End of Swindale Shield Stat Attack

With the curtain having come down on the first round Swindale Shield on a wet afternoon on Saturday, see below for some stats and numbers from the Swindale Shield and other competitions recently completed.

The championship rounds commence this coming Saturday.

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818: The number of tries that were scored in a combined 91 Swindale Shield matches in 2026, at an average of 8.9 per game.

487: The number of those 818 tries that were converted, at a 59.5 percent success rate).

19: The number of Premier hat-tricks that were scored in the first round Swindale Shield. No-one has scored more than three tries in a game so far this season and HOBM’s Rupeni Rayiyawa scored two hat-tricks.

12: There were a dozen games decided by one-point – this includes one draw with Ories and OBU drawing 34-34 in Round 12.

17: The most combined tries scored in a match, which was in OBU’s 61-41 win over the Wellington Axemen in Round 10 (11 tries to 6).

24: This was the combined points scored in the lowest scoring match, which was Johnsonville’s Round 13 14-10 win over Marist St Pat’s.

39: The highest number of points in a losing cause, which was Pōneke’s 39-40 Round 4 defeat to Tawa.

173: The number of combined Premier and Premier matches that have been contested  this year so far in the first round Swindale Shield and Harper Lock Shield competitions. 182 scheduled but the last round of Premier 2 was a washout and there were two earlier defaults.

16: Number of Swindale Shields that Petone has won since winning the first won in 1969.

18: The number of first round Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield titles that Petone has won (including several shared titles) since this was first played for in 1951.

4: The number of years since Petone’s previous Swindale Shield win in 2022.

4: The number of times a club has now ‘done the double’ this century by winning the first round Premier Swindale Shield and Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield competitions. The other clubs to have achieved this during this time period have been Tawa in 2013 and OBU and 2017 and again in 2024

11: Occasions in total that a club has won the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield in the same season. The first was in the inaugural year, 1969 (Petone).

65: The number of times that Petone has won the McBain Shield in their annual first round match against HOBM, who have won 22 of their 92 McBain matches.

3: The number of consecutive first round U85kg titles for the Tawa Ducks

8: The number of Bill Brien Challenge Shield defences in the current tenure by the Upper Hutt Rams. They defended it once last year against Johnsonville and seven times in an unbeaten run at home this year.

9: The Upper Hutt Rams are on a nine-match winning streak heading into the four week playoff series.

208: The number of Premier matches Tawa’s Randall Bishop has played, having played his 200^th game earlier this season.

Randall Bishop – Tawa’s Mr. Reliable set to play his 200th Premier match

1: A lone dropped goal was kicked in the first round Premier and Premier two matches – by Petone’s Rory Woollett in the Harper Lock Shield against HOBM.

27: The most points in  a match by an individual in the first round, by MSP’s Tomasi Connor in his team’s 58-22 first opening round win over Northern United.

12: The Most tries by a tight forward in the first round – this was by Wellington Axemen lock Archie Treadwell (in 12 games).

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75: The highest score of the Swindale Shield in the first round, when Tawa beat Northern United 75-12 in Round 12.

64: The highest margin of victory in the first round Swindale Shield, HOBM’s 64-0 win over Avalon in Round 2.

12: The number of consecutive matches that the first round women’s winners Petone Ponies have scored since the start of 2026 (as at the end of June).

169: Points scored in the first round by Swindale Shield top points scorer Jordan Soli (Ories). He is one of three players to surpass 100 points, with MSP’s Tomasi Connor on 113 and Upper Hutt Rams’ Liam Slight on 106.

15: Tries scored in the first round by Swindale Shield top try scorer Rupeni Ravuyawa (HOBM). The next most is a group of four players on 12 tries each.

251: Individual try scorers in the first round of the Swindale Shield.

564: Points scored by first round Swindale Shield winners Petone, at 43.3 per game, almost 70 more than the side with the second most, which was HOBM with 497. Petone’s 564 points are the same number that first round winners Paremata-Plimmerton scored in 2023.

576: At the other end of the table, this was the amount of points that bottom placed Avalon conceded in their 13 games, at 44.3 per game.

0: The number of Best & Fairest competition updates that the WRFU have provided so far this season.

7: Consecutive first round matches that three-time first round U85kg champions the Tawa Ducks won in winning the JC Bowl.

8: Straight bonus point wins that the HOBM Colts produced in winning the first round Paris Memorial Trophy.

5,331 – The total number of points scored by all teams in the 91 Premier first round fixtures 2026 – at an average of 58.5 per game.

97: The Jubilee Cup turns 97 this year, having first been contested in 1929. It starts this coming weekend.