Close start to season set to continue in Easter round

Above: Marist St Pat’s and Avalon players contest the high ball last week. MSP are gunning for their third straight win this weekend when they play Poneke in the Battle of Kilbirnie, while Avalon are eager to open their account against Hutt Old Boys Marist at Fraser Park.

Easter weekend usually brings a double round of matches, but this year there is just the one. Saturday’s third round of the Swindale Shield promises more of the close fought action that’s highlighted the first two weeks.

One oddity of the season so far is that six sides are unbeaten, but owing to the pair of draws on Opening Day only three of those sides have notched a pair of wins; while it’s not the WRFU’s designated Derby Day, there’s a pair of matches between near-neighbours and one of these highlights the round.

That match is the Battle of Kilbirnie between hosts Poneke and competition leaders Marist St Pat’s, with the interclub Horan-Millar trophy at stake. Poneke have made a bright start to the season as they look to return to the Jubilee Cup ranks, and taking MSP’s scalp would be a further boost to that. A strong defensive effort, headed by their stable of loose forwards, led to their win over OBU, but tomorrow will be without Greg Mullany who kicked all their points. MSP have eased into their work this year with bonus point wins over a pair of last year’s Hardham Cup sides in Johnsonville and Avalon. They haven’t had it all their own way though, and found themselves trailing at halftime before using the advantage of the wind to pull ahead and away from Avalon.

Kilbirnie Park is of course not exactly foreign territory to MSP, having played several games there last year due to the refurbishment work at Evans Bay; and pivot Fa’atonu Fili knows it better than most. Ryan Setefano returns on the left wing, with Jeff Toomaga-Allen starting at tighthead in his return from last year’s injury.

The Horan-Millar Trophy honours two great club men; former Marist player and later MSP coach Mick Horan, and Poneke legend and later life member Ken Millar. They locked horns many times in their careers on the field, but were also good friends off of it before both passing away in 1982. The trophy that bears their names was first played for in 2009, with MSP the current holders after winning 30-15 in one of those ‘home’ games on Kilbirnie last year.

Tawa lie second, having seen off Oriental-Rongotai in their first home game, and they make the journey to Hataitai Park where the Wellington Axemen await. Like MSP, Tawa had to come from behind to win last Saturday, with both TJ Fermanis and James So’oialo continuing their strong early season form. A win would at the very least see them keep pace at the sharp end of the ladder, and tomorrow they regain the services of talismanic prop Taniela Koroi. The Axemen have made a bright start, rebounding from that tough loss against HOBM to win an arm wrestle with Johnsonville and will fancy their chances in this one. They have named an unchanged side from last week.

The two sides contest the Murray & Alan Mexted Cup which is held by Tawa after their 48-22 win last Good Friday, but it’s the first time in many years that this trophy will be played for at Hataitai owing to the Axemen’s standing in the club competitions and the vagaries of the draw.

The third side with two wins is Jubilee Cup holders Hutt Old Boys Marist, who after surviving their run-in with the Axemen on Opening Day eased past Norths. As is normal at this time of year they’re on the road again, this time making the short trip to Avalon’s Fraser Park for the first Premier match there since 2011. It won’t be in the familiar place however, with the grandstand having been demolished and the grass rugby fields having been relocated north as part of the significant revamping of the facility. Avalon have been competitive for stretches of their first two games back in the top flight but so far their efforts haven’t garnered a single competition point which is something they’ll be keen to address.

Chase Tiatia returns for the Eagles but at centre with Nick Risdon continuing at 10, while the Wolves have made a pair of personnel and positional changes.

The two clubs also contest the Billy Herbert Memorial Trophy after the former HOBM prop who shifted to Avalon in 2005 but suffered a heart attack on the last training night before the first competition game. Avalon holds this after their 32-27 win in Round 11 of the Harper Lock Shield last year, with HOBM winning it 35-20 the last time it was contested at Premier level.

