Sideline Conversions 13 July (some news and information to start the rugby week)

The moment of victory – Bulls players celebrate the fulltime whistle after beating Te Kawau 48-20 to win the Houlihan Cup in the Manawatu Premier club rugby curtain-raiser match inside the Stadium on Ssturday.

Welcome to the resumption of community rugby in Wellington.

In scheduled Premier semi-final matches this weekend at a glance these are the following matches:

• Premier Top 4 Jubilee Cup Semi-Finals: Hutt Old Boys Marist v Tawa and Upper Hutt Rams v Petone
• Premier 5-8 Hardham Cup Semi-Finals: Old Boys University v Wellington Axemen and Paremata-Plimmerton v Marist St Pat’s
• Premier 2 Ed Chaney Cup Semi-Finals: Petone v Marist St Pat’s and Hutt Old Boys Marist v Paremata-Plimmerton
• Premier 2, Division 2 HD Morgan Semi-Finals: Tawa v Johnsonville and Avalon v Wellington Axemen

The venues for the scheduled OBU-hosted Hardham Cup semi-final and the scheduled Upper Hutt Rams Jubilee Cup are both to be confirmed, likely Nairnville Park and NZCIS. Upper Hutt Rams fans will see that the Hurricanes Poua women’s team have Maidstone Park again this coming Saturday – although the Poua match is listed as a 12.35pm kick-off, so perhaps a double header is on the cards

Sideline Conversions can confirm that there is a meeting with the WRFU at Rugby League Park at 5.00pm today to appeal last week’s decision to cut this Saturday’s past round of matches and go straight to semi-finals this week. So there could be more coming.

Until we hear otherwise all listed games above are scheduled as is. If there are further changes then we will be obliged to report these straight down the line as the facts are presented, so please look out for the outcome of this.

We will also confirm the Tipping Competition in the next couple of days to get that back underway for the remaining games and so we can crown a 2026 champion!

We hope this is resolved, and whilst no one can directly blame the WRFU for the situation that has unfolded, they can be criticised for their absence of open communications around this situation last week. For example, they could have put out a statement on their Facebook page and turned comments off and provided an email address for constructive correspondence.

As it is, no Wellington Lions players for the remainder of the Wellington season, with all club players in that squad having played their final club matches for the season.

+++++

A Wellington Lions XV plays Manawatu in Feilding this coming Friday afternoon. It is unclear how and when the Lions are going to release their NPC squad but the players involved with this will be a fairly good gauge on its composition, and only a few bench riders will be playing club rugby the next day if their team is involved.

+++++

In college First XV rugby this coming Wednesday, St Pat’s Town host Christchurch’s St Bede’s College. Kick-off at Evans Bay Park is listed at 12.00pm. We are led to believe that St Bede’s are a crack outfit inSouth Island this year, whilst St Pat’s Town will be looking to focus and prepare for their final First XV Premiership push for the playoffs, which culminates in their big home match next Wednesday against St Pat’s Silverstream.

+++++

The annual Marist St Pat’s Shamrock Test Dinner was held at St Patrick’s College Performing Arts Center last Thursday night. Guest speakers included Rugby League and NZ Sporting royalty Mark Graham and former NZ Basketball CEO Iain Poitter, the event was MC’d by Radio commentator Matt Buck.

Interesting that the Wellington Football Club had a significant presence in the room with invited guests Paul Bracewell and wife Sarah, Hamish Girvan, Nigel Hughes, and current Premier captain Matt Proctor. Keith Quinn was seen heading to the private dinner the night before with Mark Graham and Marist St Pat’s high brass…Is an amalgamation around the corner?

+++++

Top qualifiers Foxton will meet third placed Paraparaumu in this coming Saturday’s Premier Ramsbotham Cup Horowhenua-Kapiti competition.

Greytown and Carterton will meet in this Saturday’s Wairarapa-Bush Moose Kapene Cup final in Masterton.

