Sideline Conversions 6 July (some rugby news and information to start the week)

Above: The reaction of the HOBM and Petone players say it all – trytime for the Eagles. Their win over Petone earned them a week off, but it transpires that all teams will have this week off. More below. Photo: Tane Nathan (Kinetic Images).

Welcome to a new week in community rugby, perhaps just not in Wellington.

This is the part of this weekly Monday column where we highlight this coming weekend’s Premier draw at a glance. But with the WRRA withdrawing its services for this week following a spate of referee abuse and previous warnings, there might not be any club rugby. The WRFU and referees will now meet to determine how this is going to play out, so watch this space.

Perhaps the WRFU could still run some rugby this weekend, such as Reserve Grade matches, sans referees, or the U85kg Division 1 final between Tawa and Poneke with a guest referee? But that also defeats the purpose of the WRRA’s ban.

For the fan, there is plenty of rugby further afield, with Premier club rugby finals in Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa-Bush and Whanganui, and semi-finals in Horowhenua-Kapiti.

Following that, there is the test at Wellington Stadium against Italy that community players and supporters can now attend if there are still tickets left. Yes we have already received that conspiracy theory email linking a World Rugby-WRRA plot to fill up the stadium and suggesting that we ‘follow the money’ to get to the bottom of it. If WRRA Chairman Ben van Berkel is seen wearing a gold watch then there could be merit in this one!

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UPDATE: The Tipping Competition Leaderboard after Week 14 games on 4 July is below:

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In rugby that is still going ahead, Wellington College are hosting Palmerston North Boys’ High School in their annual exchange on Wednesday. The Second XV match starts at 11.30am, the U15s at noon and the First XVs at 1.00pm.

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A long time between matches in Wellington club rugby for Genesis Mamea. On Saturday he wore the green and black Wainuiomatajersey for the first time since 2013, the exact date being 20 July 2013, a touch under 13 seasons away. He has been playing in living in France, so it is great that former players such as he can return to where it started. Mamea is a former Wellington Lions squad member (2012), after making his club rugby debut in 2007. This was against OBU in a 58-7 loss. On Saturday he played in a 43-35 win over them.

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A big win for Hutt Old Boys Marist over Petone on Saturday saw  HOBM playing with the howling northerly at their backs in the first half but could only kick two penalties.  In the second half the Eagles produced a stirring display of into-the-wind rugby, totally shutting Petone out of the game, and playing the first twenty minutes in the second half with 14 men after loose forward Rupeni Raviyawa was red carded.

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Some nasty injuries in club rugby matches on Saturday and we wish the players involved well.

Braith Ingram went down injured and the Premier match at the Petone Rec between Petone and HOBM was transferred across tot he number 3 field. Petone have since reported he is back and better and it thankfully it is not serious.

Ben Gordon scored two first tries on the wing for OBU, including an intercept, but then left the field with a suspected broken jaw.

The Reserve Grade match at Ngati Toa Domain between Paremata-Plimmerton and Stokes Valley was called off midway through the second half and a drawn result declared, after the Stokes Valley prop was knocked out on halfway and he wasn’t moved for a number of minutes. To the relief of everyone he got up on his own steam, but the game was called off early. It was shaping to be a cracker as well, with Stokes Valley with the wind having just scored their third try and by our count it was 19-17 to Paremata-Plimmerton at the time.

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Two more tries for Archie Treadwell and Louis Northcott this past weekend:

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Peter Umaga Jensen was at second-five for Manu Samoa in their Pacific Nations Cup 66-19 opening win over Hong Kong. Jeff Toomaga-Allen came off the bench at prop.

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Congratulations to Aukuso Tuitama for playing his 150th Premier match on Saturday. Tuitama started at Norths then moved to Ories before moving to Johnsonville where he is one of their key players of their backline.

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Another hugely deserved milestone on Saturday was Jackie Patea-Fereti playing her 100th Premier women’s game for Petone in the women’s competition. She previously several seasons for Wainuiomata (going back to 2014 on our database) so perhaps her total tally is double that?

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Wellington Lions chat

The NPC starts in under a month, so it is about this time of the year where attention turns to the make-up of the Wellington Lions team.

It is understood that all players involved in the Lions won’t be eligible to play club rugby from next weekend (Saturday 18 July). This was also the case last year but it didn’t affect the four finalists too much with minimal disruptions. This year there could be more, so watch this space.

What will the make-up of the Lions look like?

Below is a starting XV based solely on who played in the NPC last year for Wellington and who we think are all available this season. Players in (brackets) are where we see there being two players for the same position, again based on last year’s squad.

