HOBM preparing for title defence in final against great rivals Petone

• By Steven White

Ben Tuiomanufili says the banter is flying on both sides of the Ewen Bridge this week as local clubs Hutt Old Boys Marist and Petone prepare for the final this Saturday at neutral Porirua Park to decide the 98th Jubilee Cup champion.

“I have had groups of people come up to me this week from both sides asking about the game, but I have been staying grounded and just taking it day by day and training by training and we will get to Saturday when it arrives,” said loose forward-lock Tuiomanufili.

“The rivalry is strong, everyone is a bit nervous about what the smack talk will be after the game from whoever wins. I know for certain that they are thinking about the fact that we took photos with the Jubilee Cup on their field last year!”

The final pits three-time Jubilee Cup champions and last year’s winners Hutt Old Boys Marist against 20-time champions and recent first round Swindale Shield victors Petone.

Their meetings have been split one apiece this year. The first was the McBain Shield match which Petone won 29-16 and the second was a 23-10 win to HOBM in the first round of knockout matches at the start of this month.

“It is fitting that is a HOBM-Petone final and that is one apiece,” Tuiomanufili proclaimed . “They have got McBain and we beat them when it counted but now they have got a chance for redemption. There is no better feeling than going up 2-1 against your rival so both teams will be trying to everything they can to win.”

Tuiomanufili played in both those games.

“Petone are the number one team this season for a reason. They are really well coached, and it is hard to gameplan against them because they don’t give you many mistakes to expose.”

“We knew the second time we played them that if could just keep the ball in our hands  then that is where we could probably win it, and I think we did a good job doing that. Whereas in the first game we were trying to force too much and if do that against a team that will punish you for mistakes you will quickly find out why they are the number one side.

“There is talk about how they have been losing players to the Wellington Lions but at the end of the day they are such a well-oiled machine that it doesn’t matter who they have in their positions, and whoever they do bring in are probably going to do the job just as good.

Both teams survived stern tests in their semi-finals. Whilst Petone beat the Upper Hutt Rams 48-40 at the end of a 100-minute match, the Eagles held off Tawa 43-39

“That was a mighty tough semi-final for us to win,” said Tuiomanufili.

“Everyone in Wellington club rugby knows that if there is a team that knows how to show up when it matters its Tawa. Going into that game we never thought we too big for our pants, we knew we were in for a physical battle which is exactly what we got.”

“It could have gone either way. There was a point late in the game where we were up by 11 points but I knew to never feel safe when you play those guys.”

Like Petone, HOBM have a blend of youth and experience – as well as the old and the new.

One player that has returned this year to play is centre Leka Tupuola. If he beats Petone on Saturday and raises the Jubilee Cup it could be a bit of a full circle moment for the centre.

He was a member of HOBM’s teams in 2011 and 2012 and was a Swindale Shield in 2012. In fact, he scored a hat-trick in a 43-21 McBain Shield win over the Eagles in 2012, and he scored eight tries that season.

Two games in to the 2012 Jubilee Cup and after playing in a 23-23 draw with Petone (with the Petone team featuring Luca Rees who is in HOBM’s squad this year) he moved to France where he stayed for he next 13 years. Tupuola played well over 200 Pro D2 matches for Montpellier, Mountauban, Grenoble, Beziers and Nimois (all south of France clubs) as well as a season in the Top 14 with Grenoble.

He has returned and has been making a difference, particularly as Kapu Broughton-Winterburn has been out with a knee injury since the midpoint of the Swindale Shield.

Tupuola has been playing alongside Caleb Robson, who has come across from Pōneke this year and is searching for his maiden title, which his father Toby won with Western Suburbs in 1998.

“Leka has been massive for us and brings that veteran leadership to the backs. He is a downhill runner – like you kind of know what he is going to but it is another thing to stop it.”

Leka Tupuola scores against Tawa this past Saturday.

Loose forward Rupeni Raviyawa is a player who is at the other end of the career spectrum and who has been just as dynamic.

The first year Feilding High School flanker-No. 8 has been outstanding, although he is unlikely to feature in the final. Because he is on a club rugby red card suspension from two games ago and because he has been selected in the Wellington Lions squad this week.

He is one of the reasons why Tuiomanufili has been featuring at lock after playing No. 8 the past couple of seasons. The other has just to fill a hole as they were down on locks at the start of the season.

Overall the season has come together well for the Eagles.

“It took us a while to gel together because there were lots of new faces, but I think over the last six weeks we have really found our stride, which is what we always knew would happen and we think we have got the team to get it done.”

Tuiomanufili expects great support from HOBM supporters, who always give the side a boost. They are putting on a couple of buses and it is anticipated that Smeagle the Eagle will step off the coach with them.

The final kicks off at Porirua Park at 3.00pm on Saturday.

The referee for this year’s Jubilee Cup is Matt Thomas.