Leading teams looking to consolidate positions in Premier and Premier 2 eighth round

Jayde Burns celebrates his return to Norths after several weeks on the sideline with a try against Poneke last week. Norths travel to play Oriental-Rongotai while Poneke head up the hill to Rugby League Park to meet Old Boys University.

• By Scott MacLean

Friday afternoon edition. And just like that we are into the second half of the first round Premier and Premier 2 Swindale Shield and Harper Lock Shield competitions and there is plenty to play for amongst all 14 teams in these grades in this weekend’s eighth round.

Lower grades are also compelling, while it is the opening weekend of college rugby competitions, following Wednesday’s Premiership opener between Wellington College and St Pat’s Town.

The Swindale Shield points table is here: https://stats.clubrugby.nz/table/2026-swindale-shield/ 

The weather forecast for Saturday is looking cool but dry for the Wellington region and is here: https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-2179537/New%20Zealand/Wellington%20Region/Wellington%20City/Wellington

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Draws & Results – visit https://stats.clubrugby.nz/ for these. Click on a fixture for teamlists and match details. Teamlists as received and subject to change.

Radio commentary  – online at teupoko.co.nz or by tuning into 87.5FM or 1161AM is TBC.

Tipping Competition – Visit https://www.faceyoursfears.com/games/WGTN2026/join   To make your picks for round EIGHT. The Tipping Competition looks set for an epic second half of the Swindale Shield and then on to the championship rounds. Nate W leads on 176 points, from mcurpine on 174 and Brownlie 1992 and Bonecrusher41 on 172 and Cainsy on 170.

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Premier Swindale Shield

With the table having sorted itself out again, no less than three points covers the leading quintet passing the halfway point. And as fate would have it, none of this week’s fixtures have any of them playing each other.

Leading the ladder are Tawa (30), who have the most straightforward assignment of the day as they welcome Avalon (1) to Lyndhurst Park. There’s little doubt that home side have hit their straps and poised for a run at the Swindale, but discipline is an issue having received three red cards in the past two weeks. The Wolves barked hard in the first-half last week in holding OBU to just one try, but the second-half told a different story.

The hosts mix things up in their backs. Kemara Hauiti-Parapara starts, but at first-five with Solomon Uelese at fullback in place of veteran Randall Bishop and Luke Cummings and Thomas Temu are in midfield. Joseph Samuelu starts at tighthead, while they have the relative luxury of bringing in Matolu Petaia at No8 to replace George Risale after the latter was red-carded last Saturday.  Avalon’s lineup hadn’t been revealed by late afternoon. 

Just one point behind are Petone (29), with the Villagers likely in a good mood after the way they squeezed out Ories last Saturday. They head into the city to face another of the eastern suburbs’ sides, this time Wellington (14) at Hataitai. The Axemen have blown hot and cold this season so far, but with two performances they’d like to forget the past fortnight perhaps tomorrow is one where the blowtorch gets turned up.

Wellington restores Tui and Ben Tuiatua to the starting side with another member of the clan, Lucky, at No8 in place of Ami Paongo who is on the bench. They’re also without Matt Proctor and Luke Kapene, so the experience of Ben Tuiatua and Willie Schutz will be called upon. Petone have changed most of their lineup with Sam Thomson, skipper Connor Tuifao, and openside Braith Ingram the only forwards backing up from last Saturday. Cam Ferreira and Rory Woollett will run the side in the halves.

Hutt Old Boys Marist’s (27) narrow win over Pare-Plim last week put them back in the hunt and maintained their 100% record away from home. The problems for them have come at home, where they’ve lost twice in their three outings so far. They’ll look to redress that when Wainuiomata (20) come over the Hill, and they’ll be looking to improve their position and follow-up last Saturday’s strong outing against the Axemen.

The Eagles get a couple of their injured contingent back with Khya Wilson at first-five and Dom Ernst at fullback, but they’re without Kapu Broughton-Winterburn. Riley Browne keeps his place at hooker while there’s a couple of returning names on the bench in Freddie Sunia and Zane Ainslie. Wainuiomata bring in veteran James Holbrook and Fa’amanu Anae, while Tyler Tane returns in midfield in something of a sign that they’ll be taking a direct approach.

Having missed the chance to stay in the joint-lead last week, Paremata-Plimmerton (27) will look to make amends as they head to Evans Bay and a clash with Marist St Pat’s (15). You get the feeling that the Hammerheads have been their own worst enemies at times and things haven’t really clicked on all cylinders for them this year. They’ll be looking to do just that against a Red Machine that has had its own performance woes including last week’s misfiring effort against the Rams.

