for Johnsonville in a result on the other end of the scale.

In the Fraser Park curtain raiser, the final score was 50-5 – the same as the score in the main game only the winners were reversed.

The Avalon Seconds won eight tries to one after leading 17-5 at halftime. They scored two first half tries from scrums and one following a lineout, whilst OBU’s only try of the match was scored in the 20^th minute by their halfback in similar fashion to Jake Lawson’s try in the match that followed, taking a quick tap penalty and setting up the try.

Avalon then scored their fourth and bonus point try soon after the break, but there was no further scoring for the next 20 minutes until they broke out with their fifth try to go up 31-5. They would score another three tries, including a popular intercept and 50 metre runaway to their lock.

Like their Premier team this week, Avalon’s Premier 2s play a catch-up third round match this coming Wednesday against their Paremata-Plimmerton counterparts at Porirua Park.

Colts

The leading duo sailed on in the Colts Paris Memorial. Petone beat MSP 38-29 but had to overcome a poor start to do it, while HOBM breezed past Pare-Plim 82-12. Tawa defeated Norths by the same score as at the Petone Rec, 38-29, and there was an upset at Maidstone Park as Poneke got up 33-31 over Upper Hutt.

U85kg

The Pōneke Wanderers maintained their unbeaten record through six rounds of the JC Bowl with a 21-12 win over the OBU Scallywags at Nairnville Park this afternoon.

The Tawa Ducks beat Johnsonville 28-15 in another result of note, while HOBM beat Wellington 20-12 and the Paremata-Plimmerton Piranhas defeated Eastbourne 88-0.

Reserve Grade

The Pōneke Ruffnuts are the team to beat in the Mike Copeland Cup competition, after their 81-12 win today over Paremata-Plimmerton’s Punters in what was a top-of-the-table fixture.

In two other high scoring results this afternoon, Stokes Valley beat Wainuiomata 45-29 and the OBU Righteous Pink Ginners line-up defeated Tawa 47-26.

Women’s

The crunch clash in the Women’s Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy was somewhat surprisingly one-sided, with Norths beating Ories 31-5 after leading 24-0 at halftime.

Ories struggled to win their own lineouts or scrums, and didn’t get the ball to Ayesha Leti’L’iga.

For Norths, Leah Conley celebrated her 200^th game with a big game and winning numerous turnovers and by scoring a try. Nina Foase played her 150^th game for the side.

Petone were emphatic 93-0 winners over Avalon in a match that was moved to the #2 at the Rec after a serious injury. All up, Petone scored 15 tries, with Ana Kerr and Ofeira Hunt both scoring hat-tricks.

Poneke also pitched a shutout 43-0 over Pare-Plim, Wainuiomata overran Wellington 75-12, and OBU outran Stokes Valley 38-25.

Elsewhere

Greytown completed the first of their season objectives in claiming the first-round Lane Penn Cup this afternoon in Wairarapa Bush, but only just as they edged out great rivals Carterton 20-16. Carterton led 13-5 at the break and 16-15 going into the last minutes, but Greytown scored late to take the win. Elsewhere Marist beat Masterton Red Star 37-29, while East Coast dented Martinborough’s Old Timers Day winning 31-19 over the understrength hosts.

Somewhat unbelievably, two draws today in Horowhenua Kapiti. Foxton marched on at the top, winning 43-31 over Paraparaumu, but the other matches ended in stalemates. It was 29-all between Levin COB and Waikanae at the Domain, while in Otaki Rahui and Wanderers were deadlocked at 43-apiece.

The top of the table clash in the Manawatu didnt disappoint, with Varsity coming out 41-40 winners over Feilding Yellows. Linton beat Feilding OB-Oroua 33-26, Freyberg continued Te Kawau’s misery 48-7, and  Kia Toa destroyed College Old Boys 105-0. Old Boys Marist had the bye.

And in Hawke’s Bay Napier OB Marist got back on track beating Napier Tech 31-24, while Pirates went down at home 19-27 at the hands of Havelock North. Taradale got the win – just – 34-33 over Hastings, and while Bridge Pa had their best outing of the year it wasnt enough as they were kept winless 31-41 by MAC.

College

The remaining four teams for this year’s College Premiership were found in today’s last round of qualifying games.

HIBS booked their place by demolishing Tawa 107-10 with Rongotai comfortable 70-0 victors over Paraparaumu.

St Bernard’s eclipsed Aotea 26-5, and in the closest game of the Mana will make their return after a 43-33 win over Hutt Valley HS.

Wellington College lost 12-20 to Rotorua Boys’ High School in their final pre-season match before the Premiership starts this coming Wednesday.