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Action from the Wellington-Manawatu U20s game today at Rugby League Park. Photo: Peter McDonald.
- By Steven White, Scott MacLean & Adam Julian
The Pōneke U85kgs and the St Pat’s Silverstream First XV have progressed to the business end of their seasons after Pōneke won their National U85kg Cup semi-final and Silverstream won their Hurricanes final today. Pōneke will play in the final next weekend and Silverstream will contest the ‘Top 4’ tournament starting Friday.
There were also good wins today for Wellington’s representative teams, including for the Wellington Pride in their opening Farah Palmer Cup fixture against Otago in Dunedin and for Wellington’s Development and U20s teams who beat Manawatu opposition at Rugby League Park. In the Heartland Championship, Wairarapa-Bush won the clash of the lower North Island teams with victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti in Masterton.
More below on matches we attended or watched today.
Under 85kg National Club Cup
Pōneke are going back to the Under 85kg National Club Cup final, after they produced a typically-signature performance on Kilbirnie Park to defeat 2024 winners Pakuranga 30-14.
Playing into the northerly, the hosts made the perfect start as national representative Pasia Asiata was across inside five minutes, followed 10 minutes later by winger Ethan Rangi in the north-east corner. Stung into action, the Panthers found their stride and largely dominated the rest of the half knowing what they’d be playing into in the second stanza. Replacement winger Reece McGregor opened their account, getting to a deft grubber from first-five Cameron James, before James himself would put his side into the lead on the half-hour mark. But they couldn’t add to it before halftime, leaving them a mountain of work after it.
To Pakuranga’s credit they started the defence of their lead well, with Poneke resorting to a pair of shots at goal, both missed by Cameron Bond. But the wall eventually cracked as Rangi nabbed a second to put the hosts back in front, followed by Bond finally getting success with a penalty shot. Sam Gard’ner – no stranger to scoring tries in the eastern suburbs – put the result beyond doubt when he burrowed over and forcing referee Ethan Loveridge onto his stomach to award the try with 10 minutes left, and after narrowly missing an audacious 55m penalty Max Rodgers made no mistake with a closer effort to put a full-stop on proceedings.
Pōneke will now head to North Harbour Stadium for next week’s title decider where it’s likely they’ll face a parochial home crowd backing local side Silverdale, who after knocking out defending champions Christchurch HSOB last week, defeated New Plymouth’s Tukapa 39-25 on neutral ground in Taupo.
Also on Kilbirnie Park today, the Wellington Fijians followed up their win last week over Poverty Bay Māori with a 45-22 win over the Wellington Pasifika men’s team. Wellington Fijians led 26-10 at halftime
For the Pasifika team, Petone halfback Rome Katene scored two tries and Tawa prop Ratu Narorori and Axemen flanker Robin Taumoenga scored one apiece. Avalon right wing Tauvaga Siolo was the Player of the Match.
Also on Kilbirnie Park, the Wellington U18s Girls team beat their Tasman U18s counterparts 86-5.
In Turangi, the Centurions U18s Boys and Girls teams met their Waikato Harlequins counterparts. The Centurions Boys won 26-5 and the Centurions Girls lost 49-31.
In Whanganui, the Whanganui U18s beat the Wellington Pasifika U18s 26-15, after leading 12-10 at halftime.
The Pasifika team took a 15-12 lead early in the first half and held that for 20 minutes with a good set-piece. Two yellow cards didn’t help their cause and Whanganui came home late, which included a 90-metre intercept try. Peyton Paese was the Pasifika’s Player of the match, with Aisah Johnson – Taiti and Faiva Foua also playing well.
Hurricanes First XV Final
St Pat’s Silverstream has qualified for the National Top Four for the first time with a heart-stopping 34-29 victory over Napier Boys’ High School, whom they lost to 52-12, their largest defeat this millennium, earlier in the season.
Silverstream only led for four minutes with the scores tied three times. In the 67th minute they were down 29-27, rejecting two kickable penalties, one just right of the posts five metres out.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. With the conventional wisdom of “take the three” abandoned, Silverstream pounded away until a muscular thrust by loosehead prop Ryder Langi released a chokepoint and saw the ball kiss the paint.
It was heroic stuff from the Wellington Under-16 bookend who had helped Silverstream’s scrum secure two tightheads. The conversion from first-five Fletcher Cooper made it 34-29, but the game wasn’t safe. Even with a draw, Napier would go through by virtue of scoring the first try, a result that befell Silverstream in the same fixture in 2022 and in a Hurricanes Regional semi-final against Hastings Boys’ High in 2025.
With starting lock Bronson Martin sidelined with a bloody cut, Silverstream had better chances of catching Jack the Ripper than their own restarts. When Napier pilfered again, they methodically built phases, steadily gaining ground until a jackal by openside Issac Sanele turned Sky Blue dark.