1. Senio Sanele
2. Penieli Poasa (James O’Reilly)
3. Siale Lauaki
4. Caleb Delany
5. Hugo Plummer (Johnny Falloon)
6. Dominic Ropeti (Matolu Petaia)
7. Du Plessis Kirifi (Sione Halalilo)
8. Brad Shields
9. Esi Komaisavai
10. Callum Harkin
11. Losi Filipo
12. Julian Savea
13. Matt Proctor
14. Tom Maiava
15. Stanley Solomon

No current ‘July series’ All Blacks included. Plus Jackson Garden-Bachop and Kapu Broughton-Winterburn are injured and Harry Irving and Cody Lokotui are both now with Otago. We also think that there is a good chance one or two others might travel with the All Blacks to South Africa. Three names to throw out here to varying degrees are Du Plessis Kirifi, Siale Lauaki and Brad Shields.

It appears the Lions might need some new backs (preferably a couple who are young and fast, as well as someone like Ma’a Nonu) and an extra front rower or two. That leaves two places to source these players from: 1. The imminent announcement and signing of a couple of former or new players from overseas or 2. Some new players out of club rugby.

A Wellington XV is in action for the first time on Friday 17 July at Feilding against Manawatu. This pre-season fixture is the day prior to Jubilee and Hardham semi-finals day – as it is still scheduled as this is published.

The Lions’ opening two NPC competition games are against Hawke’s Bay in Wellington on Sunday 2 August and against Taranaki away the following weekend.

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As well as the Lions, other representative teams such as the U19s and Centurions will likely be made public soon.

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College Chat

It was a weekend of upsets across First XV rugby nationwide. In North Harbour, Westlake Boys’ was beaten for the first time in 17 competition games 31-21 by Rosmini College. In Auckland, fifth-placed Mount Albert Grammar School held St Kentigern College to a 26-26 draw. Timaru Boys’ inflicted a first loss upon Christchurch Boys’ 31-26 to take the Trustbank Cup, the Ranfurly Shield of South Island Secondary Schools rugby.

Rongotai College’s mantra “We had to flush it,” before their seventh round Premiership clash against Scots College might be the understatement of the century.

Rebounding from the worst performance in their history, a 109-0 defeat to St Pat’s Silverstream over two weeks earlier, Rongotai pulled off a rousing 38-33 victory over Scots. This was their first success in 2026 and their first Fiso-Meaclem Trophy win since its inception in 2015.

For Rongotai, tries were scored by Soni Sola (2), Cameron Jacobson, Aisah Johnson and Kingston Tuioti. Codie Tawhiri was on target with six conversions and a penalty. Lome Va’a was worthy of acclaim.

Scots brought plenty to a gripping encounter. Andreas Focas, James Favel, Matthew Gerondis, RJ So’oialo and Meli Tuni featured on the scoresheet with So’oialo kicking four conversions. With two bonus points, Scots move to 17 Premiership points and remain a faint chance of reaching the semis for the first time since 2024.

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Another 28 points for Fletcher Cooper in Silverstream’s 73-6 win against Hutt International Boys’ School. Cooper scored 192 points in the Premiership in 2025 and has 113 this year.

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As reported on Saturday, a 171-0 win for the Wellington College 4ths over the St Bernard’s 2nds on Saturday. There were also a couple more big scores in college rugby.

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Xavier Numia made his long-awaited Test debut. With Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax, it meant that all three All Blacks front rowers were from St Pat’s Silverstream or St Pat’s Town.

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South Africa consigned England to a fifth consecutive defeat, 45-21 in their first Test of the year. South Africa’s biggest win against England was 58-10 in 2007.

French first-five Matthieu Jalibert has 110 wins in 166 games for Bordeaux. He has scored 1426 points.

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For the first time, Hurricanes Poua have won consecutive games, producing a record-breaking 45-30 upset over the Blues, who have now lost back-to-back matches for the first time since 2023. The Poua set team records for their biggest winning margin, most points in a match, and most conversions and penalties in a game.

Winger Wikitoria Viljoen became the first Hurricanes Poua player to score a hat-trick. Previously, five players had scored two tries in a single match.

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College Rifles won the Coleman Shield women’s title in Auckland for the first time since 2018, defeating Manurewa 34-27 in the final. Ponsonby had their 26-game winning streak snapped by Manurewa 32-31 in the semi-final.

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Former Wellington Pride players Monica Tagoai and and Alexis Tauaneai played for the Bulldogs in the NRLW match against the Warriors women on Sunday.

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Super 10 changes for next year’s competition at a glance:

Each team will play 16 round-robin matches, home and away and with one bye (17 weeks)

The top six teams will qualify for the finals.

The top two teams earn a direct place in the semi-finals.

In the qualifying finals, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5.

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