+++++

We are not privy to the Lions squad but it has been confirmed that two more Japanese players are joining, a prop and an outside back. Similarly, there will be a couple of players from Australia.

One new player we can confirm because the cat is out of the bag is Piri Paraone. Paraone is a former Wellington College and Petone first-five who played some 70 Premier club matches in Wellington 2015-20. The former age-grade NZ touch representative player played in several Wellington rep teams from the U19s to the Centurions. His last rep season was in in 2020 when he was playing well for that latter team before going to Japan. He returned to New Zealand and played for Clifton in Taranaki in 2024 and has been playing in Helensville in North Harbour this season, and recently played his 50th game for them.

+++++

In terms of filling their roster, unless these overseas players are going to be the guys to fill all the gaps, it is our thoughts that they are going to come to club rugby for one or two midfield and outside backs in particular.

If they come to club rugby, who will they select, and which of Petone, Hutt Old Boys Marist, the Upper Hutt Rams and Tawa will be most affected?

+++++

There could be some added injuries as well. One that is public is Johnny Falloon, who has “returned to New Zealand due to injury” from the NZ U20s squad ahead of their Junior World Cup semi-final against France on Tuesday. Another is Stanley Solomon who did something to his hamstring in the dying minutes of Petone’s last match nine days ago, although it could be minor.

++++

+++++

The Hurricanes Youth Rugby Council has released its programme of matches throughout August, September and into early October culminating with the Hurricanes U16s tournament.

One change is that the U19s competition for the Central Region Shield is now an U20s one. In turn, the Hurricanes Heartland series that selects that team to play Wellington, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay in the Central Region Shield is now an U21 one.

There will be eight teams in two divisions in the Hurricanes U18s, with Wellington Maori, Wellington Centurions, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay in Division A and Wairarapa-Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Whanganui and Poverty Bay in Division B.

The Hurricanes U16 tournament is being hosted by Manawatu this year, but, in a repeat of last year, the tournament is being contested at Whanganui Collegiate School.

For more, visit this link here: https://www.hyrc.org.nz/files/2026/090726-hyrc-annual-programme-2026.pdf

More to come from our desk in the next couple of weeks – including schedules for Development and other Senior representative matches once we have details.

+++++

Sideline Conversions attended club rugby Finals Day at Palmerston North on Saturday. As far as we could tell it went well and the clubs were all well supported.

In the main Hankins Shield final (a magnificent trophy), Kia Toa were rampant against a seemingly out-of-sorts Varsity. Kia Toa won 59-27, an exciting high scoring final for the neutral observer that featured some committed-aggressive defence all afternoon from the winners. They led 25-6 at halftime and then scored three tries inside 10 minutes in the second half to lead 42-6. In a final! The last half hour was more even but there was no coming back for Varsity and Kia Toa were celebrating when they scored to raise their half century with 15 minutes to play.

Individually, Kia Toa lock  Ofa Tauatevalu had a blinder. He set things off with a lineout steal near halfway and he was directly involved in five of their eight tries, including scoring a hat-trick! Tauatevalu is a physical specimen but was modest and a man of few words afterwards. The former Gisborne Boys’ High School lock has been in the Manawatu Turbos squad for a few years and has been in the Moana Pasifika squad for the past two seasons.

+++++

Josh Moorby caught fire for the All Blacks on his 28th birthday in the 47-17 win against Italy. Mils Muliaina scored two tries in a 49-28 win against Australia on his 30th birthday in 2010. What is the greatest sports birthday performance? On March 6, 2000, Shaquille O’Neal celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring a career-high 61 points and grabbing 23 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers against the LA Clippers. Reportedly motivated after the Clippers refused to give him extra tickets for his family, he dominated the game, shooting 24-for-35 from the floor in a 123-103 win. German equestrian Michael Jung won two gold medals in eventing on 31 July 2012 at the London Olympics, the day he turned 30, becoming the only individual to win two gold medals on his birthday. Only one athlete has won three Olympic medals on his or her birthday: French archer Eugène Richez, who won two silvers and a bronze in team target archery events at the 1900 Paris Olympics.Peter Siddle got a hat-trick on his birthday for Australia against England at the Gabba in Brisbane in an Ashes cricket Test.

