Off the Ball for 26 June

Above: Hutt Old Boys Marist super-sub Polonga Pedro joins the fray for his 243rd Premier appearance on Saturday against Old Boys University at a muddy Nairnville Park.

Off the Ball is in association with Rob Law Max , Lovelocks Sports Bar  and Harcourts Johnsonville 

Looking at some of the news in briefs, milestones, happenings, statistics and observations from the weekend of rugby just gone and what’s coming up this week.

The biggest week of rugby in Wellington this year is upon us. The British and Irish Lions have touched down in the capital and play the Hurricanes tomorrow night and the All Blacks on Saturday night.

It has been reported they are bringing 25,000 tourists to the capital with them, about three-quarters of them overseas visitors, and $30 million into the local economy.

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Club Rugby welcomes British and Irish Lions fans to the capital. If it’s rugby you’re here for, then there are four First XV secondary matches you can check out on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, Heretaunga College host Upper Hutt College and on Wednesday, Tawa College host Naenae College, Porirua College College host Mana College and St Pat’s Silverstream play Palmerston North Boys’ High School in an inter-provincial traditional. The match at Silverstream is at 1.30pm.

For entertainment, visit Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond St in the central city and in turn support community rugby in Wellington.

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An early-in-the-week reminder that kick-off times are earlier this coming Saturday owing to the Test match. All rugby is being moved 30 minutes, so WelTec Premiership matches kick-off at 2.00pm and Jubilee and Hardham Cup contests go at 2.15pm and so on.

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In Premier club rugby, there is expected to be further movement on the Jubilee Cup points table before the week's out. On Saturday, Northern United were docked 2 competition points because their Colts defaulted to Oriental-Rongotai on Friday night. A ruling is being made this week on a player registration breach by defending champions Tawa. This breach covers the latter stages of the Swindale Shield and early rounds of the Jubilee Cup.

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Congratulations to Poneke talisman Galu Taufale for making his international Test debut last Friday for Manu Samoa against Wales last Friday. Samoa were up 10-0 early, but Wales came back to snatch a dramatic late 19-17 win. This coming weekend, Samoa hosts Tonga in Apia in the Pacific Nations Cup and then in a fortnight meets Fiji in Apia.

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Congratulations to the Black Ferns Sevens for winning World Rugby Women's Sevens Series after taking out the final tournament in France. The team secured the world title after beating hosts France in the semi-final 21-7, before rounding out their series win with an emphatic 22-7 win over Australia in the final. They finished the series with 116 points after winning five of the six tournaments, with Australia 16 points back in second. They lost just one of their 36 matches this season, to the United States in the Sydney Sevens semi-finals.

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Spare a thought for Wellington Axeman back Junior Seumanufagai. After playing the entirety of his Premier Reserve team's match against Poneke on Saturday he took a seat on the Premier's bench, hoping to make his debut with a few minutes late in the game. Four minutes into the Hardham Cup clash Jonnie TeRuki-Chambers rolled his ankle and Junior was called into action, making for a long day!

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Speaking of the Axemen, perhaps no club has been left as shorthanded by injuries and mid-season departures. At Kilbirnie Park on Saturday they would have barely numbered 33 players across their top two teams - their Premier Reserves started with 16 and wound up playing the last 25 minutes with just 14 following another pair of injuries, while Hone Haerewa and Ben May were the only fresh bodies on the Premier's bench.

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A familiar face was back in the middle of a Wellington Premier clash on Saturday for the Ories and Norths match at the Polo Ground. Now based in Hong Kong where he is that unions Referee High Performance Manager as well as an experienced test referee around Asia, Tim Baker has been back home where he's recently taken charge of the Black Ferns matches against Canada and Australia, and soon heads off to Ireland for the Women's RWC.

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Experience certainly wasn’t something that the officiating team for the top-of-the-table clash at Nairnville between OBU and HOBM lacked. Referee Richard Gordon might be closing in 100 Premier games to go with the last two Jubilee Cup finals, but in terms of number of Premier games he was the junior of the trio. On one touchline was Gordon Noble-Campbell who was the last referee to reach the ton of Wellington games, while on the other was David Walsh who has over 180 under his belt.

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Chiefs coach Dave Rennie returned to his roots on Saturday. Rennie won the Swindale Shield with Upper Hutt in 1990 and on Saturday was on hand at Maidstone Park to watch the Upper Hutt Rams beat Paremata-Plimmerton 38-5 and record their third straight Hardham Cup victory.

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The two Kapiti teams playing in the Wellington club rugby competitions enjoyed close wins on Saturday. Their Colts side defeated Johnsonville 8-6 in their division 2 Vic Calcinai Memorial Cup, while their U85kg team pipped the Tawa Titans 8-7 in their Paul Potiki Shield division 1 opener.

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This past weekend’s Jubilee Cup was one of the closest in recent seasons, with the widest margin of victory across the four contests being three points (Ories 13-10 over Norths). The combined scores added up to 73-64, and that included Tawa’s 31-29 win over MSP.

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Up in Hawke’s Bay, unbeaten Napier Old Boys Marist have scored 775 points and conceded 135 in 13 matches so far this season. In comparison the razzle-dazzle Norths team of 2010 had scored 606 points and let in 237 at the same point of their season.

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No movement at the top of the Billy Wallace competition Best and Fairest standings after Saturday, with Tawa’s Hemi Fermanis still leading on 21 points, ahead of Wainuiomata’s Ben Tupuola on 19 and Petone’s Lester Maulolo on 16. OBU flanker Daven Candy picked up his second consecutive Player of the Match accolade to move to 9 points.

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Hutt Old Boys Marist CCO Josh Syms is going to help coach Hastings BHS who are 12-0 this year and have scored 725 points. Syms coached St Kent's to a 20-0 record in 2012 when they won the national Top Four. The other Hastings coach has got a gig with the Hawke's Bay NPC team.

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As reported late last week, the Wellington Lions will play the Tasman Makos in a fundraising match on 10 August to help the Awatere Rugby Club, to pay for the insurance and damages caused by the Seddon earthquakes. The match will double as a Men’s NPC pre-season fixture.

Contributions to Off the Ball to editor@clubrugby.co.nz