MSP plug in whole new front row in Corban King, Cazna Sale, and Dan Leone for this one. Bentley Faulkner is at halfback while a reshuffled back three has Max Reynolds at fullback this week. The compressed schedule of the past fortnight has taken something of a toll on Pare-Plim. They’ll start the Coburn brothers up front with Ted Northcott, with Matt Goosen returning in field in place of Ethan Webster-Nonu. There’s some vast experience available off the bench in the form of Dale Sabbagh and James Corcoran; the latter in line for a nowadays rare Premier outing.

Across in Newtown, Old Boys-University (27) get to go for a run on the Rugby League Park paddock, and having – eventually – got back on track with their win over Avalon. Success over the Wolves is the only mark in the win column for Poneke (11) in what has been a trying season, but they’ll be looking to catch the Goats on a bad day.

OBU get Johnny Falloon back from NZ U20s duty and he comes in in a straight swap for the departed Harry Irving with Jeremy Bourhill, Zac Pene, and Mitchell Shields also restored to the pack. Isaac Wong moves to fullback and Malo Manuao assumes the captaincy with Geordie Bean and Hunter Kennedy on NZ Universities duty. Psalms Latu returns to the Poneke side to play his blazer game after a frustrating run with injury. Joining him are Reimei Diouf and Makaire Kanavatoa, with Kaden Bond switching the left wing and Maiterangi Arahanga back to fullback.

Another team who’s hopes for the season seem so far away are Johnsonville (12), though in their case they haven’t been far off in most of their losing outings. They are back in their Helston home where the Upper Hutt Rams (25) provide the opposition, and having put themselves just off the leading group after beating OBU and MSP the past two weeks.

Skipper Ha’amea Ahio returns to the Hawks starting side, alongside hooker Dan Hoare in the only changes to their forward pack. Niall Delahunt and Connor Fitzsimmons return, as does Hurricanes squad member Josh Timu, which allows Jacob Walmsley to return to a more familiar role at fullback. Like Falloon above, Alex Hewitt returns to the Rams as part of an all-new front row with veterans Soa Fa’ainga and Eli Hunt. Swayde Brightwell starts at halfback, and Kemara Mahuri-Tukukino comes into midfield for Ieti Campbell.

The final game of this preview is at the Polo Ground. If it wasn’t already, Oriental Rongotai’s (19) Swindale defence was snuffed out at the Petone Rec. Their attention now turns to making sure they’re playing in at least the first round of the Jubilee playoffs, and they currently occupy that final place. Conversely, Norths (14) will enter this game on a high from beating Poneke and while they might not have targeted this one at the start of the season they very well should be now.

It’s a much-changed Magpies outfit; they’re without Sione Halalilo, David Leota-Johnson, Moana Pasifika duo Dom Ropeti and Penieli Poasa, or any members of the Seumanufagai family. Of note Skivi Va’a moves from midfield to No8, Johnny Maiava – one of the few players to emerge with credit from last week – takes his place at second-five with his older brother and Wellington rep Tom, freshly graduated from Police College yesterday, making a return to rugby from the bench. It’s an unchanged forward pack from Norths, anchored by Bradley Crichton up front and captain Olano Afutoto at the back. Other than halfback Jayde Burns, it’s a completely different backline however. Watch for both fullbacks as neither Jordan Soli or Zion Fuiava are afraid to counter-attack.

Once again there’s a clutch of interclub trophies being played for this tomorrow:

• Wellington and Petone actually play for two. The Premiers face off for the Bill Francis/Jack Taylor Trophy which honours two of the Axemen’s All Blacks from their lengthy history. The two clubs also play for the Air New Zealand Trophy, which is across all senior matches between them across the season. Petone hold both.
• OBU and Poneke contest their Beet Algar Rosebowl. “Beet” – short for Beethoven and named after composer through his parents love of music – was an influential member of Poneke for over 60 years. Educated at Wellington College, he played for Wellington either side of and during World War I, and was an All Black on the post-war years. On retirement he served many administrative roles, and was Poneke’s patron at the time of his passing in 1978. Poneke are the current holders.
• Johnsonville and Upper Hutt play for their Kerry Williams Cup. Donated by Tiny Graham in 2023, it honours Kerry Williams who played his rugby for Upper Hutt before later serving as Johnsonville’s RDO. The coaching legacy lives on through his sons Nathan and Jamie. Nathan coached Upper Hutt a decade ago, was the architect of their successful Seven’s team, and later led Feilding Yellows to the Manawatu title; he is currently the attack coach for Feilding High. Jamie coached at OBU, where he took the Premiers to Jubilee Cup success, and is the current Wairarapa-Bush coach. Upper Hutt are its current holders.
• And lastly, Ories and Norths play for the To’omaga Alex Iona Memorial Cup. Alex first played for Ories after arriving in Wellington from Samoa, then later moved to Porirua where he joined the Porirua club, firstly as a player and then as a coach. He later moved into several volunteer roles with the merged Norths club, as well as with the Wellington Samoan Rugby Union. Ories are the holders.

