First round Swindale Shield and Harper Lock Shield draws released

Wellington’s sports fans won’t be idle for much longer, with the release of the 2017 Wellington club rugby Premier first round draw.

Wellington’s 14 Premier clubs will again battle it out over a 13-match round-robin campaign to decide this year’s Swindale Shield winner, which has been contested over the first part of the season continuously since 1969.

The season starts on Saturday 18 March with a Gala Day at an all-new venue of Awakairangi Park and nearby Maoribank Park in Upper Hutt, the early start meaning the scrapping of the two midweek night rounds that were played last year.

Defending Jubilee Cup champions Tawa square off against beaten finalists Marist St Pat’s in what is likely to be the feature match of the first round. Tawa will be looking to become the third consecutive team after Hutt Old Boys Marist (2014-15) and Old Boys University (2015-16) to win the Swindale Shield the following year after annexing the championship.

There is one midweek round, on a Tuesday (Anzac Day), with a round on Easter Saturday (15 April) and the last round on Saturday 3 June. The round on Anzac Day also doubles as the annual Derby Day which will feature the same six local matchups as last year, plus the clash between the two Marist clubs.

All Premier Swindale Shield encounters kick-off at 2.45pm, with Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield fixtures (the same draw as the Swindale Shield) slated for 1.00pm kick-offs.

A number of interclub trophies will be at stake in the opening 13 weeks of the Premier season. The annual McBain Shield clash between Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist is later this year, in round 10 on 13 May.

Marist St Pat’s are the Bill Brien Challenge Shield holders, and they will defend it in their first home match at Evans Bay Park in round two in their Bill Elvy Cup clash against Petone.

Club rugby Old Timers’ Days are yet to be confirmed.

The draws and start dates for other grades are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

There are some notable amendments to the second round. While the Jubilee Cup remains as normal, the Hardham Cup and Premier Reserve competitions have been overhauled. The Hardham Cup will now consist of only the remaining six Premier sides - there is no longer a 'promotion' of the top two Premier Reserve teams and will consist of a double round-robin and no final. Clubrugby considers this a good move as it strengthens both that competition and grades below it.

The next competition down, the Ed Chaney Cup, will be contested by the Premier Reserve teams from the eight clubs who qualified for the Jubilee Cup - irrespective of where they finish in the Harper Lock Shield - while the HD Morgan Memorial Trophy will be contested by the Premier Reserve teams from the six clubs contesting the Hardham Cup.

While this simplifies both the scheduling and club preparations, and eliminates the sometimes confusing crossover element to the Premier Reserve second-round, its interesting to note that if this had been in place last year then Ed Chaney Cup winners Hutt Old Boys Marist and HD Morgan Cup winners Wainuiomata would have been playing in the other competition.

The draw for the opening two rounds is:

Round One – Saturday 18 March

• Avalon Wolves v Wainuiomata at Awakairangi Park #5
• Hutt Old Boys Marist v Upper Hutt Rams at Awakairangi Park #3
• Johnsonville v Wellington at Maoribank Park #2
• Marist St Pat’s v Tawa at Awakairangi Park #4
• Northern United v Petone at Awakairangi Park #2
• Old Boys University v Poneke at Awakairangi Park #1
• Oriental-Rongotai v Paremata-Plimmerton at Maoribank Park 1

Round Two – Saturday 25 March

• Avalon Wolves v Oriental-Rongotai at Fraser Park
• Johnsonville v Paremata-Plimmerton at Helston Park
• Marist St Pat’s v Petone at Evans Bay Park
• Northern United v Poneke at Porirua Park
• Tawa v Old Boys University at Lyndhurst Park
• Upper Hutt Rams v Wellington at Maidstone Park
• Wainuiomata v Hutt Old Boys Marist at William Jones Park

The full draw, including details of interclub trophies, will be inputted into the Draws & Results (tab above) of this website in the coming days/weeks.