Off the ball for 23 July

Off the Ball is in association with Rob Law Max, Lovelocks Sports Bar,  Motor Doctors and Sarah Kilner Real Estate 

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.

Welcome to semi-finals week!

The Jubilee Cup, Hardham Cup, Premier Reserve, Colts Division 1 and Colts Division 2 teams all have their semi-finals this coming Saturday, the main event ahead of the Hurricanes playing their semi-final as a nightcap later in the evening.

Semi-finals at a glance are:
Jubilee Cup: Norths (1) v HOBM (4) and OBU (2) v Ories (3)
Hardham Cup: Wainuiomata (1) v Johnsonville (4) and Petone (2) v Upper Hutt Rams (3)
Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup: Ories (1) v Poneke (4) and MSP (2) v Norths (3)
Premier Reserve HD Morgan Memorial: Petone (1) v Wainuiomata (4) and Johnsonville (2) v Upper Hutt Rams (3)
Les Mills Colts Division 1: Norths (1) v OBU (4) and HOBM (2) v MSP (3)
Les Mills Colts Division 2: Ories (1) v OBU Black (4) and Poneke (2) v Wainuiomata (3)
Women’s Division 1: Ories (1) v Paremata-Plimmerton (4) and Norths (2) v Petone (3)

Look out for the previews later this week.

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Before that, local fans can look forward to some school rugby to get the week of rugby underway.

On Tuesday, Rongotai College’s First XV, Second XV and U15 sides play a rugby exchange against Wellington College. Not the local school, but Wellington College from England. Kick-off in the First XV encounter is at 2.00pm.

On Wednesday, the rugby day starts at Evans Bay Park with St Pat’s Town hosting St Pat’s Silverstream as part of a full sports exchange. This is the first match of the eighth and penultimate round of the First XV Premiership. Unbeaten Silverstream are out in front on 34 points, with St Pat’s Town currently second equal on 30 with Scots College. Wellington College are fourth on 21. Kick-off is at 12.40pm.

On Wednesday evening, Porirua College and Aotea College meet at Jerry Collins Stadium in the Wellington Co-ed Cup final and as a Beard Trophy defence for Porirua. Kick-off is at 7.00pm. The curtain-raiser to that is Aotea College v Porirua College girls.

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Northern United have only lost once on the road this season in the Premier competition, to Poneke in round 4 of the Swindale Shield. Captain Parekura Lalaga scored Norths 100th try of the season against OBU on Saturday.

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Norths won the Bill Brien Challenge Cup off OBU on Saturday, where it will stay for the summer with it not being on the line in the semi-finals. The Norths Women’s side also hold their Equivalent, the Challenge Cup.

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Naenae College won the annual ‘Avalon Cup’ on Saturday in the annual match against Taita College that is supported by the club.

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Another entry for the fastest try from a kick-off on Saturday, with HOBM openside flanker Jordan Gillies winning the second half kick-off and bursting clear to score several seconds later. Poneke won the game 50-26.

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Another high scoring fixture officiated by Richard Gordon on Saturday. On a blustery, bleak day his Premier match still saw 83 points and a dozen tries scored.

Gordon, has refereed 14 matches in Wellington this season, with his games yielding 940 points at an average of 66.5 per game. 

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While we know who'll be in the playoffs across the top grades, what we don't know yet is who will referee them. The WRRA will be announcing those on their website and Facebook later today.

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Sweetest struck kick of the weekend? A contender would have to OBU's Mark "Stump" Franklin. With time up in his Premier Reserve's side contest with Norths at Te Whaea and their season all but over, Franklin gave in to the goading of his teammates to take the final conversion. The result? A quickfire droppie from the prop that split the sticks from 30m out and 15m in from touch.

Franklin wasn't the only prop to slot the final kick of the game with Malaeulu kicking the final play of the game at Kilbirnie Park. 

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When was the last time that 200-gamers were on the field in the same team in a Premier match together? On Saturday, Chris Molenaar came off the bench to join Eugene Smith on the field so there was over 400 caps on the field between them. The most recent *possible* example we can think of is Nick Risdon and Polonga Pedro playing together for the HOBM Premiers.

