First XV and college rugby starting up this weekend

Try time in last year's Premier 2 final between St Pat's Silverstream and St Bernard's College. Silverstream on 27-22, doing the double in the top two grades. 

The local College Rugby scene gets underway in earnest on Saturday with qualification and grading matches across the grades.

Tranzit Coachlines 1st XV Festival

As normal now, last year’s Premiership top four return to the top grade by right and instead of the qualifying process will again take part on the Tranzit Coachlines-sponsored 1st XV Festival over the next three weekends instead.

As with last year the first set of matches are at Memorial Park in Masterton. After missing out last year, defending Wellington champions St Pats Silverstream and Scots College both return and take on Napier Boys and Gisborne Boys respectively. Wellington College – the only Wellington school to play in all six of these series – are up against Palmerston North Boys, while St Pats Town will face local school Rathkeale College with the Central North Island competition side filling in this week while National Champions Hastings Boys are at the Sanix tournament in Japan. Hastings return for the last two legs with the first on home turf and the last in Wellington at Porirua Park bar the Silverstream vs Gisborne match which gets the now-traditional TV slot as the curtain-raiser to the Hurricanes match against the Reds on the Friday night.

Match Schedule

5 May – Memorial Park Masterton: 11.30 am: Scots v Gisborne, St Pats Town v Rathkeale; 1.00pm: Wellington College v Palmerston North, Silverstream v Napier.

12 May – Hastings BHS: 11.30am: Wellington College v Gisborne, Scots v Palmerston North, 1.00pm: Hastings v Silverstream, St Pats Town v Napier.

18/19 May – Westpac Stadium (18 May) 5.05pm: Silverstream v Gisborne; Porirua Park 11.30am: Wellington College v Napier Boys, 1.00pm: St Pats Town v Palmerston North, Scots v Hastings.

Premiership Qualification Series

Locally, 16 teams will vie for the right to the six remaining spots in the Weltec-sponsored Premiership, with the competition remaining at 10 teams after last year’s relatively successful expansion.

The Top-8 bracket, where sides can qualify directly by winning their first two matches, is filled out by last year’s Premiership sides – Rongotai, Kapiti, Porirua, Tawa, Hutt Valley High, and Wairarapa, plus Premier 2 runners-up St Bernard’s and losing semi-finalists Hutt International who are both looking to get back to the top table for 2018. Rongotai and Wairarapa College were involved in the Tranzit Festival a year ago, so this will be the first time they’ve gone through this process.

The Bottom 8 bracket comprises the next 8 1st XV’s based on finishing order last year, all of who played in Premier 2 and 3. They face a tougher road to the Premiership, but as Hutt Valley High showed last year it is possible to leap from Premier 3 to the big show.

Underneath this are a further set of pools to fill out the rest of the grades. The Silverstream (Premier 2 winners the last two years), St Pats Town, and Wellington College 2nd XV’s are joined by Paraparaumu in their own pool to determine the final make up of Premier 2 or placement into Premier 3, while the remaining teams will determine where they are placed for the season ahead.

Week 1 schedule (home teams first, all matches kickoff at 2.30pm unless stated):

Top 8 bracket:

Rongotai vs HIBS, Kapiti v St Bernard’s, Porirua v HVHS, Wairarapa v Tawa (1pm)

Bottom 8 bracket:

Aotea v Onslow, Taita v Wainuiomata, Bishop Viard v Upper Hutt, Naenae v Mana

Of the other Boys grades the Under 15 and Under 65kg also having grading matches this weekend, with the Under 80kg and Under 55kg grades playing preseason matches until the start proper on the 19th. The Girls competition starts in the next week as well.