Semi-finalists decided in explosive last round

Above: Action from today’s top-of-the-table U85kg Division One clash between the Tawa Titans and the OBU Onslow Bunnies. The Titans won a ding-dong clash 16-0 to register their 12th straight win of the season.

UPDATED: In a repeat of today’s last round set of Jubilee Cup matches, top qualifier Old Boys University will host Oriental-Rongotai at the Basin Reserve and second placed Marist St Pat’s will host Tawa at Evans Bay Park in next week’s Wellington club rugby championship semi-finals.

In the Hardham Cup playoffs, top qualifier Johnsonville will play Poneke at Helston Park and second placed the Upper Hutt Rams will welcome Avalon on to Maidstone Park.

In the Victoria Tavern Women’s semi-finals next Saturday, second placed Norths will play third placed Old Boys University at Porirua Park and top qualifiers Ories will do battle with fourth placed Avalon Wolves at the Polo Ground.

The Old Boys University Billy Goats completed the 2015 Jubilee Cup round-robin unbeaten and were awarded the Andy Leslie Trophy after defeating Ories 21-13 today at the Basin.

MSP got up to finish second and claim the all-important second home semi-final spot with a 44-38 win over Tawa.

In other Jubilee Cup matches, first round Swindale Shield champions Hutt Old Boys Marist finally had something to cheer about in the second round, beating the Wellington Axemen 37-21 at home, and Petone beat Wainuiomata 29-28 in an exciting fixture at the Petone Rec.

With Johnsonville and the Upper Hutt Rams already assured of home semi-finals heading into the last round, three teams, Avalon, Northern United and Poneke, were vying for the other two spots.

As expected, Poneke beat Tawa’s second fifteen with a bonus point, 71-8, meaning that the winner of the Norths and Avalon clash would also qualify and the loser would be heading to the beach a week early. In the end Avalon were far too strong, winning 46-22.

Meanwhile, Johnsonville warmed up for their home semi-final with a comfortable 48-0 win over Paremata-Plimmerton and the Upper Hutt Rams did likewise with a 42-12 victory over Petone’s B side.

In the women’s matches, clinched their fourth straight win of the second round by beating the OBU Impalas 29-5 and Northern United retained the Challenge Cup for the year with a 55-0 win over the Avalon Wolves. Norths won 11 tries to nil win over Avalon. Brenda Collins scored four tries and Leka Leti crossed for three.

In the two Senior Women’s fixtures, Wainuiomata defeated Poneke 48-0 and Tawa over-ran Johnsonville 73-0.

In some Jubilee Cup summaries from today, top qualifier OBU came back from a 13-0 deficit to beat Ories. First five-eighth James Proctor scored all the game’s early points, including a try, before OBU halfback Luke Campbell put his side on the board with a try. Dutch international Hugh van Vliet crossed to put them in front and his compatriot Alex Barendregt scored their third converted try.

MSP pulled clear to beat Tawa over the final 10 minutes, which also coincided with Tawa midfielder Tu Umaga-Marshall being sinbinned.

After conceding a 7-21 halftime lead, Tawa came back in the second half to shadow MSP and Tawa led 21-28 with the clock winding down. MSP pivot Fa’atonu Fili kicked a penalty to make it 31-31 and then they raced clear to lead 44-31. Tawa came back with a consolation try at the end. For Tawa, both left wing Ross Taurima and No. 8 Ata Fa’amau scored hat-tricks.

Petone and Wainuiomata fought out another exceptionally close contest, with fullback Sam McNichol scoring 24 of Petone’s 29 points and Wainuiomata left wing Michael Lealava’a scoring two tries as part of a storming game. Petone led 18-14 at halftime, which included midfielder Nick Grigg scoring his 40th Premier try and his last before heading to Scotland to join the Glasgow Warriors. Two of Petone’s tries came off Wainuiomata mistakes, but the latter still finished the season as the top ranked Hutt Valley club.

Hutt Old Boys Marist put on a burst of scoring just before halftime, which was the difference in their clash against the Wellington Axemen. Ahead by 13-9 with the interval approaching, halfback Sheridan Rangihuna and first five-eighth Johnny Bentley each scored quickfire tries to push them out to a 27-9 lead. The second half opened up a fair bit, but the Eagles did enough to win well in the end. Rangihuna finished with 20 points.

In some Hardham Cup summaries, Poneke travel to Johnsonville next Saturday after sweeping Tawa's Premier Reserve team aside at Kilbirnie Park with a 12 tries to one result.