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Elsewhere around the region, it’s an all-Feilding show in next weekend’s Manawatu championship decider for the Hankins Shield, with the Palmerston North clubs shut out. Feilding Yellows topped Varsity 38-19, while Feilding Old Boys-Oroua beat Kia Toa 31-17 after trailing 5-17 at the break. Yellows will be seeking only their second title having last won way back in 1984, and FOBO playing in just their second final after being beaten in the decider 11-10 by Varsity

Defending champions Napier Old Boys Marist blasted into the Hawkes Bay Maddison Trophy final after winning 49-13 away at Taradale with former MSP winger Mike Buckley adding two more tries to his season tally that now stands at 35. They'll face Clive who turned the book upside down after they beat top qualifiers Hastings 32-29.

Amongst the Heartland provinces, Ruapehu reclaimed the Wanganui championship at Cooks Gardens beating Pirates 41-17 after leading 24-10 at halftime. Over in the Wairarapa Gladstone beat Martinborough 37-25 to set up a Tui Cup final showdown with Carterton who edged Greytown 29-27, and the Ramsbottom Cup decider in Horowhenua-Kapiti next week will be between Toa and Rahui; Toa edged Levin College Old Boys 23-22 with Leon Ellison scoring 18 points for Toa while Otaki's Rahui won 21-12 away against Waikanae.

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Former Poneke fullback Tauasosi Tuimavave was named in the Southland Stags squad late last week for the upcoming NPC season. The Stags host the Lions in Invercargill on 31 August.

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The two leading men’s and women’s try scorers for this season, Luca Rees and Ayesha Leti-l’iga,  both scored a bundle more tries between them for their Ories teams on Saturday.

Rees scored another two tries from No. 8 to extend his tally to 22 for the season. Not only is he already the leading all-time forwards single season try-scorer, he is moving up the record list.

It is believed that the all-time list is (updated):
26 Michael Knight (Wellington FC) 1970
25 Mike Clamp (Petone) 1981
23 Buxton Popoalii (Northern United) 2010
22 Wayne Collins (Poneke) 1977
22 Greg Kingi (Petone) 1994
22 Luca Rees (Oriental-Rongotai) 2018
21 Alapati Leiua (Northern United) 2009
20 Bernie Fraser (Hutt Valley Marist) 1978

Leti-L’iga scored another four tries for the Ories women’s side on Saturday against MSP. This takes her 2018 season tally to 36 tries in 11 competition games. This includes a hat-trick or more on eight occasions. Her all-time Wellington club rugby record is 86 tries in 42 games. How is she not a Black Fern?

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Here is what is wrong with both First XV rugby and Auckland rugby summed up in one story: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/105624157/schoolboy-star-isaiah-punivai-commits-to-crusaders-academy-despite-move-to-auckland
At the end of last year, NZ secondary schools fullback Isaiah Punivai moved from Christs College (where he was captain) to Auckland to Saint Kentigern College. So we had a situation of a private school in one part of the country poaching off another. If this was a card game it would be I will see your scholarship and raise you another. But Punivai is still a Canterbury and Crusaders Academy contracted player and recently captained the Crusaders U18s against the Chiefs U18s!

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Poor crowds at the two Super Rugby quarter-finals in Wellington and Christchurch. They probably spun it up to a couple of thousand extra, but there can’t have been any more than 10,000 spectators at Westpac Stadium on Friday night. In the second quarter-final at Christchurch on Saturday the official crowd was 8,500 and the Crusaders ran at a loss, after having to contribute a third of the Sharks squad’s flights from Durban and a A$75,000 appearance fee.

Let’s hope the crowds come out for the upcoming National Provincial Championship like they used to. Wellington should have started moving some games to the Hutt Rec and Porirua Park some five years ago. As mentioned here a fortnight ago, they potentially haven’t got off to a good start with a straight out scheduling clash and Sky Sport promotions clash on Sunday 19 August between the Wellington Premiership First XV final at Porirua Park and the Wellington Lions season home opener at Westpac Stadium against Otago.

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Disturbing news for anyone running an amateur sports club. "End of alcohol in sports clubs. “Beers no more? Wellington police cracking down on drinking in bowling clubs.” The police, it seems, have started making it difficult to renewal liquor licences at local bowls clubs. Read more here 

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Last but not least, congratulations to the Black Ferns for defending their Sevens World Cup crown. The Black Ferns, helped by a Michaela Blyde hat-trick, ran in five tries to nil in the final to beat France 29-0 in San Francisco on Sunday.

The All Black Sevens team plays England today in the final at 12.49pm. They beat Fiji 22-17 in the semi-finals and England beat South Africa 29-7. UPDATE: They beat England 33-12 in the final t become world champions as well.