{"id":29993,"date":"2026-03-27T14:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/?p=29993"},"modified":"2026-03-27T17:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:20:30","slug":"week-4-of-pre-season-in-wellington-as-manawatu-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/2026\/03\/27\/week-4-of-pre-season-in-wellington-as-manawatu-kicks-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 4 of pre-season in Wellington as Manawatu kicks off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Above: The Petone and Paremata-Plimmerton teams go aerial in their match last week. Both clubs have the weekend off ahead of opening day next Saturday.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the fourth and final weekend of pre-season rugby for Wellington&#8217;s Premier and Premier 2 clubs and teams, ahead of next weekend&#8217;s Easter Saturday kick-off for the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier 2 Harper Lock Shield competitions.<\/p>\n<p>There are a handful of pre-season fixtures scheduled between Premier clubs, including an inter-provincial match. This is between Tawa and Linwood from Christchurch, with both clubs beaten finalists in their respective competitions last year and following Tawa&#8217;s visit south last March.<\/p>\n<p>Oriental-Rongotai will welcome a final hit-out after being cancelled by Kia Toa last Saturday, and they host Old Boys-University at Rongotai College.<\/p>\n<p>The Upper Hutt Rams host Marist St Pat&#8217;s at Maidstone Park in another match.<\/p>\n<p>Paremata-Plimmerton were down to host Whanganui club Kaierau but this was cancelled.<\/p>\n<p>The Wainuiomata Premier 2s play Masterton Pioneer at William Jones Park in their annual fixture.\u00a0Other grades in Wellington kick-off the following weekend and there are accordingly several pre-season fixtures amongst each other.<\/p>\n<p>The Wellington College Second and First XVs play their Feilding High School counterparts at Rugby League Park. at 10.00am and 11.30am respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The opening round of the Manawatu Hankins Shield and the second round of the Horowhenua-Kapiti Ramsbotham Cup is tomorrow, while Wairarapa-Bush start next weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes Hunters Development team are also in action, playing their Blues counterparts at the stadium at 2.00pm. This is a curtain-raiser to the Hurricanes-Reds Super Rugby fixture at 4.35pm.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Games this weekend (all matches listed below subject to change):<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29958\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=640%2C335&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=300%2C157&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C536&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=768%2C402&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=128%2C67&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?resize=32%2C17&amp;ssl=1 32w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Club-Rugby-Supporters-Logo-V4-2.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wellington Premier teams:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tawa v Linwood, Lyndhurst Park, 1.00pm<\/li>\n<li><del>Tawa v Johnsonville, Lyndhurst Park, 2.45pm\u00a0 <\/del>CANCELLED<\/li>\n<li>Oriental-Rongotai v Old Boys University, Rongotai College, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Upper Hutt Rams v Marist St Pat&#8217;s, Maidstone Park, 12.00pm <em>(Colts, Prem 2s then Premiers from that time in an 8 x 20 minute fixture)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Wellington non-Premier teams:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Poneke Women v Taihape Women, Evans Bay Park, 11.15am<\/li>\n<li>Poneke U85kgs v Old Boys University U85kgs, 1.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Old Boys University Colts v Poneke Colts, Ian Galloway Park, 12.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Poneke Ruffnuts v Wellington Axemen Premier Reserves, Ian Galloway Park, 2.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Paremata-Plimmerton U85kgs v Wellington U85kgs, Ngati Toa 2, 11.ooam<\/li>\n<li>Oriental-Rongotai Premier 2 v Old Boys University Premier 2, Rongotai College, 1.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Wainuiomata Premier 2 v Pioneer Masterton, William Jones Park, 2.00pm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Wellington school pre-season matches (First XV games):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tawa College v Porirua College, Lyndhurst Park, 10.30am<\/li>\n<li>St Pat&#8217;s Silverstream v St Pat&#8217;s Town, Maoribank Park, 12.30pm<\/li>\n<li>Naenae College v Aotea College, Naenae College, 11.ooam<\/li>\n<li>Rongotai College v St Bernard&#8217;s College, Rongotai College, 1.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Taita College v Newlands College, Taita College, 12.00pm<\/li>\n<li>Wellington College v Feilding High School, Rugby League Park, 11.30am<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Horowhenua-Kapiti Premier Round 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paraparaumu v Rahui, Paraparaumu Domain, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Waikanae v Foxton, Waikanae Park, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Levin Wanderers v Levin College Old Boys, Levin Domain, 2.45pm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Manawatu Senior A Hankins Shield Round 1: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Varsity v Kia Toa, Massey 4, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>College Old Boys v Freyberg, CET 3, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Linton Lions v Feilding Yellows, Linton 1, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Te Kawau v Old Boys Marist, Rongotea, 2.45pm<\/li>\n<li>Feilding Old Boys Oroua &#8211; Bye<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Above: The Petone and Paremata-Plimmerton teams go aerial in their match last week. Both clubs have the weekend off ahead of opening day next Saturday.\u00a0 It&#8217;s the fourth and final weekend of pre-season rugby for Wellington&#8217;s Premier and Premier 2 clubs and teams, ahead of next weekend&#8217;s Easter Saturday kick-off for the Premier Swindale Shield&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,60,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-club-rugby","category-college-rugby","category-latest-club-rugby-news","category-pre-season"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pp-v-petone-shot-for-preview-1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbDiON-7NL","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29993"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30006,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29993\/revisions\/30006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}