Are there two teams in New Zealand who create more space with less? Five of eight tries were finished by short-range pick and goes, constructed by big, organised, no-nonsense packs that resemble the no-bullshit attitude of their respective coaches, former policeman Willie Tran and All Black Gareth Evans for Napier and John Herbert and Karl Davis for Silverstream.
Napier enjoyed the benefit of the blustery breeze in the first half and jumped to a three-minute lead when strapping centre Sakaraia Paodi capitalised on careless Silverstream passing.
As in the Wellington Premiership final, Silverstream was able to dictate large passages of play despite the elements. Twice they were held up over the line and winger Troy Waldrom kicked dead when a gather and run might have been better.
A Will Lovatt penalty made it 10-0 to Napier. In the 32nd minute Waldrom emerged from a pile-up with a first try under the sticks, and it was 10-7 at halftime.
The second half was one of wild momentum swings. Cooper landed a 40m penalty in the 38th minute for the first score. Four minutes later Napier No.8 Carter Pirie bullied through with Lovatt’s conversion making it 17-10.
Silverstream fullback Jaxon Ropitini is uninhibited. His exhilarating break was the catalyst for a second Waldrom try, converted by Cooper, 17-17.
Napier responded with their tried-and-tested pick-and-go. Bradley Pearce, back from the sinbin, scored a converted try 24-17.
Despite a dislocated finger, Cooper’s powers didn’t diminish. In the 57th minute he retrieved a Napier clearance at halfway, busted towards the 22 and eventually finished the movement with two sharp right-foot steps.
Referee Ethan Jefferson wasn’t tolerant of infractions from either team, with penalties often thick and fast. A 30m Cooper goal with nine minutes remaining gave Silverstream the lead for the first time.
The 27-24 advantage was short-lived. Possession was surrendered from the restart, a penalty conceded, and then Napier powered over from a lineout drive through hooker Harry Jones. Lovatt missed a handy conversion, his first misfire.
Silverstream’s resilience and patience have grown considerably in the past month. The young pack is maturing rapidly and Cooper kicked all four conversions, two penalties, and scored a try. He has scored 283 points in 2026.
Centurions
In the feature match at Rugby League Park, the Wellington Centurions defeated the Manawatu Evergreens 82-14.
As the scoreline shows, it was often one-way traffic for the home team who scored 12 tries to the visitors’ two after leading 35-7 at halftime.
Right wing Luke Kapene scored two tries in the first 50 minutes before being subbed. Kapene would have had a third try but he unselfishly passed to teammate Caleb Robson whilst over the line. He also directly assisted in a fourth try scored by fullback Jordan Soli.
No. 8 Conner Tuifao scored two tries, as did replacement lock Archie Treadwell and the rest were shared around.
First five Jacob Waikari-Jones scored one of those tries and kicked 11 of 12 conversions, and the one he missed hit the post from in front.
In scoring five first half tries, the Centurions stretched Manawatu out wide and ran in some of these from deep inside their own territory.
They opened the scoring with one such strike to loosehead prop Senio Sanele who was the support player with a clean run to the chalk, and then fullback Jordan Soli crossed to quickly make it 14-0.
Manawatu got back in the game and scored their first try but the Centurions closed out the half strongly.
It was a similar story in the second half, as the Centurions’ scrum dominated and several players came off the bench to keep their attack flourishing.
Hurricanes U20s
In the first game at a windy Rugby League Park this afternoon the Wellington U20s beat the Manawatu U20s 31-10 in their second round Hurricanes U20 match.
This match was much closer than the second game that followed, with the score locked up at 5-5 at halftime. Manawatu took the lead to 10-5 early in the second half with a well constructed team try scored by blindside flanker Viliami Rongokea Tupou, and it was potentially game on.
Wellington had other ideas, rallying hard and proceeding to take the lead and then running away with the game over the final 20 minutes.
Wellington started dominating at the breakdowns and gained momentum through a number of penalties from which they capitalised.
Wellington started the comeback with a try under the posts to flanker Elijah Solomona after a penalty from a scrum and attack-and-go. They then scored three consecutive tries directly off penalties and kicks into the corner. The first two of these resulted in forwards tries after lineouts while the third was after an attacking scrum which directly followed a penalty and lineout in the corner that was knocked on by Manawatu. Wellington went wide from the scrum and scored their match clincher in the far corner with about five minutes to play.
For Wellington, Solomona led from the front, while Petone duo prop Heath Tuifao and blindside flanker Archie Schrader also stood out. Schrader scored Wellington’s first try of the match from a penalty and lineout in the corner.
Manawatu’s first half try in the 23rd minute was scored by lock Lazzoryss Tovo after a concerted one minute period of play inside the 22.
