Big wins for Ories men’s and women’s teams as Swindale Shield gap closes

Above: Wes Goosen and teammates celebrate his second intercept try today at Nairnville Park, wrapping up a 30-7 win for Old Boys University over Northern United.

Oriental-Rongotai’s men’s and women’s teams were revelling in the Polo Ground sunshinetoday after registering emphatic wins in today’s Swindale Shield and Fleurs Trophy competition.

The Ories men’s team pulled clear late in the second half to beat the Upper Hutt Rams 41-19 to go to the top of the Swindale Shield standings after Old Boys University shut out Northern United 30-7 in their table-topping clash at Nairnville Park.

A few hours earlier, the Ories women’s team did the damage in the first half in racing to a 38-0 halftime lead and eventual 48-7 win Northern United to capture the first round Fleurs Trophy competition.

In other Premier Swindale Shield results today, the away team held sway. The Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles defeated Tawa 26-10, Marist St Pat’s beat the Avalon Wolves 60-10, Poneke defeated Johnsonville 30-17, Petone overcame the Wellington Axemen 22-6 and Wainuiomata toppled Paremata-Plimmerton 42-15.

The Swindale Shield points table after nine rounds of 13 reads: Ories 40, OBU 38, Norths 36, HOBM 34, Wainuiomata 33, MSP 29, Upper Hutt Rams 26, Tawa 25, Petone 24, Poneke 23, Wellington 7, Johnsonville 4, Paremata-Plimmerton 3, Avalon 3.

While the race to win this year’s Swindale Shield is wide open at the top, the battle to make the ‘top 8’ for the second round Jubilee Cup is intensifying mid-table, with the Rams, Tawa, Petone and Poneke all separated by three points and only two places seemingly still up for grabs over the final five rounds.

Lower down, the Wellington Axemen are only mathematically alive to make the Jubilee Cup in the second half of the year.

Johnsonville, Paremata-Plimmerton, and Avalon were all officially eliminated today.

No one has yet booked their passage through to the Jubilee Cup, but teams can start doing this as early as next week, depending on results

Swindale Shield

In some Swindale Shield summaries from today’s ninth round, Ories were leading the Upper Hutt Rams 20-19 with 10 minutes still to play. Wing Aukuso Tuitama then scored a try that traversed the length of the field and involved several players. From the next two kick-offs, Ories repeated the dose with wings Ambrose Curtis and Malachai Unasa scoring spectacularly to subdue the visitors.

Earlier Upper Hutt recovered from a 10-0 deficit to take a 16-10 lead which could have been larger but for four missed kicks worth a possible 10 points by wing Joyner Key. Ories ill-discipline saw them reduced to 13 players at one stage and play half an hour undermanned.

Despite the numerical disadvantage Ories hung in with Karl Dumelow scoring a try midway through the second-half from a stolen lineout.

Hutt Old Boys Marist had the ideal preparation for next Saturday’s McBain Shield clash, defeating Tawa 26-10 at Lyndhurst Park.

The win was built on the advantage the Eagles possessed at the set piece, with their lineout drive constantly causing issues for Tawa.

A 9-3 half time score-line in HOBM's favour was perhaps flattering for Tawa with the Eagles spending much of the opening 40 minutes in Tawa’s half, only to be let down by an extremely high number of handling errors.

Hutt’s hands improved as the second half progressed and that helped them on their way to three tries – the standout of those from hooker-turned-flanker Tasi Fidow who was the recipient of an unintentionally long lineout. Forty metres from Tawa’s try line, there was nobody in front of Fidow, who had the legs to score Hutt’s first try.

Brandyn Laursen scored HOBM’s other 21 points, while Matt Treeby was Tawa’s sole try-scorer.

At Nairnville Park, the 30-7 scoreline flattered the OBU Goats somewhat , who were put under all sorts of pressure by the abrasive Norths unit today. In a stop-start first half, which included three yellow cards, Norths led 7-3 at halftime after halfback Tom Finai dived through from close range after a penalty and lineout in the corner to score the game’s first try. The Norths pack took the game to OBU, with blindside flanker Parekura Lalaga and lock Chris Middleton both playing well again.

The Goats hit back early in the second half with a try to replacement left wing and former Scottish U21 player Gavin Parker after an earlier break by industrious No. 8 Tearaki Ben Nicholas and some strong lead-up work that stretched the defence on the far side. First five-eighth Dale Sabbargh converted from out wide to give them a 10-7 led.

The match remained tight, but centre Wes Goosen stole the show, scoring two intercept tries in the second half to see the Goats pull clear. Sabbargh also kicked two penalties as the Goats sailed home to win the inaugural Ken Douglas Trophy and retain the Bill Brien Challenge Cup into the setting sun.

Marist St Pat’s retained the Joe Aspell Cup at Fraser Park with their clinical 60-10 win over the Avalon Wolves. It was the Andrew Wells show early on, the fullback scoring a try and kicking points for a 10-0 lead. MSP added two more tries to take a 22-0 lead. MSP went ahead 29-10 at halftime with Avalon’s two tries being scored by No. 8 Sefo Aumua and fullback Thomas Kiwara. MSP pulled away in the second spell, with lock Sean Bridge bagging a brace.

First five-eighth John Monu and right wing Nash Fiso-Valei both scored doubles as Wainuiomata bounced back from their defeat to Norths last week with a six tries to two win over Paremata-Plimmerton at Ngatitoa Domain. For the home side, flanker Shane Hedges and replacement back Jonathan Sabo crossed the chalk.

Petone won the inaugural Bill Francis / Jack Taylor Trophy with a workmanlike 22-6 win over Wellington at the Graveyard. Jacob Gooch scored a hat-trick of tries in the four tries to nil victory.

