HOBM regain McBain as Poneke end OBU?s unbeaten run in Colts rugby

Above: Hutt Old Boys Marist with the McBain Shield on Saturday afternoon

UPDATED: The Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles have regained the famous McBain Shield off rivals Petone with a 32-25 win, while the Poneke Colts side has ended OBU Green’s long-standing winning streak with a thrilling 25-24 win, in two notable results in Wellington club rugby this afternoon.

A 13-man HOBM Eagles side held off a late Petone surge to win back the McBain Shield and retain the Bill Brien Challenge Shield in their first defence.

HOBM, who had their then three tries to one lead cut to 20-17 at halftime when Petone’s Jared Kahu finished off a brilliant team try, later pulled ahead to lead 32-20 when lock Sam Faisandier crashed over for this second try. But a flurry of yellow cards and a strong finish by Petone saw HOBM holding on for a gallant win in their first home match this year on the Hutt Recreation Ground.

Earlier, HOBM had lost halfback Sheridan Rangihuna to injury, forcing a reshuffle to the backline with Bay of Plenty bound Chase Tiatia coming into first five-eighth and Nick Risdon off the bench into halfback.

HOBM join defending first round champions Marist St Pat’s and Tawa as the three unbeaten teams after five rounds of the Premier Swindale Shield competition.

MSP held off Wainuiomata 22-16 in a bruising encounter in their first home match of the year at Evans Bay Park, while Tawa held off Old Boys University throughout a tense second half to win 35-29.

MSP fullback Andrew Wells had kicked five penalties to put his side ahead 15-10 when veteran returning replacement loose forward Peniasi Tokakece scored in his 50th Premier outing for MSP to give them a 22-10 lead. Wainuiomata, who had spent a good deal of the match hammering away inside MSP’s 22 for little reward, came back with two penalties to collect a bonus point for all their effort.

Tawa’s lineout provided for two first half tries as they skipped out a 17-5 lead over Old Boys University, extending this to 32-21 at halftime. Old Boys University roared back with a try to right wing Sam Chamberlain and a penalty to halfback Luke Campbell to cut Tawa’s lead to 32-29. The score remained that way until late in the match when Tawa fullback James So’oialo kicked what proved to be the match-sealing penalty.

HOBM, MSP and Tawa are neck and neck on the standings with 23 points.

Oriental-Rongotai are fourth on 16 points after beating the Upper Hutt Rams 35-19 for the Bob Lendrum Cup with a burst of scoring late in the first half and again just before fulltime, in an otherwise even match. Scores were locked up at 6-6 after 30 minutes, but Ories ran in two quick tries to lead 18-6 at the interval. The Rams came back after the break with a try to centre Troy Mohr, cutting the gap to 18-11. Both sides kicked penalties to advance the score to 21-14 to Ories, before two converted tries late in the fixture sealed Ories’ win.

The other three Swindale Shield results today saw the Wellington Axemen beat Northern United 29-26, Poneke beat Paremata-Pimmerton 36-21 and Johnsonville defeat Avalon 22-12.

The Wellington Axemen came out and rocked Norths with a barrage of scoring to lead 29-0 at halfime at Porirua Park. Wellington opened up with a try and four successive penalties to lead 19-0 after 30 minutes, adding more tries before the break. Now playing with the wind in their favour, Norths replied early in the second half with a converted try to evergreen openside Dean Brunsdon to cut the gap to 29-7. A second converted try came soon after, followed by more scoring. But the Axemen held on to win by three points in what could yet be a decisive result for both sides. Wellington have climbed to fifth on the ladder with this, their third win of the season.

Poneke were made to work extremely hard for their win over a plucky Paremata-Plimmerton side at home at Kilbirnie Park. The red and blacks had first use of a stroppy wind but led just 16-7 at halftime. Poneke pulled further ahead early in the second half to make it 24-7 when first five-eighth Greg Mullany crossed the whitewash and then to 31-7. But Paremata-Plimmerton fought hard and were rewarded with a second try midway through the second spell and at no stage did Poneke get away on them. All three of Paremata-Plimmerton’s tries were scored by their loose forwards, the McMillan-Parata brothers and Shane Hedges.

Johnsonville bounced back from a horror defeat at the hands of OBU last week to score a bonus point win over Avalon at Fraser Park. The home side dominated possession, but the Hawks made use of the ball they got and scored ties through new player Roy Kinikinilau at second five-eighth and No. 8 Sean Bridge. Avalon finally replied through No. 8 Daniel Sione but it was too little too late.

Harper Lock Shield Premier Reserve

Six of today’s seven Harper Lock Shield matches were decided by within seven points, the exception being Poneke’s 70-3 win over Paremata-Plimmerton.

Tawa remain unbeaten after five rounds, but were made to work hard by Old Boys University in winning 16-13. Petone and Norths are second equal, after Petone edged HOBM 20-17 and Norths beat Wellington 36-29. MSP beat Wainuiomata 29-24, Ories defeated the Upper Hutt Rams 19-15 and Avalon earned their first win of the season in beating Johnsonville 22-17.

