Women’s competition getting exciting

Above: Johnsonville-Tawa had a 27-5 win over the Upper Hutt Rams in their Gala Day match last week. They play HOBM tomorrow, while Upper Hutt plays Poneke. 

UPDATED: Last weekend’s results in the Premier Victoria Tavern Trophy division shook up the hierarchy that’s been established in recent seasons, and the first time in many years both of the previous year’s finalists lost on the same day.

Wainuiomata top the table after their stirring late comeback to pip Oriental-Rongotai, and will be favourites to remain there when they host Avalon at Mary Crowther Park in tomorrow’s third set of matches, Avalon have the bye but were well-beaten before that by Norths. The other Victoria Tavern Trophy match is at the Polo Ground, where Oriental-Rongotai will need to get over that loss and face Old Boys-University who will themselves be buoyed after taking down Norths.

In Division 2 Hutt Old Boys Marist return to action after their bye when they welcome Johnsonville-Tawa to the Hutt Rec, while the Upper Hutt Rams make the journey down into the city to face Poneke at Kilbirnie Park. Norths and Marist St Pats have the two respective byes, and all four matches are at the usual Saturday time of 11.30am.

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In other news for the local women’s game, for nine regulars of the competition the world stage beckons over the next few weeks.
 
Currently in the north of England are Northern United sister duo Brenda and Helen Collins, where they are in camp with the Manu Sina 7’s team and club mate Manea Poa with the Cook Islands preparing for the last chance Olympics repecharge qualifier in Dublin next weekend, with the aim there being to qualify the Samoa women’s team for Rio. This weekend they take on a Yorkshire Women’s selection in Leeds in warm-up matches.
 
Back home no fewer than seven Wellington players have been selected for the NZ Tertiary Women’s 7’s team to compete at the FISU World University Rugby Championships.  
 
Five of the players study at Victoria University – Old Boys-University trio Georgia Daals, Sauimoana Solia, and Holly McDonald along with Oriental-Rongotai duo Lizzie Goulden and Joanah Ngan-Woo. They will be joined by a third Ories player in Amanda Rasch and Avalon’s Ruby Finau, who both study at Massy University’s Wellington campus. Adding to the Wellington flavour is that the team will be coached by OBU’s director of rugby, Zak Feaunati.
 
It is the first time that New Zealand has sent a women’s team to the event, which is in Swansea, Wales from 6-9 July. That timing would preclude the selected players from being available for the their club sides that weekend which is scheduled for semi-finals of the local competition.