Four individuals scored Poneke’s tries in their 30-17 win over Johnsonville at Helston Park. Poneke led 18-10 at halftime and pulled clear after the interval. Down 10-30, Johnsonville first five-eighth Levi Grace came back to score a neat individual try to close the gap to the final score.

Harper Lock Shield

The HOBM Eagles second XV edged Tawa 33-29 in the closest Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield fixture of the afternoon today, while Old Boys University beat Norths 51-10 in their match leaving HOBM (41 points) and OBU (40) as the two clear frontrunners in this grade after nine rounds of 13.

In other results, the Upper Hutt Rams blitzed Ories 67-27 in their Polo Ground curtain-raiser, MSP beat the Avalon Wolves 42-19, Wainuiomata defeated Paremata-Plimmerton 34-19, Poneke accounted for Johnsonville 35-14 and Petone beat winless Wellington 26-19.

Women’s

The fifth round Women’s Fleurs Trophy ‘virtual’ final between Ories and Northern United proved to be a non-event as Ories blasted out of the blocks and had the game won on the 30-minute mark when lock Lillian Mapu scored their fourth and bonus point try near the corner.

Ories were switched on from the opening kick-off, immediately stretching Norths and loosehead prop Raylene Lolo scoring their first try in the fifth minute in the left-hand corner after some nice interchange between backs and forwards.

They surged back on to attack up inside the Norths 22 and No. 8 Tina Paulo took a quick tap and crossed for their second try.

Their third try midway through the half was probably their best, livewire halfback Reijeli Uluinayau making a break from a scrum turnover 50 metres out. This movement was stopped short of the whitewash but from a subsequent attacking scrum, right wing Helena Lawrence poured through to score under the bar. Mapu added their fourth try and they led 24-0.

It went from bad to worse for Norths with fullback Lekah Leti sin-binned and Ories closing the first half onslaught with two consecutive tries. The first of these tries was off the good work done by blindside flanker Joanah Ngan-Woo, making a break and throwing a lovely offload in the tackle to try scorer  Leti-I'iga, who finshed the first round with 12 tries in four games.

Ories started the second half with a try to fullback Timena Tumaai in the far corner and at 43-0 up the engraver was given the word to work on the trophy. The remainder of the second half was much tighter, but Norths continued to make unforced errors and struggled for penetration against the Ories breakdown and fringe defence. Norths’ only try was a penalty try, after a break and a dangerous tackle near the corner flag resulting in Mapu being sinbinned. Ories finished the match how they started, with another try.

Meanwhile, the other women’s fifth round games saw Wainuiomata and Old Boys University fight out a much closer encounter. Wainuiomata won 31-24, but both sides scored four tries and the difference was goal-kicking.

Marist St Pat’s ended the first round with an emphatic 67-5 win over Paremata-Plimmerton, their fourth straight win of the season, to win the first round Division One competition. Poneke beat Tawa 32-0 in the other match.

The second round of the Les Mills Paris Memorial Trophy Colts competition kicked off on Friday night at Te Whaea with visitors Northern United holding Old Boys University to a 19-19 draw.

In games played today, Petone stamped their credentials on the Colts competition with a six tries to one, 34-7 win over the Upper Hutt Rams on the Petone No.1. Oriental-Rongotai were bonus point 39-11 winners over Poneke on Kilbirnie Park No. 1 and MSP scored three tries in beating home team Tawa 27-19 at Redwood Park.

Paremata-Plimmerton are three wins from three in the Colts Division Two competition, beating Wainuiomata 24-0 today.

The second round of the U85kg JC Bowl kicked off on Friday night at Alex Moore Park where the Tawa Titans beat the Johnsonville Terrahwaks 27-5. Tawa outscored Johnsonville five tries to one, but the run of play was much closer than that.

Tawa scored early to establish a 5-0 lead, but Johnsonville came back and made much of the play in the first half, their kicker missing two consecutive penalty shots on goal from in front not helping their cause. Tawa scored their second try, largely against the run of play, to lead 10-0 at halftime.

The Titans extended their lead to 15-0 with their third try just after halftime and then scored their fourth bonus point with about 20 minutes to play, with an intercept. Johnsonville finally got on the board with their only try, but Tawa closed the game with another in reply.

On Saturday, the Avalon Wolves beat the HOBM Howlers 29-14 to also register their second win, while Eastbourne beat the Wests Roosters 43-0 beside the seaside and the Wellington Light Axemen beat the OBU Bunnies 50-0.

The Upper Hutt Rams and Poneke are both two wins from two in the U85kg Division 2 competition, the Emaciated Rams beating MSP Green 59-0 and the Poneke Cavs defeating Kapiti 25-23.

The second round of the First Grade Thompson Memorial Cup saw the HOBM Barbarians and the Norths Usos both record their second consecutive bonus point wins.

The Barbarians beat OBU 33-29 and the Usos overcame Stokes Valley 33-22. In other games, Poneke bat MSP 31-19 and the Petone Brotherhood met the Norths Red team (result TBC).

The opening round of the college Tranzit Coachlines First XV series was held in Masterton today.

Of the Wellington competiton teams, Wellington College was the only side to taste victory at Memorial Park. Wellington College beat Gisborne Boys’ High School 19-13.

Palmerston North Boys’ High School beat St Pat’s Town 22-18, Napier Boys’ High School defeated Rongotai College 22-8 and Hastings Boys’ High School beat Wairarapa College 46-7.The latter match was notable for Wairarapa College leading 7-5 well into the first half, before the hot to handle Hastings team pulled clear.