Race on for top eight places in Swindale Shield

With the Anzac Day round in the rear mirror the teams in the top two grades finish the only compact week of the year with tomorrow’s eighth round in both the Swindale and Harper Lock Shields.

With the halfway mark in the first-round having been passed, the race and fight is on to be in the top-8 places and qualification for the Jubilee Cup, and tomorrows action features the current top four on the ladder in matches amongst themselves and one of the keenest fought rivalries in local club rugby; with forecast changeable weather perhaps adding a wildcard element.

Premier Swindale Shield

Getting top billing in this preview is the clash at the Polo Ground where the last two remaining unbeaten teams face off. Leaders Old Boys-University ran their record to a perfect 7-from-7 in beating Wellington on Anzac Day, while third-placed Oriental-Rongotai played out their second draw of the season so far, finishing 30-all with Poneke.

There’s a number of interesting matches across the park to keep an eye on. Up front Whetu Henry returns for Ories and will go head-to-head at scrum time with Jonathan Fuimaono and at No.8 between two hard ball-runners in Luke Tau’alupe and Teariki Ben Nicholas. In the backs there’s the contest between two players who have pulled on the rep jersey in Adam Deck and Tomasi Palu at halfback, while in midfield two relative veterans in Paulo Aukuso and Matt Goosen face off. Each side even has a member of last year’s NZ Schools team on the bench; Ories’ Xavier Numia made his Premier debut on Tuesday while Naera Tipoki – the son of OBU assistant and former Maori All Black Rua – is in line to do the same this weekend.

When the two met last year it was a one-versus-two clash that saw the Goats prevail at Nairnville 25-24 through a last-minute try, and it was a serious case of déjà vu when the two met at Polo in the final round of the Jubilee Cup round-robin when the same thing – and scoreline – happened again. Adding to the occasion is that international referee Ben O’Keeffe will be in charge of this match.

Hardly deserving of playing second-fiddle is the match at the Jerry Collins Stadium. With six wins from their seven starts, Northern United are within touching distance of returning to the Jubilee Cup for the first time since 2012; however with each of those wins having come against the sides currently occupying the Hardham Cup places they’ll know it’s a harder road from here. They’ll face another test of that tomorrow when they host fourth-placed Wainuiomata with the visitors having seen off local rivals Petone in their derby clash and still in contention with some of the lesser lights still to play.

The home side have the relative luxury of being able to restore several players to their lineup they could rest on Tuesday, including Fala Tuala, Mike Ioapo, Tom Finai, and Perry Hayman, while there’s plenty of faces in the Wainuiomata side that will be familiar to Norths’ supporters there’s one that will be more so, as Henry Smith plays his first game against the side he made over 160 appearances for. The two sides will also contest their interclub Alf Keating Memorial Trophy, held by Wainuiomata after their 27-24 win at the same venue last year.

If both OBU and Norths win, that will set up a blockbuster 1 v 2 matchup at Nairnville next weekend.

Not too far away from the Polo Ground one of Wellington rugby’s great rivalries will play out its latest instalment when Marist St Pat’s and Poneke meet at Evans Bay in the “Battle of Kilbirnie” for the Horan-Millar Trophy. MSP will be very keen to put their season back on track after two losses on the spin to OBU and HOBM over the past week while despite all-but tipping over Ories on Tuesday Poneke find themselves more than a win adrift of the Jubilee Cup places and desperately need the competition points to avoid giving themselves too much to do over the remaining weeks; and if that wasn’t motivation enough winger Ben Huntley earns his 150th cap (Poneke only counts starts as caps) for the side.

The home team makes three changes to Tuesday’s lineup: James Tuia in for Isaac O’Connor, Jackson Martin makes his first Premier start since 2013 at fullback for Andrew Wells, and Jack Taulapapa and Peter Sciascia swap places. Poneke have just one change to their starting side, but it’s a significant one with Greg Foe absent and replaced by Ray Treviranus. Hurricane Toa Halafihi may be available for them, with Pakai Turia also named on the bench.

The Horan-Millar Trophy the two clubs play for honours former Marist player and later MSP coach Mick Horan, and Poneke legend and later life member Ken Millar. The pair locked horns on the park many times in their careers but were also good friends off of it before both passed away in 1982. The trophy was first played for in 2009, and held by MSP after their 23-22 in the final round of last year’s Swindale.

The third interclub trophy being played for is at stake at the Petone Rec where the home team and Paremata-Plimmerton will play for their Ken Gray Cup for the third time. Gray’s contribution to Petone, Wellington, and All Black rugby is well-known, but rather less so is that he started his senior club career playing for the old Paremata club from where he made Wellington B in 1958, before moving south and beginning his association with Petone the following year.

Both sides come in on a string of losses and while Pare-Plim are headed for the Hardham Cup, the Villagers are, like Poneke, desperately in need of wins and points to get back into the race for the Jubilee Cup places. The notable name on their team sheet tomorrow is veteran Eugene Smith making his first appearance for the year, while Carne Green moves out to 12 with Jared Kahu starting at 10. Pare-Plim are mostly unchanged from the side that went down to Norths, but get Taisson Lealaisalanoa and Jayden Keats back from their otherwise lengthy injury list.

The Hutt is the hotbed of Premier action with four games on up the valley Saturday. The second of these is across the river where Hutt Old Boys Marist welcome Wellington to the Hutt Rec, with the two sides fortunes each rather reversed from a season ago. After beating MSP in their first game at the Nest the Eagles are soaring and sit fifth, while the Axemen are wallowing in 11th and barring a change in form and fortune seem destined this year for the Hardham Cup.