Fleurs Trophy Women’s

Northern United and Ories both banked their second bonus point wins today, with wins over Poneke and Wainuiomata respectively.

Ories retained the Challenge Cup with a 60-0 win over Wainuiomata and Norths beat Poneke 61-0 with fullback Vaine Marsters bagging a hat-trick and wing Lekah Leti scoring two tries.

HOBM beat Tawa 50-0, their first win in the Women’s grade and centre Georgia Daals scored four tries and 44 points in their 111-0 win over Johnsonville.

Avalon had the bye.

First Grade Thompson Memorial

Old Boys University, MSP Avele, Stokes Valley and Petone A are all unbeaten after the first two weeks of First Grade.

Old Boys University earned their second bonus point win with a 34-7 win over Norths, MSP Avele defeated the other MSP side 27-12, Stokes Valley won the Patterson Memorial Trophy off Hutt Old Boys Marist winning 14-0 and Petone B edged Poneke 24-20. In the other match, Petone B overcame Tawa 43-32.

Colts Rugby

The Marist St Pat’s Premiers’ famous winning streak of 42 matches in the late 1970s remains intact, after the OBU Green Colts lost for the first time in 37 matches and in over two full seasons, going down 24-25 to Poneke.

The Poneke Colts played with passion and commitment and upset the OBU Green team with their physicality up front and direct approach, with a few of their ball runners making strong in-roads all match.

Poneke had first use of the wind and their forwards rumbled over with the last act of the first half to put them ahead 17-15 at halftime.

Poneke continued to disrupt OBU throughout the second half and, despite creating several clear chances, OBU couldn’t break through for a try. Poneke lost a man to the sin-bin and OBU’s first five-eighth kicked a penalty to put them ahead 18-17. Poneke replied immediately with a penalty to re-gain the lead, 20-18. OBU kicked another penalty to put them ahead 21-20 with only a few minutes left.

Poneke launched one final assault. OBU kept them out in the corner and again near the posts with a player being held up over the line. Finally, Poneke went wide to their right wing from a scrum and he scored in the corner with the final play of the game.

Elsewhere, last year’s beaten finalists, the Hutt Old Boys Marist Green Colts got on the board with a 16-11 win over Petone Blue and the Upper Hutt Rams made it two wins from two to start their season, beating Ories 27-17. Northern United also earned their second win, beating the Junior Axemen 17-0. MSP beat Wainuiomata 27-12 in the other match.

Colts division 2 results were: Johnsonville 33 - Avalon Wolves 29 Tawa beat Old Boys University White by default, Paremata-Plimmerton beat Rahui by defaultPetone B v Wellington B – Match Cancelled Bye: Old Boys University Black.

U85kg Restricted JC Bowl Division 1 results

Tawa 10 - OBU Onslow Bunnies 3, Eastbourne 34 - Upper Hutt Rams 20, Wellington - 12 Avalon Wolves 0, Marist St Pats Reds beat Kapiti by default. Bye: Poneke

U85kg Restricted Division 2 results

Marist St Pats Green beat OBU Onslow Spartans by default, Wainuiomata 20 - Paremata-Plimmerton 15, Stokes Valley 8 - Hutt Old Boys Marist 7, Johnsonville 15 - Western Suburbs 13

Reserve Grade Results

MSP Internationals 48 - OBU 69’ers 3, Upper Hutt Rams J8’s - 52 OBU Teddy Bears 7, Upper Hutt Rams Thirsty Rams 63 - Poneke Panthers 3, Poneke Ruffnuts 28 - Western Suburbs Mixed Veges 14, Johnsonville Cripples 48 - OBU Righteous Brothers 12, Paremata-Plimmerton 25 - OBU Porters Pink Ginners 16. Bye: Upper Hutt Rams Pirates

College First XV

There were three pre-season college First XV matches played today between Wellington Premier 1 colleges and schools from Auckland, Canterbury and Manawatu.

At St Pat’s Silverstream, visitors St Kent’s of Auckland led St Pat’s Silverstream 13-0 at halftime, pulling clear to win 20-5.

At Wellington College, a First XV trial squad was thrashed 52-19 by Feilding High School. Wellington College were off the pace in all departments and Feilding opened them up three times to lead 21-7 at halftime.

Feilding had the wind in the second half and it didn’t take them long to extend their lead to 31-7 with two more unconverted tries. Wellington College came back a bit, but the Feilding No. 8 scored an intercept try to seal the result and the visitors ran in two soft tries in the last five minutes. Wellington College will be much better for the run.

At Kilbirnie Park, St Pat’s Town enjoyed a very good win over strong South Island school St Bede’s, winning the Father Kane Challenge Cup. St Pat’s led 17-5 at halftime and late 29-10, before St Bede’s closed the score up at the end.