This week in club rugby history: 20 - 26 August

Above: Onslow - Jubilee Cup winners 1955. Photo credit below.

In association with Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond Street in Wellington, some highlights from this week in Wellington club rugby history are below.

This is the last in this series for this season.

21 August

1937: Athletic beat Wellington 20-0 to secure their second successive Jubilee Cup title, in the penultimate match of the season. Athletic (28 points) finish ahead of WCOB (25), Johnsonville (21) and Poneke (20).

22 August

1936: Interest has stirred to a high pitch by this meeting between WCOB and Athletic in the last match of the season to decide the Jubilee Cup title. Despite the best attempts by their star backs, led by Jack Lamason, Athletic’s defence holds and they score the only try of the match, midway through the second half, to win 3-0.

23 August

1975: Anyone and everyone have picked Petone to romp to a comfortable win in today’s Jubilee Cup ‘final’ against Poneke. But nobody has told Poneke. With few stars and brilliantly captained by Don Cederwall, Poneke upsets Petone 11-9 and wins its first Jubilee Cup since 1951. Poneke applies constant pressure on Petone. A big moment comes in the 55th minute when Poneke wing Peter Peilua scores a key try. Petone’s only points in the final are via the boot of Richard Cleland.

27 August

1949: It’s not clear that it’s all over yet, the Dominion reporting that its “probable that another round will be played but the final arrangements won’t be known till the WRFU meets tomorrow night.” As it stands St Pat’s Old Boys and Petone are joint leaders of the Jubilee Cup, after St Pat’s and Petone have leapfrogged previous leaders Marist Old Boys - St Pat’s beating Marist 20-6 and Petone defeating WCOB 6-3. The WRFU subsequently convene and decide that’s it for the year and St Pat’s Old Boys and Petone share the Cup.

1955: After a three-week break in the competition owing to representative rugby, Onslow returns to win the Jubilee Cup. Holding a one-point lead to rivals Petone, whom they have beaten twice this season, including a recent 15-14 come-from-behind thriller, Onslow just needs to beat Athletic in the season finale. They win 14-0 and the title is theirs for the first time.

28 August

1971: Petone blast Wellington off Athletic Park to win a fifth successive Jubilee Cup. By the time they take the field in the main game, Petone are guaranteed the title outright when their nearest challenger Marist St Pat’s loses to Onslow 6-14 in the early game and thus gives Petone a four-point buffer at the top of the table. The Villagers wrap it up in style, scoring five second-half tries into the wind in the second half and winning 30-0. No. 8 Andy Leslie, halfback Ian Stevens and first five-eighth John Dougan are all standouts.

Photo credit: Onslow Rugby team. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1955/1668-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22709493