Wisely benching their industrious Captain Joe Scheres as well as their usual back playmaker Greg Mullany - the red and black machine didn't lose any potency or leadership with loosie Galu Taufale returning from injury (hamstring) and Pakai Turia running the backline.

Tawa will no doubt see the silver lining of having their Reserves in Premier competition tier - exposing their younger squad to a high quality rugby calibre over the second round. Their first five Vetelino Logie and fullback Derek Lealifano showing good wares in their player arsenal through deft touches of the ball with both hand and foot.

Poneke rake Kelvin Harper had a busy day with a very high conversion rate at line out and scrum, alongside usual work horses Ray Treviranus and Galu Taufale - each setting the platform to enable space and time for their backs to run amok and dot down frequently.

Avalon were far to clinical for a flat Norths at Porirua Park, racing to a 27-3 lead at halftime on the back of three tries, two from attacking lineouts and one from a scrum 60 metres out, a dropped goal and two penalties. Norths also played the last 10 minutes of the first half with a tight forward in the sin-bin.

Norths lifted their game in the second half, and briefly threatened a stirring comeback, scoring three tries themselves, including a double to their left wing three-quarter with two spectacular dives in the corner.

But Avalon kept their noses ahead through three more Cameron Cross penalties and then sealed their win with two well-deserved tries at the end, both run in from long-range.

Johnsonville outscored Paremata-Plimmerton six tries to nil, with Tiwi Davies scoring a hat-trick and 31 points overall and Roy Kinikinilau scoring an obligatory try, his 16th of the season. The Hawks led 20-0 at the halftime turnaround. 

The Upper Hutt Rams laid on five tries against Petone B, with flanker Mitchell Markov scoring a brace and Joyner Key scoring a try and scoring 22 points. The Rams led 14-12 at halftime, but scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.

Possibly the biggest result of the day today in the Premier Reserve competition was Oriental-Rongotai’s 24-18 win over Old Boys-University in their cross-over match. It was OBU’s first defeat of the Ed Chaney Cup round, while Ories are at the head of the HD Morgan Memorial section standings.

In other Premier Reserve results, Hutt Old Boys Marist accounted for the Wellington Axemen 46-5 in their Ed Chaney Cup match, Poneke bounced back from two consecutive defeats to beat the Upper Hutt Rams 33-19, MSP beat Norths 22-10, Wainuiomata defeated Avalon 51-19 and Johnsonville edged Paremata-Plimmerton 17-15 in the closest result of the day.

The Petone Brotherhood maintained their grip on the First Grade Johnsonville Centennium Cup standings without leaving their clubrooms. The Brotherhood won their match against MSP by default. The second placed Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians stayed at home too, defaulted to by Tawa.

In First Grade fixtures that took place today, the Petone Saxons beat Norths 26-10, Poneke beat OBU 17-11 and Stokes Valley accounted for MSP Avele 26-0.

Defending champions Old Boys University Green have hit the lead in the U21 Paris Memorial Trophy standings after the 15th round today.

OBU Green defeated Petone Blue 16-0, while previous leaders Northern United had their bye. The Upper Hutt Rams are steady in third after beating Tawa 42-8, ahead of fourth placed Hutt Old Boys Green who beat the Wellington Junior Axemen 32-15. The closest Colts result of the day was MSP’s 16-15 win over Ories.

The Paul Potiki U85kg Division 1 competition was tight today, with the Tawa Titans and the Poneke Cavs both emerging unbeaten after the fifth round.

The Titans saw off a stern challenge by the OBU Onslow Bunnies, leading 9-0 late in the contest before breaking the shackles with a converted try in the dying minutes to get the Lyndhurst Park resident ducks quacking. Poneke edged Johsonville 22-17 in their match to also register their fourth win of the second round. In the other matches, Wellington beat the Avalon Wolves 13-12 in a minor upset and Eastbourne pipped Hutt Old Boys Marist 15-14.

In the U85kg Division 2 Tony O’Brien Shield competition, Stokes Valley made it five from five to head the standings with a 24-9 win over the Wests Roosters in their top-of-the-table meeting.

There was just the one match today in the WelTec First XV Premiership, with Tawa College defeating Wairarapa College 5-0.

The remainder of the final round of matches will be played on Wednesday when the St Pat’s Silverstream and St Pat’s Town sides square off in their Traditional.

The top six for next weekend’s quarter-finals has been decided, with the two St Pat’s colleges, Scots College, Wellington College, Rongotai College and Wairarapa College included.