Wellington club rugby lower Grade round-up 31 July/1 August

Whilst the Premier, Premier 2 and Women’s grades reached their exciting conclusions for 2015 at Porirua Park on Saturday afternoon, there was plenty of other lower grade rugby being played to get fans horny.

Semi-finals will be played next weekend in the Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup and HD Morgan Memorial Trophy and the Paris Memorial Trophy Colts competitions, with the First Grade Johnsonville Centennium Cup, and both U85kg Restricted and Reserve grades heading into the playoff zone over the following weeks.

The fourth final played on Saturday was the Senior Women’s Final at William Jones Park, which saw Wainuiomata defeat Poneke 49-0.

Next week’s Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup semi-finals are scheduled to be played at the Hutt Recreation Ground and Nairnville Park.

The Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles’ second fifteen will host their Marist St Pat’s counterparts in one Ed Chaney Cup semi-final, while Old Boys University will host Poneke in the other.

HOBM donned the top qualifier’s hat with a 57-5 last round win on Saturday against Northern United, while the back-up Goats had a hard-fought 22-12 win over HD Morgan side the Upper Hutt Rams. Last year’s beaten finalists Poneke took control of their match against the Wellington Axemen, winning 46-15, and MSP defeated the Avalon Wolves 54-12.

Oriental-Rongotai will host Johnsonville at the Polo Ground and Wainuiomata will host the Upper Hutt Rams in the two HD Morgan semi-finals this coming Saturday.

Needing to win in the last round to make sure of qualifying first against Wainuiomata, Ories overcame Johnsonville 17-9 on Friday night. Wainuiomata sealed second with a 36-12 win over Wainuiomata.

Three time defending champions Old Boys University Green rose to the top of the Paris Memorial Trophy Colts Division 1 standings at the end of the 14-match round-robin series.

OBU Green will host Hutt Old Boys Marist in one Colts semi-final this coming weekend, in a replay of last year’s final,while the second placed Upper Hutt Rams and third placed Norths will play in the other at Maidstone Park.

Over the past weekend, OBU Green beat Wellington 25-3, the Upper Hutt Rams beat Johnsonville 34-3, Norths beat Wainuiomata by default and HOBM Green held fourth place with their bye.

Having defeated HOBM 28-27 earlier in the round, Poneke had the chance to draw level on points with the Junior Eagles and take the fourth playoff place, but, needing a bonus point win, they fell 10-13 to Marist St Pat’s.

Petone got up to finish fifth with their last round 23-21 win over Ories, while at the bottom end of the table, the Avalon Wolves saved their best until last by defeating Paremata-Plimmerton Colts 32-26.

The Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians continue to lead the First Grade Johnsonville Centennium Cup with two rounds to go before the semi-finals.

The Barbarians didn’t have to leave their clubrooms to collect maximum points, defaulted to by MSP Avele. Old Boys University hold second after beating MSP A 38-17, whilst first round champions the Petone Brotherhood got the speed wobbles again, held to a 12-12 draw by Stokes Valley. Norths beat Tawa by default and the Petone Saxons beat Poneke by default in the round’s other scheduled fixtures.

There’s two weeks to play before the Paul Potiki Shield U85kg Division 1 semi-finals, with the Poneke Cavs out in front and unbeaten after six matches.

The Poneke Cavs defeated the Wellington Axemen 13-7 on Saturday, while the Onslow OBU Bunnies beat the Avalon Wolves 29-10, first round winners the Tawa Titans beating Eastbourne 22-3 and Johnsonville overcoming the MSP Reds 18-10. The HOBM Howlers had the bye.

The Cavs, the Bunnies and the Titans have all qualified for the Paul Potiki Shield semi-finals, with the HOBM Howlers, the Avalon Wolves and the Wellington Light Axemen set to battle it out for the fourth spot.

Stokes Valley have qualified top for the U85kg Division 2 Tony O’Brien Shield with a fortnight to spare, winning their seventh straight game when they were defaulted to by the Kapiti Colts. The Wests Roosters are second after defeating Wainuiomata 29-3.

One of the Poneke Ruffnuts’ backs recently proclaimed their scrum is an immovable wall. They weren’t going anywhere on Saturday, defaulted to by the MSP Internationals. The Ruffnuts remain at the top of the Reserve Grade table, ahead of second placed Wests Mixed Veges, who pipped the Upper Hutt Thirsty Rams 20-19. The Johnsonville Cripples defeated the Upper Hutt J8’s 31-19 in the other weekend’s other Reserve Grade fixture.