Off the Ball for 21 August

Above: A great initiative from Oriental-Rongotai at their prize giving on Saturday night – naming an Ories Team of the Year side made up of players across all their teams. The Ories Team of the Year is: 1. Raylene Lolo 2. Penieli Poasa, 3. Whetu Henry, 4. Joanah Ngan-Woo*, 5. Karl Dumelow, 6. Tukia Purcell, 7. Josh Leutogi* 8. William Heather, 9. Adam Deck, 10. Hinckley Siaosi, 11. Ayesha Leti-l’iga, 12. Fa'asua Makisi, 13. Malo Tuitama*, 14. 14. Malachai Unasa, 15. Hayden Whelan*, 16. 16. Alicia Print, 17. Xavier Numia, 18. Victor Groom, 19. Lilian Mapu, 20. Reijeli Uliinayau, 21. Paulo Aukuso, 22. Kuso Tuitama*. * - absent from photo above. Photo credit: David Brownlie Photos

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.

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Another big weekend of rugby wrapped up late yesterday afternoon when St Pat’s Silverstream beat Wellington College 17-11 in the First XV final and then the Wellington Lions over-ran the Manawatu Turbos 41-29 in their competition opener.

Rugby fans will have lots to choose from this coming Saturday. All three teams are back in action, with the Lions hosting Taranaki at Westpac Stadium on Wellington Rugby’s Old Timers’ Day and St Pat’s Silverstream hosting Palmerston North Boys’ High School at the Hutt rec 1 at 1.00pm in one Hurricanes region semi-final and Wellington College travelling to Hastings Boys’ High School for the other.

In the secondary school girls Hurricanes semi-finals, St Mary’s College host Feilding High School at 1.00pm on Hutt Rec 2 in a replay of last year’s final, while Aotea College travels to Palmerston North to play Manukura in the other. Porirua College have been defaulted to by Wairoa College, so they are straight into the Hurricanes Co-ed Cup final on 2 September against Feilding High School.

There are three matches scheduled for Porirua Park and Jerry Collins Stadium on Saturday. The Wellington U19s play the second of their Central Region Shield matches, against Hawke’s Bay 19 at 12.30pm. The Wellington Samoans play the Manawatu Development side at 2.30pm, while Wellington Maori meets the Wellington Centurions team on Porirua 2 at 2.30pm.

The remaining college finals to be played on Saturday are the Premier 5, U80kg, and U65kg Division 1 and Division 2 deciders. 

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Last but certainly not least, there are four lower grade club rugby finals on Saturday.

The U85kg Division 1 Paul Potiki Shield final is between top qualifiers the Wellington Light Axemen and the Avalon Hungry Wolves, most likely at Kilbirnie Park 2. The Division 2 Tony O’Brien Shield final will be across the road at Evans Bay Park between Marist St Pat’s Red and the Upper Hutt Rams.

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The Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians will host the Petone Brotherhood at the Hutt Rec in the final of the Johnsonville Centennium Cup First Grade competition, while the Division 2 Paul Donoghue Memorial Cup will be between the Avalon Wolves and the Johnsonville Cripples.

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Upper Hutt Rams sides will finish one-two in the John Davies Cup Reserve Grade competition. With one weekend to go in a straight round-robin, the Upper Hutt Rams Thirsty Rams are on 30 points (played 7) and the Upper Hutt Rams J8s are on 25 (played 6). The MSP Internationals are third on 17 (played 6).

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The Wellington Samoan Women’s team beat the Wellington Tongan Women’s team 20-12 on Saturday, their first win in two years.

The Wellington U18 Samoan Team commenced their preparation for their defence of the Trustbank Central Secondary School Shield, with a Training Camp at Poneke RFC over the weekend. The team's first match is against Poverty Bay RFU in Gisborne, on Saturday, 2 September.

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Eastbourne kicked four first half penalties against Wellington in Saturday’s U85kg semi-final, and almost nailed a fifth before the oranges that shaved the outside of the uprights.