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Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield

It should be plain sailing tomorrow for the two leaders, as they fact teams at the opposite end of the table. Petone (35) are away at Hataitai against tenth-placed Wellington (11), with HOBM’s (35) opponents Wainuiomata (10) one place further back. On paper, the game of the round is at Evans Bay between chasing duo MSP (30) and Pare-Plim (27), with Avalon (27) looking to bounce back as they take on Tawa (19) at Lyndhurst.

Elsewhere, the Upper Hutt Rams (26) will look to advance their place when they visit lowly Johnsonville (8), Poneke (12) will look to grab much-needed points against stragglers OBU (5), and Ories (13) and Norths (9) look for a much-needed win when they clash at Polo.

Premier Women Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy

The women’s first-round has seemingly come down to a two-horse race, with Petone and Norths lined up to meet in the final match of the round-robin in two weeks’ time. But before then, there’s still two more weeks to get through. Petone are back on the Rec tomorrow where they face the much-improved Poneke, while Norths are up the road at Fraser Park to face Avalon.

Oriental Rongotai have their feet up after being defaulted to by Wellington, Old Boys-University and Wainuiomata take to Rugby League Park, and Stokes Valley cross the Haywards to take on Paremata-Plimmerton at Ngati Toa Domain.

Colts Paris Memorial Trophy

With leaders Petone off with the bye, neighbours and rivals HOBM can draw level when they host the Upper Hutt Rams at the Hutt Rec. The remaining matches are all in the city, with MSP hosting Norths on Kilbirnie #2, Poneke and Tawa next door on #1, and OBU and Pare-Plim clash at Kelburn Park.

Under 85kg JC Bowl

For all intents and purposes, tomorrow’s clash between Poneke and Tawa will decide where the JC Bowl will reside for the summer. The Ducks do have one further match – a catchup fixture against lowly Eastbourne scheduled for next Saturday when the rest of grade has the long weekend off – but they can lose at Kilbirnie Park and still get the trophy.

In the remaining fixtures Johnsonville host the battered Gulls, and the OBU Scallywags and HOBM clash at Nairnville. The fourth match sees Pare-Plim meet Wellington at Ngati Toa, which this year will be the fixture for the Daniel Baldwin Memorial Trophy acknowledging the life of the young Axeman tragically lost in a match between the two clubs Colts teams a few years back.

College

The opening match of the Premiership is already in the books following Wellington College’s dramatic, come-from-behind, 31-26 win over St Pats Town on Wednesday. The slate tomorrow starts with competition favourites Silverstream over the Remutaka’s to take on Wairarapa College in Masterton at noon, while Rathkeale come the other way and deep into the eastern suburbs to face Rongotai at 1pm. In the regular 2.30pm slot Scots hosts returnees Mana, and Hutt International come down the valley to face St Bernard’s.

The Premier 2 division starts with the Silverstream and Wellington College 2nds facing off. Porirua are at home against local rivals Tawa, Aotea welcome the St Pats Town 2nds north, Hutt Valley HS are visited by the Silverstream 3rds, and up the coast is the local derby between Paraparaumu and Kapiti.

The Region

The championship Moose Kapene Cup part of the Wairarapa-Bush season gets underway tomorrow. Lane Penn Cup winners Greytown start their quest for the double by hosting Martinborough, Carterton welcome East Coast, and Pioneer hosts Marist in a Masterton derby. Masterton Red Star has the bye.

The slate in Horowhenua-Kapiti has runaway leaders Foxton at home to face Levin College Old Boys. Levin Wanderers take to the Domain to host Paraparaumu, and Rahui make the short journey south to take on Waikanae.

The first part of the season concludes in the Manawatu. Leaders Varsity look for a clean sweep away at Freyberg, while Kia Toa hope their rivals trip up as they head to Kimbolton to face Feilding OB-Oroua. Feilding Yellows host a likely shellshocked College Old Boys, and Linton Army and Old Boys Marist take to Ongley Park. Strugglers Te Kawau get the last round bye.

A couple of big clashes in Hawke’s Bay. Napier OB Marist hit the road for a clash with Havelock North, while Napier Tech hosts Taradale. In the other two matches Pirates and Hastings will be favourites as they visit MAC and host Bridge Pa respectively.

And finally, this week we check in on Whanganui. Border are the unbeaten leaders and they head up SH4 for a clash with bottom-placed Ruapehu. Marist go across town for a match with Counties, and Taihape host Ratana. Kaierau have the bye.

Previous story below: the Hurricanes are at home against the Highlanders on Saturday night and if it works out for them they will pull clear at the top of the table by 6 points heading into next week’s last round.

Aisle be Back: Hurricanes v Highlanders