Other players who played well for Manawatu included No 8 Sione Katoa, who made a number of telling runs and generally had a high workrate, centre Hame Palelei who threatened out wide, and front rower TJ Wallace who ran on strongly.
In the other game today, the Hawkes Bay U20s accounted for the Hurricanes Heartland U21s 102-12 in Napier.
Next weekend’s third and final round will see Wellington hosting the Heartland team, and Manawatu and Hawkes Bay meeting in the other match.
Women’s NPC
The Wellington Pride got their bid for Farah Palmer Cup promotion underway with a solid 49-31 win over recent bogey-side Otago under the Forsyth Barr roof.
It was a bumpy start for the visitors though, losing hooker and captain Valini Vaka within the first 15 minutes. However, they were first on the board when the trusty boot of Arene Landon-Lane kicked the first of three penalties she would knock over. Otago would score the game’s first try through centre Charlotte Va’afusuaga, before teenage debutant Ana Kerr scored the first of what could be many after excellent work from centre and fellow debutant Merania Paraone. Otago would hit back through their star player, do-it-all openside Sarah Jones who ran in under the bar and then converted her own try before the Pride would take the lead for good in somewhat audacious fashion; off a midfield scrum Landon-Lane chipped over the on-rushing defenders, regathered, and set fullback Keira Su’a-Smith off to streak away under the posts.
Up 17-12, the Pride produced a blistering start to the second half. Quickly on to attack on the Spirit’s line lock Eva Maora barged over, and just minutes later Otago were stretched far and wide with the ball finding blindside Lourdes Faifua on the left flank. Wellington clocked off after that – something that would not have impressed coach Matt Poutoa and his staff – and let Otago back into the game with tries to Naomi Sopoaga and Charli Sinclair.
But a pair of penalties by Landon-Lane steadied the ship, before Paraone danced across for a maiden try and Kerr showed her speed with a long-range effort. Otago would grab a fifth through replacement rake Hannah Lithgow, but the Pride would grab all five points on offer.
A special mention to Poneke veteran Megan Tulili, who after over 150 matches for the Kilbirnie club got on for the last couple of minutes to make a well-deserved debut for the province.
Heartland Championship
Wairarapa-Bush sent their fans home happy from Memorial Park and regained the PGG Wrightson Cup with a 46-31 win over Horowhenua-Kapiti. In ideal conditions on the turf, both sides started well, but it was the hosts who were first across as Fiula Tameilau – starting in midfield in place of an injured Levi Harmon – crashed over. The match went into a bit of stasis after this as both sides concentrated of making ground through the middle. Big HOBM-loanee Brett Manaia possibly set a personal record for carries in a half, and it was little surprise that he was the one to cross and level matters up.
But the rest of the half was all the hosts. From the restart H-K failed to control the ball, and it was picked up by Ethan Webster-Nonu who showed off some dance moves as he evaded several tacklers before the ball wound up with veteran Inia Katia to score. Three minutes later they were in again as Leon Tuiloma broke the line inside the 22m and a couple of phases later big lock Malakai Biumaiwai strolled over, and then on the strike of halftime from an attacking scrum it was Biumaiwai’s locking partner Cody Cunningham that dotted over from close range.
Down 7-26 the visitors needed to score first to get right back into the game, but rather conceded twice in the first ten minutes. It took about 90 seconds for Tuiloma – who had a massive game – to get a deserved try at the back of a lineout drive, and then Biumaiwai would get his second after the visitors defence was torn to shreds.
To their credit, the mighty ‘Nua refused to fold and had the better of the next 25 minutes. Prop David McErlean joined Manaia in the front row scorers club with a try in his 97th match for the union, and lock Massie Harvey closed it up to 36-21. Another lineout drive re-established the host’s buffer; it was unclear who got it but it may have been Folau Finau-Vea who was added to the side after Harmon’s withdrawal. HK winger Leighton Ralph rocketed over running a perfect line off a midfield shortball, and their fifth – scorer unknown – got them to 41-31 with five minutes remaining. The hosts though would have the final say, as a searing break from replacement halfback Archie Bennett laid the platform for his clubmate Thomas Williams to finish matters.
It was a solid performance from the Bush, but they will be concerned in the lapse in concentration that allowed the visitors back into the match as well as a potentially significant injury to Webster-Nonu. H-K will go home to lick their wounds and look to find ways to get explosive fullback Zane Ainslie more involved with space to operate in.
In the other Heartland matches today heavyweights South Canterbury and Whanganui lead the way. The southerners were big 73-10 winners over Buller in Timaru, while the Butcher Boys won at home against 43-15 against Poverty Bay. King Country dropped from the top, beaten 32-31 by North Otago in Oamaru, Thames Valley overran West Coast 59-35 in Greymouth, and Mid-Canterbury beat East Coast 57-17 up in Ruatoria.
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