+++++

+++++

Most Tries in Test Rugby

• Daisuke Ohata, Japan, 69 tries, 58 Tests, 1996-2006
• Bryan Habana, South Africa, 67 tries, 124 Tests, 2004-2016
• David Campese, Australia, 64 tries, 101 Tests, 1982-1996
• Shane Williams, Wales, British & Irish Lions, 60 tries, 91 Tests, 2000-2011
• Hirotoki Onozawa, Japan, 55 tries, 81 Tests, 2001-2013
• Akaki Tautsadze, Georgia, 52 tries, 62 Tests, 2020-Present
• Will Jordan, New Zealand, 50 tries, 56 Tests, 2020-Present

John Kirwan has the most tries in all matches for the All Blacks: 67 in 96 games, 35 in 58 Tests.

+++++

University beat Grammar Tec 31-25 to win the Auckland Gallaher Shield final from fourth. They did beat the top three sides, Ponsonby, Grammar Tec and Marist. New Zealand Under-20 hooker Eli Oudenryn played openside for Varsity, which won its first title since 2017 and its 20th overall.

+++++

Gore-based Eastern-Northern Barbarians won their first Galbraith Shield title in Southland on Saturday, beating Pirates-Old Boys 40-28 in a 100-minute extra-time epic. Halfback Charlie Marsh, who won a Meads Cup with Thames Valley, scored two tries for the victors.

+++++

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has appointed former Old Boys University centre Conrad Smith as its Head of Men’s High Performance.

Smith will join NZR in early September and report to Director of High Performance Don Tricker. He will lead the delivery of the men’s high-performance programme across the New Zealand game, including working closely with Super Rugby outfits and Provincial Unions.

Since retiring from professional rugby, Smith has remained closely connected to the sport at all levels, including serving on the Taranaki Rugby Union Board, volunteering as a referee and working as the Chief of Rugby Operations for the International Rugby Players Association.

+++++

Referee numbers in the Wellington region are shrinking rapidly: 134 in 2016, 109 in 2024, 77 in 2025, and 67 this week. Half have gone in ten years.  If this week has taught us anything, it is that we need to do more to improve the refereeing experience.

In regards to the referees strike, the only other time in history that the Referees Association had threatened a similar strike (for a different reason) was 112 years ago, in July 1914, when the Wellington Rugby Union recruited its own match officials, and formed a new Association, (being the one in existence today).

+++++

Astonishing win by the Hurricanes Poua against Matatū 33-31. Down 19-0, Poua came back to tie 19-19. They then conceded a try at a kickoff but spent 18 minutes attacking to tie the scores at 26-26. Poua conceded again shortly after the kickoff. What happened next was extraordinary. A dozen minutes of desperate attack followed until a knock on in the 79th minute. Matatū fed a defensive scrum 15 meters from their own line with one requirement: secure, clear, and win the game 31-26. Instead, they conceded a tighthead, and prop Angel Mulu scored under the posts, with Renee Holmes converting for a 33-31 win.

This reminded us of the 2005 Jubilee Cup semi-final between Petone and Pōneke.

Petone’s season was seemingly over with time almost up, but their hooker Eugene Smith won a tighthead scrum win 40 metres out from Poneke’s line. Petone moved the ball to left wing Alex Telea who scorched down field and set up a try in the corner to centre Tumanu Martin. With scores now level, first five-eighth Earl Va’a slotted the sideline conversion to take a 19-17 lead. Pōneke then had a chance on fulltime to snatch the win back but Brad Cooper’s kick missed. A week later Earl Va’a kicked a late penalty to give Petone a narrow win in the final against Northern United – Petone’s most recent Jubilee Cup win.

+++++