Plenty at stake in club rugby this weekend

Above: Poneke back-up from their narrow loss at Jerry Collins Stadium on Wednesday night to host Tawa, while Norths have their bye and the weekend off.

With the mid-point of the Jubilee and Hardham Cups just around the corner there’s already plenty at stake for some teams while others could take large steps towards cementing their playoff places.

Another week of wet weather will also be a factor, and it will be seen whether sides rein in their expansive instincts and play a territory and possession game, or stick to giving the ball plenty of air.

Jubilee Cup

With two full rounds in the books the table is starting to take some shape, and potentially a divide between the top-four and the rest could open up tomorrow. For those latter three it could be a pivotal round for their chances.

Having seen off both of their eastern suburbs rivals Oriental-Rongotai head up the harbour to the Hutt Rec and a meeting with Hutt Old Boys Marist. The Magpies are on a run of four straight wins and clearly want to extend that, as well as get a measure of revenge for the 47-15 towelling they got from the Eagles back in the early weeks of the season. HOBM will be looking to get back into the winner's circle after last Saturday’s loss to OBU, particularly with Norths on the horizon for next week.

The hosts are have the services again of Chase Tiatia who lines up again at fullback while Lise Soloa is also back after his recent wedding, and Anthony Utanga deputises again for Glen Walters who is away for another week. Ories are almost unchanged from the side that beat Poneke with the season’s top try scorer so far Luca Rees absent with Serge Hollis replacing him and Luke Tau’alupe moving to the back of the scrum. Lastly it’s a big day for outside back Andy Ellis as he becomes Ories’ newest – and youngest – Premier centurion.

Having reclaimed the Bill Brien Challenge Trophy with last weekend’s win over HOBM, Old Boys-University will be looking to ensure it doesn’t change hands for a third successive week when Marist St Pat's visit Nairnville Park. Bar Will Mangos, it’s a full-strength looking Goats pack with Daven Candy, Sam Coventry, and Zeke Sopoaga all starting; while out back Greg Mullany is on international duty with the Cook Islands with Dale Sabbagh stepping back in, and Tai Neli makes a first Premier start in midfield.

With consecutive losses to open the Jubilee Cup, MSP are in urgent need of competition points if they are to make the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year but that is made much harder by a number of absences tomorrow with completely different starting tight-five. Much will seem to depend on their backs making quality use of the ball they get, and the old stager Fa’atonu Fili guiding them around the park. OBU won the Swindale encounter 32-17 at Evans Bay in late May.

Poneke and Tawa meet at Kilbirnie Park, and like MSP the pair are nearing must-win territory already. For the home team, in particular, a third reverse in the space of a week could be a death-knell for their chances of making the playoffs, and they’ll be looking to repeat their 25-20 win from earlier in the year which was considered something of an upset at the time. They are bolstered by the inclusion of Hurricanes lock Isaia Walker-Leawere and the return of Pakai Turia and Michael Sage who were both unavailable for the midweek match at Norths.

Even coming off the bye Tawa are dealing with a few absences including Peniasi Tokakece and midfielders Kalim Kelemete and Pepesana Patafilo. That sees a backline reshuffle with Kemara Hauiti-Parapara at 10 and James So’oialo at 12, but they still have the bulk of their forwards and seem likely to play for position and keep the ball tight.

Northern United has the Jubilee Cup bye this week.

Hardham Cup

With last Saturday’s pair of drawn matches no team in the Hardham is two-from-two, but the two sides that have had the bye – Petone and Johnsonville – have a chance to change that in tomorrows round.

Petone head into the city to face Wellington in a battle between two of the province’s oldest clubs. The Villagers emerged from the bye to prevail in an arm-wrestle with Avalon and that might put them in good stead if the recent weather has Hataitai Park heading back to being the bog it was last year. The Axemen are riding some luck; if not for two last minute penalty kicks by their opponents going astray they might have no competition points rather than the six they do possess. At the very least they’ll want to be more competitive than they were in the 55-0 drubbing they got in the Swindale.

There’s still little relief on the injury front for Petone, who shift Piri Paraone to fullback with Tom Pere in the halves. Wellington are again without Olly Sapsford with namesake Ollie Marshall again deputising.

It’s an intriguing clash at Helston Park, where home side Johnsonville come off the bye following their first win of the season and line up against Paremata-Plimmerton. The visitors handed the Hawks a 34-7 beating early in the season, and this match will be a measure of how much each has improved across the many weeks since as well as those ever valuable competition points. Johnsonville have a couple of interesting additions with Hemi Remuera – who threw away the boots at the end of last season – starting at hooker with Matt Mullany on Cook Island’s duty with his brother and Eamonn Tawhiwhirangi both making their first starts this year. Pare-Plim restore the Melvin brothers to their starting side and halfback Jayden Keats plays his blazer game. Taisson Lealaisalanoa would be as well, but for an injury at Wellington rep training this week.