HOBM have rejigged their side with Ben Power regaining the hookers jersey (though James O’Reilly is on the bench), and Brandyn Laursen getting a run at first-five with Glen Walters switching to fullback. Wellington’s forward pack is largely unchanged, but it’s another reshuffled backline for Marty Berry with Penijamini Nabainivalu the notable absentee.

Slightly north again Avalon and Tawa meet at Fraser Park, though for once the game is on the grass rather than the artificial turf. It hasn’t been the easiest of starts for new Avalon coaches John Bradbrook and Errol Weston, and surely the first order of business this week will be to get points on the board at home and to make it across the tryline – they’ve only scored one in their last four games and just eight on the season. Tawa may only sit eighth on the table but were relatively untroubled by Johnsonville on Tuesday, and would be warm favourites for this one.

The Wolves get powerful ballrunner Akuila Alatini back, while Cameron Cross returns in at first-five. They will be without Ben Peni however, which is a significant loss. For Tawa James So’oialo has been given the weekend off with Luke Cummings starting at 10, while outside him former HOBM player Lorenzo Lolesio makes his first start, replacing Vili Dakunimata who is out for the year after rupturing his ACL on Tuesday. Two more debutants in prop Evan Bishop and outside back PJ Iosefo are on their bench, while Matt Treeby has travelled to Dunedin to watch brother Shaun makes his debut for the Stormers in Super Rugby.

Lastly, the final game of this preview is at the head of the valley at Maidstone Park where the Upper Hutt Rams host Johnsonville. The Rams have certainly enjoyed the return home, having racked up the points against Pare-Plim and Avalon and would seem to fancy their chances of adding to that this weekend. Conversely the Hawks will again go looking for their second success of the season, and although the scale of their improvement can be measured by the vastly reduced scorelines a win here would be regarded as a notable upset. Making the task all the more harder for the visitors is the large number players unavailable due to injury and personal reasons, including their top scorer Tiwi Davies. Conversely the Rams stick with most of the team that ran riot over Avalon with Max Pearson and Petera Rikiriki in the back three the only changes.

All Premier matches kickoff at 2.45pm.

Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield

Like the top-flight, the Premier Reserves also back up from Tuesday’s round. The leading trio of HOBM, OBU, and Norths have opened a bit of a break on the rest and at this stage you’d venture one of these three will be the ones lifting the trophy. All three face sides currently in the bottom half of the table; HOBM host winless Wellington at the Hutt Rec, OBU head across town to take on Ories at the Polo Ground, and Norths face Wainuiomata at the JCS.

In the other games the Upper Hutt Rams will fancy their chances of staying in touch at the very least when Johnsonville visit Maidstone, Tawa visit Avalon, and Petone host Paremata-Plimmerton, while Poneke make the walk across Evans Bay to take on MSP with both sides sitting midtable after the last two rounds.

All Premier Reserve matches are at the regular 1pm kickoff time.

Colts Div 1 Paris Memorial Trophy

The second round of Colts matches is highlighted by the clash between first-up winners Oriental-Rongotai and Old Boys-University on the back field at the Polo Ground with both having taken bonus point wins last weekend. Petone look to win their second straight games to start the campaign when they host Norths at the Petone Rec while Poneke try to do the same when they venture across the road to face MSP on the St Pats artificial. The fourth match is up at Maidstone Park where two sides that lost their opener, the Upper Hutt Rams and Tawa, clash.

All four Division 1 Colts matches are at 1pm

Women’s

In both divisions it’s the penultimate round of matches in the early part of the season. In the Division 1 Fleurs Trophy there’s the first rematch of last year’s championship game when Wainuiomata – looking for a better outcome than when they faced Northern United – host Oriental-Rongotai at William Jones Park with the Lady Magpies looking in imperious form starting the season. Norths will likely have one eye on next week’s tilt with Ories already, but before then will have to take care of business when they host HOBM at Porirua Park.

In the Division 2 matches Petone and Paremata-Plimmerton clash at the Rec, while MSP should have few problems with competition minnows Tawa when they travel out to Lyndhurst.

All four matches kickoff at 11.30am. OBU and Poneke have the respective byes this weekend.

Under 85kg Div 1 JC Bowl

The lightweights start their competition proper with the first-round of matches in the JC Bowl. Knockout winners Avalon are at Helston to face Johnsonville, while runners-up Eastbourne make the journey into the city to take on Wellington at Hataitai, and not too far away the OBU Bunnies and Tawa clash at Te Whaea with all three games at 1pm. The fourth match is at 2.45pm when the Wests Roosters welcome HOBM to the cage at Ian Galloway Park.

First Grade Div 1 Thompson Memorial Trophy

Like the under 85’s the First Graders also start their competition. Knockout winners Norths A (‘Uso’s’) are away against Poneke at Kilbirnie while runners-up Petone make the trip up the valley to Delaney Park to take on Stokes Valley A. HOBM and MSP face each other at the Hutt Rec, while defending grade champions OBU are at home at Nairnville Park against Norths B (‘Reds’).

All four matches above kickoff at 2.45pm.

College

Although it’s still the school holidays First XV’s are still in their preparations for the season ahead, and amongst the games on the slate tomorrow are two notable games.

Firstly Wellington College face a tough examination of their credentials when they host current powerhouse Hastings Boys’ High Schoo at the College at 11.00am, while through the tunnel St Pat's Town take on Auckland’s Dilworth College (7th in the 1A last year) on Kilbirnie Park at 1pm.