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Old Boys University Premiers win Club Team of the Year at WRFU awards

Jubilee Cup Premier | 27 October 2015 | Steven White

Above: Referee of the Year Richard Gordon blows fulltime on the Jubilee Cup final and the 2015 Team of the Year, Old Boys University, commence their celebrations.

Last year the Old Boys University Colts won the Club Team of the Year award at the annual end of season Wellington Rugby Football Union awards. The gong remains with the club this year, but in 2015 it’s the club’s Premiers that have won at the WRFU awards.

The Old Boys University Premiers reached the final of the Jubilee Cup for just the second time and on 1 August at Jerry Collins Stadium, and made club history by beating Marist St Pat’s 30-27 to collect the club’s first Wellington Championship title since 1965 when predecessor club University last won.

OBU went undefeated in the Jubilee Cup, after finishing seventh in a tightly contested first round Swindale Shield and after enduring several weeks down on numbers due to national Universities and U20 representative duties. OBU enjoyed two romps in the Swindale Shield, beating Johnsonville 72-13 and Paremata-Plimmerton 79-10. They won 14 of 20 matches overall, scoring 623 points and conceding 410. Joe Hill, Wes Goosen, Adam Hill, Tomasi Palu and Finbarr Kerr-Newell all saw game time with the Wellington Lions.

OBU’s Head Coach, Jeremy Little, also won the Club Coach of the Year award.

In winning the Team of the Year award, the OBU Premiers beat other nominees the Northern United Women who took out the first round Fleurs Trophy and re-gained the championship Victoria Tavern Trophy off Oriental-Rongotai with a 24-22 victory in the final, and the Poneke Ruffnuts who swept all before them in the Reserve Grade competition.

Little was up against Norths women’s coach Matt Poutoa and Tawa U85kg co-coaches David Tye and David Fa’atafa for the Club Coach of the Year award.

OBU also won the Dewar Shield, awarded to the club scoring the highest aggregate of championship points in all grades.

Petone won the Junior Merit Award Trophy, awarded to the club with the highest average aggregate points per game awarded by referees in club matches.

The Petone Premier Reserve team won the A J Griffiths Memorial Trophy, awarded to the team with the highest average aggregate points per game awarded by referees in club matches.
Stokes Valley won the Sir William Perry Memorial Trophy, awarded to the club with the highest average of championship points per team.

Adam Deck (Wellington) and TJ Fermanis (Tawa) were joint winners of the Billy Wallace Best & Fairest award, as decided on a 3, 2 and 1 points basis by newspaper reporters throughout the season. Neither player was involved in the Jubilee Cup final, with the award decided a week early.

Upper Hutt Rams and Wellington Lions wing/fullback Cory Jane won the Wellington Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year, awarded to the most valuable Wellington Lions team player of the year, selected by the Wellington Rugby Supporters Club.

Wainuiomata and Wellington U19 wing/fullback Josh Robertson-Weepu won the Ken Comber Memorial Cup, awarded to the 2015 Wellington Rugby Academy member who best embraces the Academy philosophy.

Petone, New Zealand U20s and Wellington Lions lock/flanker James Blackwell won the Al Keown Memorial Cup, awarded to the best performed player in the 2015 Wellington Rugby Academy.

Northern United and Wellington Lions hooker Leni Apisai who collected Blackwell’s award last year, won the Most Promising Player of the Year Award at this season’s awards.

Apisai made eight starts and one off the bench for the Lions this year and impressed with his high work-rate, abrasive play and developing ball playing skills. With a big future ahead of him, Apisai is still available for the New Zealand U20s in 2016.

Wainuiomata and Wellington Pride co-captain and No. 8 Jackie Patea was the Women’s Player of the Year. Patea, in her first campaign playing at the back of the scrum was a mainstay of fantastic Pride season.

After an outstanding season which saw them reach the Women’s Provincial Championship final for the first time since 2011, the Wellington Pride was named the Representative Team of the Year.

Pride coach, James Porter, was also congratulated for his influence on the team’s success, taking out the Bill Freeman Memorial Trophy Representative Coach of the Year award over fellow nominees Earl Va’a (Wellington Lions), and Justin Wilson (Wellington U16A).

Wellington Lions stand-out loose forward, and stand-in captain, Ardie Savea, came away with the Player of the Year award after having a superb season with the ITM Cup Championship runners-up. Savea’s outstanding and consistent performances saw him edge out fellow loose forward, Vaea Fifita, and first five-eighth Jonny Bentley.

Wellington Rugby this year introduced awards for both the men’s and women’s Sevens Player of the Year, with those awards going to Hayden Schrijvers and Kat Whata-Simpkins, respectively. Both were in action last weekend in Australia, Schrijvers as captain of the Wellington Men’s team and Whata-Simpkins as part of the New Zealand Women’s Development side.

Richard Gordon, who controlled the Jubilee Cup final between OBU and MSP, was the Referee of the Year.

Vio Ugone & Tania Karaitiana (Stokes Valley) jointly won the WRFU Volunteer of the Year award. Tammy Ferreira (Petone) and John Sheehan (Hutt Old Boys Marist) were the two other nominees.