Race for Jubilee Cup spots heats up this weekend in pivotal seventh round

Above: HOBM hooker James O’Reilly scores a try in last week’s 54-49 win for his side over Marist St Pat’s. HOBM and MSP are both in contention to win the Swindale Shield, but it’s what’s happening down the table that could get more interesting this weekend.

With the halfway mark passed the jockeying for the top eight places in the Swindale Shield, and with it Jubilee Cup rugby, begins in earnest. While those at the top end of the table are well on track to do that, those in the middle and lower part have plenty of work in front of them. Week 7 of the competition shapes as particularly pivotal for a number of those sides.

It’s also Petone’s Old Timers’ Day, and the first of the Wellington Rugby Referees Association’s interchange weekends, with referees in from Nelson, Taranaki, North Harbour, and Northland.

Premier Swindale Shield

A week after one top of the table clash, there’s another with second-placed Tawa hosting third-placed Marist St Pat's at Lyndhurst Park. Last year the two fought out what amounted to a final at Kilbirnie Park, with MSP victorious on the day 28-21 despite playing the last 20 minutes with 14 men. There’s not quite the same finality about this one, but for the loser it could make lifting the silverware in a few weeks’ time a proposition relying on others. It took a monster penalty from James So’oialo for Tawa to get the win last week, while MSP found themselves in the bizarre situation of scoring 49 points, yet losing.

Both sets of supporters at Lyndhurst will also be interested in the news from Nairnville Park, where Hutt Old Boys Marist make the foray into the Wellington suburbs to take on Old Boys-University for the Wood Cup. The Eagles attack is in potent form, and they have won 14 of their last 15 games going back to last season. The Goats will have to be at their stubborn best to knock off the competition leaders, and will need to do so while still shorn of their NZ Universities reps and those on the Under 20 tour in Australia. HOBM won this fixture by 33-17 a year ago.

Oriental-Rongotai’s last minute win over Poneke saw them stay fourth and within striking distance of the leading three. They welcome bottom side Paremata-Plimmerton to the Polo Ground, where the visitors will have to do a better job of containing the hosts’ combination of size and speed than they did in their shellacking at the hands of Norths. The Magpies will be very warm favourites to get five points, but will need to overcome their minnowphobia (the loss last year to Johnsonville stands out), while Pare-Plim did win on their last trip to Polo with their Harper Lock win over Ories’ B side last year securing their Hardham Cup place.

Wellington head into the Hutt Valley to face Avalon at Fraser Park. The Wolves broke their points duck in scoring four tries against Upper Hutt, moving off the bottom of the log in doing so and continue to compete and show improvement as they adjust to this level. The Axemen however, can take another large step towards a return to the Jubilee Cup with a win here and will be buoyed after two narrow but well taken wins. The two sides met once last year, in the Hardham Cup with Wellington prevailing by 32-23 in an entertaining clash.

The two other matches in the Hutt Valley carry massive implications for the sides involved. To the south at the Petone Rec old foes Petone and Poneke meet once again, with the FJ Tilyard Memorial Shield at stake. Both sides have seen positive starts to the season evaporate and find themselves outside the top 8. This is likely to be a desperate struggle as the road to even making the Jubilee Cup becomes very difficult for the side that isn’t victorious. Fred Tilyard played for four Poneke title winning teams, a Wellington rep and a 1923 All Black, later a club administrator for 20 years, and one of four brothers; Jimmy was also an All Black, while Harry and Brun were also Wellington reps. Petone are the holders after a 39-18 win in last year’s Swindale Shield.

To the north the Upper Hutt Rams take on Wainuiomata at Maidstone Park. These two are both inside the top 8 at present, unlike Petone and Poneke, but run the risk of being dragged into the dogfight for the last places if they don’t win. Both sides come in off important wins last week, and each have points scoring machines in Jordon Simpson-Hefft and Tyler Tane respectively. They will also contest the Peter Jones/Dave Ritchie Cup, named for former managers of the two sides, and held by the Rams after a 17-13 win at William Jones last year.

The final matchup is up at Porirua Park, where Norths play Johnsonville, with their interclub Barlow Trophy up for grabs. Norths were simply too big for their neighbours Paremata-Plimmerton to handle last weekend and perhaps the giant is slowly awakening. The Hawks again gave Tawa an almighty fright and deserved a draw that So’oialo’s giant penalty denied them. Bert Barlow played on the wing for Johnsonville before moving to Titahi Bay where he was an administrator and coach, and the trophy is held by Norths after their 16-15 win last year.

All Premier matches kickoff at 2.30pm.

Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield

Tawa continue to lead the way, maintaining the same unbeaten record as their senior side and host mid-table MSP in the early match at Lyndhurst. Petone meets Poneke in a top four clash at the Petone Rec, while Norths look to run their streak to six when they host winless Johnsonville at Porirua Park. Wellington face Avalon at Fraser Park, Wainuiomata are at Maidstone against the Upper Hutt Rams, and Ories host the other winless side, Paremata-Plimmerton, at the Polo Ground. The final matchup is at Nairnville between midtable sides OBU and HOBM.
All Premier Reserve matches revert to 12.45pm kickoffs this weekend.

Premier Womens Fleurs Trophy

After a week off the ladies resume this weekend. The round was looked at yesterday on Club Rugby with three matches taking place tonight under lights. Tawa and Norths meet at Lyndhurst, Johnsonville and HOBM are at Alex Moore, and Poneke and Ories on the St Pats Artificial. The final match between Avalon and Wainuiomata is scheduled for tomorrow at Fraser Park with an 11.30am kickoff, but it is yet to be confirmed whether it will go ahead.

Colts Paris Memorial Trophy

All seven U21 matches kickoff at 12.45pm. At Ian Galloway Park there is the rematch of the last two years’ Division 1 final when OBU Green and HOBM meet. Unbeaten sides Norths and Upper Hutt Rams are at home against Johnsonville and Wainuiomata respectively, with one-loss teams Wellington at Fraser Park against Avalon and Petone hosting OBU Black at the Rec. The remaining matches have Tawa and MSP meeting at Redwood Park and Paremata-Plimmerton make the trip to the Polo Ground to face Ories. Poneke has the bye.

First Grade Thompson Memorial Trophy

Like the ladies, the third-tier competition resumes after a weekend off. Leaders after two rounds are Old Boys University, who travel to the Hutt Rec to face Hutt Old Boys Marist at 12.45pm, while also at that time Petone’s ‘A’ squad take on Stokes Valley at the Petone Rec. Two of the three 2.30pm kickoffs are between winless sides; Norths and MSP meet at Porirua Park while Tawa and Poneke clash at Redwood. The final matchup is also at the Petone Rec between two teams that know each other well from past battles in the old Senior 3 grade, the Petone Brotherhood and MSP Avele.

JC Bowl Division 1 Under 85kg Restricted

The four games on the slate start with a 1.30pm kickoff on the St Pats artificial between the MSP Reds and the competition favourite Tawa Titans. Across the road at 2.30pm on Kilbirnie Park Poneke face Avalon, the OBU Bunnies and Upper Hutt Rams met at Prince of Wales, while Eastbourne make the trip to Waikanae Park to take on the Kapiti side. The Wellington Axemen have the bye.

College Rugby

This weekend also sees the start of the competition College Rugby season with grading games across every division, and pleasingly a slight increase in total team numbers in the back of the Premier (open age & weight) grades.

A preview of the Tranzit 1st XV Festival and Premier 1 and 2 1st XV grading groups was published here on Club Rugby on Wednesday.