Traditional Foes Petone and Poneke to Square Off In Sixth Round

One of the oldest club rivalries in New Zealand club rugby resumes this week with Petone and Poneke squaring off at the Petone Recreation Ground for the F J Tilyard Memorial Shield on Petone's Old Timers Day.

This will be their tenth clash in the last five years and their head to head results couldn't be closer. In that time Poneke have won five of their clashes to Petone's four.? Last year the two teams shared a win apiece, Petone winning 31-15 in the Swindale Shield and Poneke prevailing 17-6 in round two of the Jubilee Cup. Additionally, in 2005 these two sides played out one of the epic Jubilee Cup semi-finals, Petone winning 19-17 on the stroke of fulltime thanks to hooker Eugene Smith's last-gasp tighthead scrum win and a sideline conversion to then first five-eighth Earl Va'a.

Smith is back this year as captain and leads a Petone side coming nicely into form against the red and black visitors who have yet to drop a game. Following an inauspicious start the Villagers seem to be warming up courtesy of wins over Upper Hutt (49-7) and Marist St. Pat's (22-8) in the last fortnight. This could be Poneke's sternest test so far, where a win will confirm their title credentials and put them on a collision course for a possible first round title decider with Norths in Kilbirnie in round eight.??

The Swindale Shield passes its halfway point this weekend, and with it the battle for spots in the Jubilee Cup intensifies. The middle of the points table is finely balanced, with a four point split between sixth placed Tawa and ninth placed Avalon and the bottom three just a win away from eighth placed Wests Roosters.

As such, much interest will also centre on the Roosters clash with Oriental-Rongotai at Ian Galloway Park and on Avalon's battle with Hutt Old Boys Marist at the Hutt Recreation Ground. Both Wests and Ories will meet at "The Cage" coming off tight fifth round losses, Wests 3-12 to Poneke and Ories 5-11 to Avalon, while Avalon will be seeking to spark their season against their well-performing Hutt neighbours.

In other games, Old Boys University have a Basin Reserve meeting with Tawa, Wainuiomata travels to Evans Bay Park to play MSP, while Upper Hutt will have to be at their best to topple an increasingly ominous Northern United on their Old Timers Day at Porirua Park.

Meanwhile, the clash of the round this week in the Senior One Harper Lock Shield is undoubtedly between frontrunners Johnsonville and Old Boys-University. Both sides are unbeaten, but Johnsonville lead the table with two extra bonus points.??