The Upper Hutt Rams turned on perhaps the most surprising result of last weekend running out comprehensive winners over Petone, punishing the visitor’s errors. They make the trip over the Haywards to Ngatitoa Domain for Paremata-Plimmerton’s first home Swindale Shield outing since their last season in the competition in 1987; and have named an unchanged lineup for the occasion. The hosts put together an improved showing against Wainuiomata after their first up outing against Tawa and will look for another in front of their supporters, but simply getting enough ball to use in attack has been a struggle. They’ve made a handful of changes, amongst them Apirana McMillan-Parata joining brother Tane and Shane Hedges in the loose forward trio.?

For the second successive week Wainuiomata found themselves 24-0 up at the break, only this time they didn’t let it slip like they did against Norths and eased home against Pare-Plim; Tyler Tane’s hat-trick taking him clear at the head of the try-scoring table and his 19 points putting him equal with James So’oialo. They make the journey to Helston Park to face a Johnsonville side that were bitterly disappointed to have gone down to Wellington last weekend, immediately conceding after taking the lead, and probably feeling that they should have done better with the wind in the first half. Josh Robertson-Weepu makes his first start of the year for Wainui at fullback, while Johnsonville will be without Matt Mullany who like his brother is away this weekend. Wainuiomata won last year’s match at William Jones Park by 23-10.

Old Boys-University must have spent the past week wondering how for all their possession and set-piece against Poneke they didn’t come away with the victory. The Goats will need to regroup quickly, facing the trip to Miramar and Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Ground. The Magpies find themselves in the unfamiliar position of 11th with just a solitary bonus point to their name; so with both sides having expectations of being at the sharp end of the Jubilee Cup come the end of the round-robin phases there might be an element of urgency already. One matchup with looking at will be up front between the sizeable figures of Jonathan Fuimaono and Whetu Henry, with OBU naming Teariki Ben-Nicholas at No.8 and Sam Chamberlain, who scored points in boatloads for the champion OBU Green Colts over the past three years, makes his debut on the wing where he’ll have the job of marking Afa Fa’atau. Ories won this matchup last year 22-17, which was played at Polo by request of OBU, with the Goats winning the Jubilee Cup encounter 18-9.

Finally, it’s a bit of deja-vu for Petone to start the season. Like last year an opening day win has been followed up by sizeable defeat. They’ll look to put things back on track against a Norths side that hasn’t fired a shot in the first half of either match so far, each time going to the break with a zero next to their name on the scoreboard. The Villagers shot themselves in the foot with their errors and will need to put that right in their first outing on the Petone Rec for the year, and given Norths’ slow starts should look to assert themselves early.

Norths simply have to show up in the opening 40 first and foremost, and their lineup tomorrow has Api Naikatini and utility Aiden Cains both returning in the second row, but Dean Brunsdon is out for a couple of weeks with a minor shoulder injury. Petone have made a number of changes after their dispiriting outcome last week; amongst them is the return of 200-game lock Chris Molenaar, making his first Premier start since the final round of the 2013 Jubilee Cup. Norths did win this clash last year, prevailing 21-18 on Good Friday when Perry Hayman tip-toed in down the grandstand sideline of Porirua Park.

All Premier matches kick off at 2.30pm

The Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield by contrast already has a clear strata forming. No fewer than six sides have won both their opening fixtures, while OBU and Norths have each notched one win. Two matches feature clashes between undefeated sides; Leaders Tawa are at Hataitai to face Wellington, with MSP – the only other side with maximum points – making the walk across Evans Bay Parade to face Poneke on Kilbirnie Park. Petone face Norths on the Petone Rec, while Wainuiomata are at Helston against Johnsonville. OBU are at the Polo Ground to take on Ories, and there are clashes of the winless with Paremata-Plimmerton hosting the Upper Hutt Rams at Ngatitoa and Avalon welcomes Hutt Old Boys Marist to Fraser Park No. 2.

All seven Premier Reserve matches kickoff at 12.45pm.?

All other grades commence competition play next Saturday.