WAINUIOMATA AND WELLINGTON ON TOP AFTER WINTER SOLSTICE ROUND

Johnsonville v Wellington at Helston Park, with the Axemen winning 53-15. Photo: Wellington Football Club - Axemen

Wainuiomata (Jubilee Cup) and Wellington (Hardham Cup) are the competition leaders after fourth round Premier club rugby matches played on the shortest day of the year on Saturday.

Despite, losing their first match in seven weeks to neighbours Petone on Saturday, Wainuiomata (15 points) sit top of the Jubilee Cup.

On a fine afternoon, Petone (6) kept their playoff hopes alive with a 33-22 win at home at the Petone Recreation Ground.

The other two Jubilee Cup matches saw Oriental-Rongotai (6) also stay in contention by beating Tawa (10) 32-27 at Lyndhurst Park and first round winners Hutt Old Boys Marist (11) toppling Poneke (6) 44-26 at the Hutt Rec.

Northern United (10) had the Jubilee Cup bye.

In the Hardham Cup, the Wellington Axemen (15) won their third straight bonus point win to start this year’s competition by defeating Johnsonville (2) 53-15.

Elsewhere, Marist St Pats (10) beat the Upper Hutt Rams (9) 59-22 and Paremata-Plimmerton (3) and the Avalon Wolves (8) drew 25-25, as Old Boys University (14) had the bye.

There are three weeks remaining before this year’s semi-finals, with several teams in both grades having much to play for over the coming rounds.

In the Jubilee Cup, Petone centre Willie Fine (2 tries) and second five-eighth and captain Jarrod Adams scored three of their five tries as they burst to life against Wainuiomata from the opening exchanges.

Wainuiomata withstood an early storm and instead it was them that scored the game’s first two tries to move to a 12-0 lead. Fullback Josh Robertson-Weepu scored one and helped set the other to lock Bevan Clark.

Petone hit straight back with tries to wing Sam Blackburn and No. 8 Tupou Sopoaga, who has now scored 12 tries this season. Fine then ran on to a kick and chase by first five-eighth Carne to put Petone in the lead.

With skipper Adams in the sin-bin, Wainuiomata scored again to close it up, but he returned to score the next try, with Fine bagging his brace with a few minutes to play to seal victory for the Villagers.

At Tawa, visiting left wing Reuben Va’a scored a hat-trick and right wing Tuga Mativa scored another as Ories established a 22-8 lead early in the second half, only for Tawa to come back to level to 22-22 and then for Ories to pull away again.

Tawa scored the game’s first try, after a 60 second attacking foray from the opening kick-off, sending fullback PJ Iosefo in for a 5-0 lead.

In an absorbing forwards battle, Ories went into halftime holding a 17-8 lead, before Mativa scored a long-range try from a scrum and break by first five-eighth Trent Renata. Tawa responded with consecutive tries, a similar try scored by Best & Fairest leader and halfback Kemara Hauiti-Parapara from a scrum and burst by centre Pepesana Patafilo and a clinical strike from a lineout drive to prop Sitiveni Paongo which was converted from the sideline by flyhalf Sam Clarke.

Ories got back in front with a Renata penalty and then Va’a crossed for the match-winner after halfback Hinckley Siaosi collected a high kick and took off up the shortside. Tawa scored once more, through prop James Coburn.

In a similar start at the Hutt Rec, where Poneke No. 8 Greg Foe ran 40 metres to score the opening try of the match. But the home side HOBM hit back quickly, with fullback Brandyn Laursen scoring and converting to put them up 7-5.

Loosehead prop Brett Manaia crossed later in the first half to double their lead and Laursen kicked a penalty to see the Eagles turn with a 17-5 lead.

HOBM then pulled ahead 24-5 just after halftime with their third try, and then scored again on 50 minutes to make it 31-5. Another try made it 38-5, before Poneke broke out from deep inside their own territory to score twice on the trot. One more try made it 38-19, but HOBM sealed their win with two late penalties.

The closest of the six Premier matches was at at Ngati Toa Domain, where Paremata-Plimmerton drew 25-25 with the Avalon Wolves on their Old Timers’ Day and 60th anniversary celebration afternoon.

