Off the Ball for 27 August

Above: Jordan Gillies dives over to score the first of his two second half tries for Wellingotn Maori on Saturday.

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.

The close of the club season and the representative season in full swing.

The last of the club finals was played on Saturday, with the Upper Hutt Rams J8s edging the MSP Internationals 15-12 at Maidstone Park in the Reserve Grade decider. 

This coming week’s rugby kicks off on Wednesday, with Aotea College putting the Beard Trophy on the line against Tawa College. This is the final match of the year for both schools and in the school careers of year 13 players, so both will give it everything to finish their seasons well. Kick-off at Porirua Park is 5.30pm.

Next up is Westpac Stadium on Friday night with the Wellington Lions hosting the Southland Stags in round three of the NPC.

Another ‘light’ Saturday follows on the local rugby front, with most Wellington representative teams playing away from home.

Based on respective form from their first two matches The Wellington U19s should be far too good for the Manawatu U19s in this weekend’s home feature match at Porirua Park. Wellington has had a pair of 40-point wins over Hawke’s Bay and the Hurricanes Heartland side, while Manawatu has lost to both these sides.

The Wellington Centurions U85kg side and the Wellington Barbarians meet on Porirua Park 2 at 1.00pm.

In three fixtures away from home on Saturday, the Wellington Maori play the Hawke’s Bay Saracens (Development) team in Napier and the Wellington Samoans meet Manawatu Development in the second round of the Hurricanes Development Shield competition. The Centurions Development have the bye.

The Wellington Pride start their Women’s NPC season against the Hawke’s Bay Tuis at Park Island, Napier. The Pride completed their pre-season build-up by beating this same side 52-17 on Saturday.

The Pride NPC squad is being announced today.

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Two consecutive hat-tricks for Fereti Soloa for the Wellington Samoans, three tries against the Hawke’s Bay Samoans last weekend and another three against the Centurions Development team on Saturday. All three were scored differently – an intercept, a try in general play and one in first phase from an attacking scrum.

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A tale of two scoreboards. Two representative matches at the Hutt Recreation Ground, and one involving Manawatu’s NPC Development team, and no scoreboard and clock operating. Additionally, reserve benches or even plastic chairs would have been a welcome addition, particularly for the Manawatu visitors. Teams and spectators had to keep their own score and time. Players and reserves had to stand or sit on the grass. The new scoreboard at Porirua Park is in use and working well after literally being on the blink for some time.

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Taking nothing away from the Wellington Maori side who turned a wealth of possession and pressure throughout the latter stages of the first half into points in the second, but the Manawatu side was poor and made a host of unforced errors. In days gone by, the Manawatu Development team has been super-competitive and beaten their Wellington counterparts on a couple of occasions in the past decade.

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The three Wellington teams on the weekend (Maoris, Samoans and Centurions) featured midfielders from Petone – Jarrod Adams for the Maoris, Losi Filipo for the Samoans and Viliami Fine for the Centurions.

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“Asafo Aumua says he won't be a one-hit All Blacks wonder,” said the headline on Thursday. A euphenism for his recent injury right there, either deliberately or inadvertently, thanks to reporter Hamish Bidwell who was given that quote. Read the rest of the article here   

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Ex Upper Hutt Rams and now Manawatu Turbos No. 8 Sam Wasley is out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury, effectively ending his maiden NPC campaign.

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Ardie Savea has been released to play against the Southland Stags this Friday night.

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There won't be any Wellington representation in this year’s college National Top 4 tournament in Palmerston North, starting at the end of next week. St Pat’s Silverstream and St Pat’s Town both lost their qualifiers to Hastings Boys and Napier Boys respectively, and by identical 31-14 scorelines. The Hawke’s Bay pair will now face off for the Hurricanes place at McLean Park this weekend. Defending National Girls Champions St Mary's also surrendered their crown, beaten 38-33 by Manawatu school Manukura, while Aotea College found the going too tough against perennial contenders Feilding High in their Co-ed section match with Feilding now taking on Masterton's Wairarapa College (who play in the Wellington Premiership) for the Hurricanes place in that competition at the Top Four.

Elsewhere, the remaining Top Four places will also be determined this weekend. North Harbour's Westlake Boys host Auckland champions St Peter’s for the Blues place, Hamilton Boys and Wesley College will contest the Chiefs final, and down south Christchurch Boys and Otago Boys will meet to be the South Island representative. The Girls section already comprises Auckland's Aorere College, Manukura, and Southland Girls, with just the Chiefs winner to be decided this week between Hamilton Girls and either Rotorua Girls or Wesley College.

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Stark contrast from the Dominion Post and the Hawke’s Bay Today in their rugby reporting. In one corner, the Dominion Post has completely rinsed itself of any rugby coverage whatsoever below the All Blacks, Hurricanes and Lions. In the other corner the Hawke’s Bay Today ran with full news headline coverage all day Sunday of their two school First XVs winning their Hurricanes semi-finals.

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Great to see the Wellington Lions playing their next game this coming Friday night. Two games in and supporters haven’t had a chance to see them yet owing to 2.05pm kick-offs.

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An emphatic return to form on Saturday night by Beauden Barrett, scoring four tries and almost scoring a fifth. Barrett also scored 30 points. Both feats see Barrett slot into the most points and tries scored by an All Black in a Test lists.

Keith Quinn’s reaction on Twitter: “So the debate will now start: Dan Carter v British Lions Wellington 2005 or Beauden Barrett v Australia 2018?”

With back-to-back victories over the Wallabies, the All Blacks hold the Bledisloe for the 16th year in a row, and have now won 21 straight home tests against the Aussies since 2003.

While the All Blacks roll on, it wasn’t the same for South Africa. The Pumas beat the Springboks 32-19, after leading 27-7 at halftime and 32-7 early in the second half.

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While Beauden Barrett was scoring his tries for the All Blacks, another Barrett was tearing up the opening round of the Heartland Championship. Declan Barrett, also a first five-eighth, scored a hat-trick for King County in their 75-17 opening round win over East Coast.

As always, there is a smattering of Wellington club rugby players involved in the Heartland Championship. First five-eighths Glen Walters (Wairarapa-Bush) and James So’oialo (Horowhenua-Kapiti) were both involved in first round losses. Poneke tighthead prop Andrew Petelo got on the board for Poverty Bay in their 27-22 win over Wairarapa Bush.

If you have contributions and stories please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz