Easter rugby bonanza in Wellington

MSP and Wainuiomata (above) fought out a thrilling 30-30?at Porirua Park in the first match of the Easter double-header showecase. Photo courtesy of Holden Bros. Media.

Rugby hits the busy part of the schedule over the Easter weekend with games tomorrow night, on Good Friday, and again on Easter Monday, making for a bumper crop of action in the top three grades.

When games next Saturday are added it's a stretch of three games in nine days that passes the halfway mark in the Swindale Shield, and a poor run of results will be a significant dent in the Jubilee Cup aspirations of many teams.

All Friday's matches are at earlier times than usual due to the Hurricanes match against the Blues at Westpac Stadium.

The weekend's action starts early, with Wainuiomata's home game against Marist St Pat's taking place on neutral turf at Porirua Park tomorrow with a 7.45 pm kickoff. The Scarlets are unbeaten, having accounted for Poneke in the Battle of Kilbirnie and have already won on this ground when they beat Norths on opening day. For their part Wainuiomata find themselves on the bottom of the log going into this match and will be anxious to avoid being in the same winless position after four rounds as they were last season. However they will need to find ways to keep both MSP's dynamic backline and disruptive loose forwards in check.

Petone were last week's big winners, with their nail-biting one point win over Hutt Old Boys Marist seeing the McBain Shield return south across the Hutt River while also climbing to fifth on the points ladder. Friday sees the Villagers head to Porirua to take on Norths. The home side were unsuccessful on Derby Day, becoming Tawa's latest victim, but sit just outside the eight and will know that a win here will be a boost to their chances.

Tawa's third bonus-point win of the season keeps them at the head of the table and remaining there rather than merely making the Jubilee Cup is their main priority. They are at home for both games this weekend, and their first visitors to Lyndhurst Park are the Wellington Axemen, who's win on Saturday was their first in the Swindale Shield since 2001. Of note is that this is the first time the Axemen will play for the Bill Brien Challenge Cup, named for the late life member of the Wellington club, while the interclub Murray & Alan Mexted Cup is also at stake.

Oriental-Rongotai kept themselves out of the loss column with a grinding win over OBU. This week they make the trip up the Hutt Valley to take on the Upper Hutt Rams at Maidstone Park, who went to fourth after their win over Wainuiomata. There's a feeling that neither side has quite found their groove yet, so if both do on Friday it could be some game. This match is also for the Bob Lendrum Cup interclub trophy, with Ories the holders having won last year's match 55-21 at the Polo Ground

Johnsonville are the only side to have lost all three matches so far, but have gathered a bonus point in each of them and have proved to be more competitive so far than many pundits expected; though the loss to Wellington will be a tough one to take. On Friday they welcome Hutt Old Boys Marist to Helston Park, with the Eagles stung by the loss of the McBain Shield and looking to get their campaign back on track.

The last match of the round is at Kilbirnie Park where Poneke face Old Boys-University for the Beet Algar Rosebowl. Both sides come into this one on the back of losses to MSP and Ories respectively, and a loss here could see them fall into the dogfight for the last Jubilee places early in the season. Beet (short for Beethoven) Algar was Poneke's senior captain in the post-WWI years, an administrator after retiring and Poneke's patron until his death in 1978. Poneke are the holders after their 24-15 win at Nairnville in the last round of last years Swindale Shield, a result that saw them claim the final Jubilee Cup place at Norths expense.

All Friday Premier games kickoff at 2.15 pm

Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield

Like the Swindale Shield, three teams remain unbeaten through three rounds of the Harper Lock Shield. On Friday that would seem likely to change as two of those sides, Tawa and Avalon clash, in the early game at Lyndhurst Park in what is the feature game of the round.

Before that however, winless Wainuiomata and one-win MSP start the round when they raise the curtain for their Premier sides at Porirua Park tonight, with kickoff at 6.15 pm.

Upper Hutt is the third unbeaten side, and they take on Ories in the early game at Maidstone. The other 12.30 pm kickoff has Norths facing Petone.

There are two 2.15 pm kickoffs. Paremata-Plimmerton are at home at Ngatitoa against OBU, while HOBM make the trip to Ian Galloway to face the Wests Roosters who sit bottom.

Senior 2 National Mutual Cup

The six National Mutual Cup games are all scheduled for early kickoffs. First up at midday is MSP and leaders Wellington at Martin Luckie Park, with Johnsonville hosting HOBM at Helston at 12.15. In the remaining fixtures Poneke face OBU and winless sides Upper Hutt Rams and Norths host Avalon and Petone respectively. The final game was to be Stokes Valley visiting Wests, but the Roosters have again defaulted and their place in the competition would now appear to be in some doubt.

Womens Fleurs Trophy

Saturday sees the second round of the women's grade, with all matches 11.30 am kickoffs. The feature game of the round is undoubtedly the one between last year's two finalists when Norths make the trip to the Polo Ground to face Oriental-Rongotai with both sides having recorded resounding opening round wins.

Elsewhere OBU hosts Stokes Valley at Prince of Wales Park, Wainuiomata welcomes Poneke to William Jones Park, and Tawa play their first home game of the year when they face Avalon.

All other grades have the weekend off, though there is one Colts Division 1 game with OBU Green taking on MSP at Te Whaea Firday night at 5.00 pm. This has been rescheduled owing to the university holidays.

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Club Rugby will have a full wrap of Thursday's and Friday's results later on Friday night, and a preview piece for Monday's games will be available here on Sunday. ?