Paremata-Plmmerton fought back from 3-17 down to score two converted tries on either side of halftime to draw level 17-17. Avalon kicked a penalty to move ahead 20-17, and then scored another try to go ahead 25-17. Paremata-Plimmerton came back with a penalty and a try but neither side was able to break the deadlock before fulltime.

The other two Hardham Cup games were largely one-sided.

The Axemen out-scored Johnsonville seven tries to two at Helston Park, with seven different try-scorers crossing the whitewash. Wing Ollie Marshall continued his strong form, scoring 23 points, made up of a try, six conversions and two penalties. He has now scored 71 points in the Hardham Cup. 

At Maoribank Park, the Upper Hutt Rams opened the scoring with a penalty, but from there it was Marist St Pats took control. MSP steadily moved ahead and eventually won the match nine tries to three. Wing Faresa Tasale scored four tries and second five-eighth Isaia Petelo scored two tries. Right wing Todd Svenson (2) and flanker Josh Dewar scored the Rams’ tries.

The four Women’s matches saw Ories beat Old Boys University 45-5 and Norths beat Petone 58-12 in the top flight Tia Paasi Memorial Trophy, while Wainuiomata beat Poneke 22-5 and Paremata-Plimmerton defeated HOBM 36-7. MSP had the bye.

In the match at Nairnville Park, Ories led OBU 21-5 at halftime and pulled clear from there. At Jerry Collins Stadium, Petone halfback Milley Mackey scored both her team’s tries and kicked a conversion.

The Tawa Colts beat Ories 44-31 in a free-flowing Colts Division 1 match at Redwood Park, Tawa score two early tries and also lost a player to the sinbin early, with Ories coming back to draw level with two tries of their own. Tawa crossed twice more before the break to see them leading 26-14. They kept their noses in front in the second spell.

Tawa are joined at the top of the Colts John E Kelly Cup Memorial table on 15 points by HOBM Green who defeated Marist St Pats 40-17. Norths are third after beating Paremata-Plimmerton 59-18, with OBU Green back in fourth after beating Petone 69-12.

The Upper Hutt Rams Colts and Poneke are both on 15 points at the top of the Division 2 Colts table after securing maximum points yesterday. The Rams edged Wainuiomata 17-10, while Poneke beat OBU Black by default. Wellington beat Johnsonville 36-12.

In the Ed Chaney Cup Premier Reserve Division 1, Petone maintained their lead, beating Wainuiomata 62-5. Tawa beat Ories 44-22 in the early fixture on Lyndhurst Park and Poneke also reversed their Premier’s result by overcoming HOBM 37-22.

In Division 2 Premier Reserve, MSP maintained their unbeaten record by easing past the Upper Hutt Rams 58-17, Johnsonville beat Wellington 28-17 in a reversal of the main game that followed and Paremata-Plimmerton and Avalon met at Ngati Toa Domain.

The leading two teams from the first round opened their second round of the compeition for the U85kg Paul Potiki Shield, with Avalon beating the HOBM Howlers 16-9 and the Upper Hutt Rams overcoming Paraparaumu 33-17.

First round winners the Poneke Ruffnuts opened their Reserve Grade Division 1 John Davies Cup campaign with a 36-17 win over the Petone Brotherhood. In a close match, the Johnsonville Cripples beat the Upper Hutt Rams Pirates 28-26.

-WRFU

THREE-WAY TIE FOR SEVENTH AS NORTHS JOIN HOBM IN JUBILEE CUP

Wainuiomata v Oriental Rongotai, 27-0. Photo: David Brownlie

There are two rounds to play in the Premier Swindale Shield and 10 of the 14 teams still have much to play for.

Northern United have joined leaders Hutt Old Boys Marist in the ‘top 7’ and with a place in the championship round Jubilee Cup, while three teams are tied in seventh place, after a series of emphatic wins in windy, showery conditions on Saturday.

Expectedly, Hutt Old Boys Marist put away Johnsonville 50-14 at Helston Park to register their eighth straight win of the competition and move to 39 points on the standings.

Norths consolidated second by beating the Upper Hutt Rams 48-22 at Onepoto Park to move to 34 points.

Oriental-Rongotai are the only other team that can mathematically win the Swindale Shield, despite being overhwelmed 0-27 by Wainuiomata at William Jones Park, to remain on 30 points.

The title race is not over however, with HOBM set to play Ories this coming Saturday and then Norths in the 10th and final round.

Poneke are fourth on 26 points, despite being well beaten 13-41 by Old Boys University at Kilbirnie Park.

A group of three teams are just behind on 25 rounding out the current top 7 standings, these being Wainuiomata, OBU and Petone.

Like Wainuiomata and OBU, Petone had a sizable bonus point win on Saturday, beating the Wellington Axemen 58-22.

Of the rest of the field, Tawa on 22 points, Marist St Pats on 21 and the Upper Hutt Rams on 15 are eighth, ninth and 10th respectively and can still qualify for the Jubilee Cup.

Both Tawa and MSP continued the high scoring theme on Saturday, with Tawa beating the Avalon Wolves 43-14 and MSP defeating Paremata-Plimmerton 63-7.

The Rams have kept their championship chances alive for another week by virtue of a late bonus point try they scored in their defeat to Norths.

Avalon on 12 points, Wellington on 10, Paremata-Plimmerton on 4 and Johnsonville on 1 will be making preparations for the Premier 2 second round Hardham Cup when they convene at training on Tuesday night.

In some round eight Swindale Shield highlights, in which all seven winners won with bonus points, leaders HOBM beat Johnsonville who showed fight for long periods but couldn’t match the Eagles’ firepower.

This was led by Hurricanes training squad hooker James O’Reilly, who scored two tries. First five-eighth Glen Walters also scored two tries and 20 points, as the Eagles led 26-14 at halftime and pulled ahead in the second spell.

Wainuiomata kept Ories scoreless at home at William Jones Park, while scoring four tries themselves. They led 10-0 at halftime on the back of a penalty and conversion to fullback Josh Robertson-Weepu and a try to second five-eighth Peter Umaga-Jensen.

Wainuiomata more than doubled their score with a pair of match-winning tries early in the second half, through wing Saita Tuaoi and flanker Marvin Karawana, before sealing it with another try to inside centre Umaga-Jensen.

At Kilbirnie Park, Old Boys University retained the Beet Algar Rosebowl with their comfortable win over Poneke.

Playing into the wind in the first half, OBU established a two tries to nil lead late in the first half, before a decisive try right on halftime to right wing Trevahn Taufoou pushed the score out to 22-6.

Early in the second half, OBU scored again through right wing Joe Hill after a surge by No. 8 Teariki Ben Nicholas and first five-eighth Dale Sabbagh converted from the sideline and at 29-6. Poneke fought back and would score a try through Alex Morrisey but that was their only reward.

At Onepoto Park, Norths retained the Terry Farrow Memorial Cup against the Upper Hutt Rams by winning by an 8 tries to 4 margin. 

Norths scored their first try from the opening kick-off, with No. 8 Luca Rees scoring his 14th of the season. The Rams quickly replied through Jayden Treviranus, but Norths had four more by the break including a double to Dudley Parsons against one from Konelio Feaunati.

Norths continued to pile on points in the second spell, centre Losi Filipo and prop Gerard Faitatoa both crossing to seal victory.

At Petone, the home side beat the Wellington Axemen 58-24, 9 tries to 3, to retain the Bill Francis / Jack Taylor Trophy. It was all-too easy for Petone at times, who, like Norths, scored early and kept their foot on the accelerator throughout.

Petone would lead 27-0 late in the first half and then 27-10 by the break with the Axemen kicking a penalty and scoring a good long-range try of their own through lock Angelo Smith.

Petone capitalised on poor defence early in the second spell, scoring twice more to extend their lead. The Axemen came back with a penalty try, but Petone pulled away again. Flanker Jacob Gooch and replacement wing Sam Blackburn both scored braces.

At Fraser Park, Tawa had the game wrapped up at 26-0 by halftime against the Wolves. Early tries to fullback PJ Iosefo and left wing Romu Senileba set the tone, These were followed by two more, to prop Tolu Fahumaokio and centre Tom Maiava.

Avalon started the second half with purpose but Tawa weathered this and outscored them three tries to two in the second 40 minutes. Iosefo finished with a hat-trick of tries for Tawa.

At Ngatitoa Domain, Marist St Pats boosted their Jubilee Cup hopes by beating home side Paremata-Plimmerton 63-7. Playing into the wind, MSP took a 32-0 lead into the break. MSP scored again to make it 39-0 and there was no coming back for Paremata-Plimmerton from there.