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St Pat’s Silverstream left wing Chris Aumua scored his side’s first try in yesterday’s WelTec Premiership final. He has scored six tries in two games that have been broadcast on TV. No player has more. Older brother Asafo Aumua scored two tries and got man of the match against St Pat’s Town in 2015 to and also scored a try against Hastings BHS in an 18-16 win in 2014.

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A huge weekend for the Harawira family, who had a son in the Silverstream First XV and U15s teams. Older brother Jarrod, who plays in the Manawatu, got a NZ U20s trial.

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Silverstream second five-eighth Kienan Higgins was the Player of the Match in yesterday’s WelTec Premiership final, following on from OBU second five-eighth Regan Verney’s Man of the Match performance in the Jubilee Cup final earlier in the month. Higgins is linking up with Northern United next year, so Jerry Collins Stadium is to his liking.

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The Wellington Lions beat Manawatu yesterday for the first time since 2013. There were 11 tries scored, after Lions halfback Sheridan Rangihuna scored the first try in the opening minute of play after a bust by Julian Savea.

The Lions also won back the Coronation Cup inter-union trophy, which was presented by the Arnott family to the Manawatu Rugby Union in the Queen's coronation year of 1953. For many seasons the two unions played an annual Queen's Birthday fixture for the Coronation Cup. This coming weekend they play Taranaki for the John F Henning Trophy after the former American Ambassador. Last year Taranaki won this clash 54-31.

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Can anyone see Canterbury not winning the Men’s NPC competition again this year, following their 39-0 shutout of Tasman in their season opener and the best team on paper, Auckland’s, loss to Counties Manukau?

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The Heartland Championship starts this coming Saturday. Hurricanes Heartland teams Wanganui and Wairarapa Bush commence their campaigns at Cooks Gardens against each other, while closer to Wellington, Horowhenua-Kapiti takes on North Otago in Levin.

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RIP Sir Colin Meads. 133 games for the All Blacks and 55 Tests. King Country’s first match of the season against Wes Coast is sure to be of special significance.

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From a reader:

In 1971 a transfer from Greymouth to Christchurch took me to a place to stay (Mora’s) next door to Lancaster Park. During the winter the touring Lions arrived to play the All Blacks. We walked to the ground en masse. Cars would park on the lawn. Enter Colin Meads who was captain for his last test series. His brother Stan Meads, his locking partner, had retired in 1966.
 
The legend once said the best training ground for future All Black’s has always been strong domestic club competitions. He like his brother Stan walked the talk during an amateur era and played all their club rugby for Waitete in the King Country.
 
I had the privilege via the disability sector to firstly communicate then meet him in Wellington. He was raising funds for IHC. He gave over thirty years’ service. In 2001 he had input into the New Zealand Disability Strategy.  We shared a dialogue about how badly the disability carers and parents were treated. Collectively we asked what is the point in having courts and a Human Rights Commission if the government underpins our democracy-the law and respect of our fellow human beings.
 
His integrity and humility reinforced what Nelson Mandela said in Ireland on our trip in 2003 to the World Special Olympic Games that regardless of race, creed or colour they are human beings.

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Earlier in the year, a small team of Kiwi filmmakers traveled to Japan to shoot a short (3-minute) documentary about former St Pat’s Town student Jared James and his amateur rugby team. He is the only foreigner in an all Japanese rugby team, Shizuoka Rugby Club. The documentary titled Union follows Jared as he searches for belonging and discovers strength amongst strangers. The story explores the power of rugby to bring people together, even when those people don't speak the same language.

Union presents the national sport of New Zealand as more than a game. The film is about unity. It is a story from the sidelines about human connection through sport. In the lead-up to Rugby World Cup 2019, Union is also an inside look into the burgeoning sport in Japan. The film will showcase the universality of the game and is designed to bring Japan and New Zealand closer together. 

View the film here: https://vimeo.com/229064260 

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