Over in the Hutt Valley the Avalon Wolves and Wainuiomata clash at Fraser Park for the first time in a couple of seasons. The home team will be after a much-needed win knowing that they have the last-round bye and while the visitors may currently top the table, they also know they’ll have to be better than they were last weekend where they scrambled a draw. The Wolves – who edged their earlier meeting this year all the way back on Opening Day by 33-32 – have a reshuffled deck and still without injured big men Sefo Aumua and Akuila Alatini, while Wainuiomata also have several changes, and won’t have young goal-kicking ace Justin Wilson, with the ageless Uale Mai slotting in at fullback.

The Upper Hutt Rams have the bye in the Hardham Cup this week.

Premier Reserve Ed Chaney & HD Morgan Cups

The round in the B-tier is highlighted by the clash between the only unbeaten sides in the Ed Chaney section remaining. Both HOBM and Ories have hit the ground running after sub-par Harper Lock campaigns and meet in the early game at the Hutt Rec. Elsewhere first-round winners MSP face OBU at Newlands Park (12.30pm), and Poneke welcome Tawa to Kilbirnie Park.

In the three HD Morgan matches Wellington lead the way, but face a stern test of their credentials against competition favourites Petone at home at Hataitai. Johnsonville come off the bye to take on Pare-Plim at Helston with Avalon and Wainuiomata facing off on the Fraser Park turf.

As with their Premier sides, Norths and Upper Hutt have the bye this week and unless stated they kick-off at the usual time of 1pm.

Women’s Tia Paasi Memorial and Izzy Ford Trophies

  With the conclusion of the first-round and an off-week since, the competition splits this weekend with two new trophies at stake. The top five will contest the Tia Paasi Memorial Trophy (which replaces the Victoria Tavern Trophy) in Division 1, while the bottom four will play for the Izzy Ford Trophy. Like Rebecca Liua’ana, for who the first-round trophy is now named, both women have made significant contributions to the Women’s game. Paasi – who sadly passed away in March this year – was a fixture in the Wellington club scene for more than two decades, playing more than 50 games for the representative Pride in the front row and a quartet of matches for the Black Ferns, while Ford was an ever-present in the Norths team for a lengthy period, a Black Fern from 1999-2002 and again in 2005, and is currently the Porirua City Council Deputy Mayor.

It’s a rapid-fire Championship round with Division 1 playing a round-robin with a bye ahead of semi-finals and finals, while Division 2 play each other twice ahead of a straight decider. The action starts with first-round winners Norths at home at the JCS against Petone and Oriental-Rongotai hosting Paremata-Plimmerton at the Polo Ground in the Tia Paasi section (Marist St Pats has the bye), while in the Izzy Ford competition Avalon are at home at Fraser Park against valley rivals Hutt Old Boys Marist and Old Boys-University and Poneke meet on the neutral turf of Polo 2.   All four matches are at 11.30am as normal.

College

For the first time since round one all ten teams are in action on the same day in the College Premiership. St Pat's Silverstream will be looking for a third-successive shutout after big wins over Wellington College and Rongotai when they travel over the Haywards to the only winless side in Porirua. In a busy day out in the eastern suburbs the other joint-leaders, Scots College are at home against Wellington College, third-placed St Pats Town likewise at Evans Bay against Wairarapa in another top-five clash, and Rongotai hosts Hutt International (at 1pm) with both looking for their second wins of the campaign. The final game of the round is in Raumati with St Bernard’s heading up there to take on Kapiti College.  

In Premier 2 there’s a top-of-the-table clash when unbeaten leaders Aotea College head to Lower Hutt to face second-placed Hutt Valley HS. There’s a valley derby as winless pair Taita and Upper Hutt look to get off the mark and in a pair of 1pm matches the Well Coll 2nd XV host Paraparaumu and the Town 2nds the same against Tawa. The fifth match has already been decided with Onslow forced to default to the Silverstream 2nd XV.   All matches are at 2.30pm unless stated.

Les Mills Colts  

It’s another slate of key matches in the Division 1 John E Kelly Memorial. Two of the three unbeatens clash in the feature game of the round with first-round winners Marist St Pats facing a stern test on the St Pats artificial against Norths. The other team that’s two-from-two - OBU Green - takes to Te Whaea (at 12pm) against promoted Pare-Plim who have held their own so far at this level. The other two games are both in the Hutt with HOBM hosting the Upper Hutt Rams at the Hutt Rec, while across the river Petone line up against Tawa at the Petone Rec.  

In the Division 2 Vic Calcinai Cup there’s two games on tonight with OBU Black and White taking to Boyd Wilson at 7pm and Johnsonville facing Oriental-Rongotai at Alex Moore at 7.30pm. Tomorrow has Poneke and Wellington taking to Kilbirnie #2, and Avalon and Wainuiomata are on the grass at Fraser Park, both at 1pm.

Under 85s  

While most grades are into their second-rounds the lightweights are nearing the end of their first. The title has already been decided with the Avalon Wolves wrapping this up with a week to spare after they have been defaulted to by the OBU Bunnies. Eastbourne will try to stay in second when they head up the coast to Paraparaumu for a 1pm kick-off.  In the 2.45pm matches third and fourth clash at Maidstone when the Upper Hutt Rams and Tawa meet, Wellington and Johnsonville take to Macalister Park, and bottom-pair Wests and HOBM are in the Ian Galloway cage. MSP have the bye this week.