Four players scored doubles for MSP, including the Proctor brothers, James and Billy, flanker Tom Horan and replacement back Grayson Whitman.

Three of the scheduled women’s sixth round matches went ahead this weekend in the Women’s Rebecca Liu’ana Trophy, after Hutt Old Boys Marist defaulted to Oriental-Rongotai on Friday.

Northern United were made to work hard before beating OBU 27-17 at Nairnville Park after leading 15-12 at halftime and then coming back after OBU scored the opening try of the second spell and briefly took the lead.

Ories stayed in their clubrooms and collected a bonus point win, defaulted to by HOBM

On Friday night, Wainuiomata beat Poneke 41-10, while MSP beat Pare-Plimmerton 27-17.

The Marist St Pats second XV won their eighth straight win in the second tier Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield competition, beating Paremata-Plimmerton 71-0.

In the early game at Onepoto Park, Norths leapt out to a handy lead only for the Rams to close it to 25-34 inside the last 10 minutes. But Norths had the final say with two closing tries to prevail 46-25. They are second behind MSP with seven wins.

Third placed Tawa overcame Avalon 61-12, fourth placed Petone beat Wellington 67-3, fourth placed Poneke pipped OBU 19-15, fifth placed Ories toppled Wainuiomata 45-0 and 11th placed HOBM beat 13th place Johnsonville 44-17.

Three close matches formed this week’s Colts Division 1 Paris Memorial Trophy round. OBU Green assumed the outright lead beating MSP 12-10 at Ian Galloway Park, leaving the Paris Memorial Trophy theirs to lose.

HOBM remain third but were beaten by Tawa 22-19, lifting Tawa from bottom into 6th while Petone beat Paremata-Plimmerton 22-12 in a pair of results that could have significant implications on the second round with two teams potentially being relegated. The fourth match saw Norths keep the Upper Hutt Rams winless, prevailing 34-6.

At Petone, the home side went ahead 12-0 early with a pair of tries. Paremata-Plimmerton hit back with a runaway try to their first five-eighth to make it 12-7. But that was as close as they would get. Petone kicked a penalty and then scored the try of the match with their centre cutting through to make it 22-7 at halftime.

The second half was a mostly scrappy affair, with Petone’s forwards on top but Paremata-Plimmerton holding a territorial advantage as they had the wind in the favour. Finally in the 70th minute, Paremata-Plimmerton were rewarded for their endeavour by scoring their second try of the match and the only score of the second half.

Oriental-Rongotai remained in charge of the Colts Division 2 standings winning 31-17 over Wainuiomata while OBU Black edged out Johnsonville 15-14. Avalon and Wellington met in the other match.

The Upper Hutt Rams and Avalon each won their fifth straight wins today in the U85kg JC Bowl first round competition.

The Rams beat Eastbourne 27-5 and Avalon battled past the Johnsonville Terrahawks 17-10.

Wests had their first win of the season in beating MSP 17-14, while Wellington beat the OBU outfit 47-14 and the HOBM Howlers met Paraparaumu in the other match.

The Avalon Knights and the Stokes Valley Chiefs made it three from three in the First Grade Thompson Memorial Trophy, with Stokes Valley beating Norths 46-19 and Avalon toppling OBU 24-19. In the third game, defending champions the HOBM Barbarians overcame the Wainuiomata Warriors 56-15.

-WRFU

CLOSE GAMES AND COMEBACK WINS MARK SECOND ROUND

PHOTO: David Brownlie

A series of close games and come-from-behind wins has marked the second round of both the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield competitions, played on another glorious day around the region on Saturday.

With the exception of a couple of blowout results, the rugby was generally hotly contested, as teams again battled the prevailing warm weather and hard grounds as well as their oppositions.

Northern United and Oriental-Rongotai sit atop the Swindale Shield with two bonus point wins, while Poneke and Hutt Old Boys Marist are the other two unbeaten teams.

The Northern United – Old Boys University Premier Reserve match ended in a 19-19 draw after OBU chased down a kick and ran in a late try, and it seemed the Premier contest that followed was heading the same way at 25-25 with two minutes to play.

But, livewire Norths first five-eighth Esi Komaisavai intercepted a pass in general play and sprinted 60 metres to score the match-winning try and see his side retain the Ken Douglas Trophy with a 30-25 victory.

In a tight seesaw match, OBU had taken a 15-10 lead into halftime, weathering waves of Norths possession and territory at the other end, to counterattack and score two forwards tries from their only two clear chances of the half.

Norths broke open the game immediately after halftime, with a turnover from a lineout on halfway and a runaway try, but OBU hit back once more when second five-eighth Izzy Foai joined his forwards at close-quarters and dived over to keep the game on tenterhooks.

At Fraser Park, Oriental-Rongotai’s top team won relatively comfortably against Avalon but not without the home team threatening a comeback with a burst of try-scoring themselves midway through the second half.

Ories had too much firepower out wide in the first half, as wing Tuga Mativa’s hat-trick helped them to a 29-7 halftime lead. This soon became 41-7 with two more tries. but Avalon struck back to close the deficit to 41-24 after 55 minutes and it was game on. However, the scoring dried up completely and that became the fulltime score.

The Harper Lock Shield match at Fraser Park saw Avalon leading Ories 19-7 at halftime and still ahead 33-21 after 65 minutes, but a late burst by Ories gave them a 42-33 win.

At Lyndhurst Park, Hutt Old Boys Marist edged Tawa 25-24, pipping the home side after scores were deadlocked 10-10 at halftime when Tawa centre Pepesana Patafilo burst through to score under the bar.

Tawa lost a player to the sin-bin after the break, leading directly to a HOBM try and a 17-10 lead for the Eagles. Tawa hit back with a try to hooker Tony Coburn to lock it up at 17-17, then took the lead when left wing Faraimo Nofoaiga scored and flyback Sam Clarke converted. Trailing 17-24, the Eagles came back to win at the end with a try and a penalty.

For HOBM, Centre Jordan Bradbrook, first five-eighth Anthony Utanga and prop Rei Manaia scored their three tries and halfback Sheridan Rangihuna found his range off the kicking tee.

Tawa won the Harper Lock Shield curtain-raiser 70-14.

The Upper Hutt Rams supporters can thank a strong second half at home at Maoribank Park from their Premiers, as that propelled them to their 46-26 win over the Wellington Axemen. After a tightly contested first half and a tense third quarter, the Rams came through late to take their 20-point victory.

Openside flanker Dan Schrijvers scored a hat-trick, his brother Hayden scored one try and fullback Tyler Tane scored two in the seven tries to four win for the Rams.

The Rams won the Premier Reserve early game 73-5.

At Ngatitoa Domain, home side Paremata-Plimmerton pushed Poneke hard throughout the main match, before going down 17-37.

As they always do playing at home, Paremata-Plimmerton brought a lot of early energy to the encounter and they applied all the early pressure and opened the scoring. It was 10-10 late in the first half, before Poneke took the lead for the first time to take a 15-10 lead into the break.

Poneke’s Moananu coaching duo of Misipalauni and Toto made strategic personnel changes at half time, up front and in the midfield and this soon paid off as they pulled clear in the final quarter. Fullback Michael Sage finished with two tries.

Poneke won the earlier Harper Lock Shield game against Paremata-Plimmerton 57-8.

At William Jones Park, home team Wainuiomata overcame Petone 18-13 to win the Darren Larsen Cup that is played between these two sides.

There was little room given defensively by both teams, as Wainuiomata led the Villagers 13-10 at halftime and battled hard in a sloppy second half to win. Petone, missing several key players for this match, were left to rue moments of inaccurate play and handline errors. Wainuiomata physicality in the breakdown proved telling, but poor discipline also let them down and they were reduced to 13 players at one point. Lock Teru Teru and left wing Saita Tuaoi scored their only two tries.

Roles were reversed in the early match at William Jones Park, with Petone winning 41-17.

Marist St Pat’s were the day’s biggest winners, over-running the Johnsonville Hawks 71-5 at home at Evans Bay. MSP won 10 tries to one, with eight individuals crossing the whitewash and wings Ricky Manulaiatea and Iosefo Aukusitino bagging braces. Centre Willie Shultz slotted nine conversions and a penalty for 21 points.

For Johnsonville, their only try was scored by replacement lock Taewa Rima.

MSP’s Premier Reserves and defending Harper Lock Shield champions overcame the Hawks second XV 101-5.

MSP, Tawa and Ories are three teams unbeaten on 10 competition points after the first two rounds of the Harper Lock Shield. 

-WRFU