Club Rugby by the Numbers

Above: Mike Lealava'a scores one of the 656 tries in last year's Swindale Shield competition, for Wainuiomata against Petone. 

The 2017 Wellington club rugby season kicks off this coming Saturday. The season starts with the opening round of the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield competitions in Upper Hutt. See below for our pre-season ‘stat attack’.

87 – The number of Jubilee Cups contested. First won in 1929 by University (a forerunner to Old Boys University).

13 - Different clubs to have won the first round Swindale Shield since 1969, with OBU last year the most recent first time winner.

39 – The amount of interclub trophies contested in Premier rugby in matches in the first round.

81 – Years the famous McBain Shield between Petone and (now) Hutt Old Boys Marist has been contested. The first one played for in 1935. The two sides meet this year in Round 10.

26 - The known single season record for most tries scored in a Premier season – by Michael Knight for the Wellington Axemen in 1970. Knight was the National junior 100 years titleholder in 1964 with a dash of 10.4 seconds.

6 – The most tries in a single Wellington Premier club rugby match (in the modern era), by Mike Kingsbeer for Marist St Pat’s against Wainuiomata in 2009 and also by Sosi Tuimavavae for Poneke against Rimutaka in 2013.

286 - The most points in a single season of Wellington Premier club rugby by an individual, by Hutt Old Boys Marist’s Brandyn Laursen in 2013.

127 - The biggest wining margin (known) in Wellington Premier club rugby, when Hutt Old Boys Marist defeated Rimutaka 127-0 in 2013.

52 – The Most points by an individual in a Wellington Premier club rugby match, by Brandyn Laursen for HOBM against Rimutaka in 2013 (see above).

145 – The most combined points scored by both sides in a Wellington Premier club rugby match, when Northern United beat the Wests Roosters 98-47 in 2013.

620 – The number of points that the famous Petone team scored in their record breaking 1973 season (conceding just 106), winning all 18 matches.

546 - The Most points scored by one team in a single Swindale Shield season (in 11 matches), by Northern United in 2010. Norths amassed 53 competition points out of a possible 55.

800 – The number of points that Johnsonville conceded in 13 matches in last year’s first round Swindale Shield competition. This wasn’t the most ever, that’s 896 by Rimutaka in 2013.

656 – The total number of tries scored in last year’s Swindale Shield competition, at an average of 7.2 tries per match.

18 – The number of tries scored by Buxton Popoalii in 11 matches in the 2010 Swindale Shield, a first round record. James So’oialo also scored 206 points, a first round points scoring record.

41 – The hottest winning streak by a Wellington Premier side, by Marist St Pat’s. MSP won all 20 games in 1979 and were heading for another unbeaten season in 1980 but were lowered by Petone in the final.

13 – Out of 15 players from the Poneke club that made up the Wellington representative team in 1889.

147 - Continuous years the Wellington Football Club has been in existence. Founded in 1870, it is the oldest playing through club in New Zealand.

37 – As in 37-0 (three point tries), the heaviest defeat in the first match of a new season by the defending champion, when University beat Jubilee Cup holders Poneke in the season opener in 1952. University went on to win the first of three consecutive titles later in the season.

3 – The number of weeks that Onslow’s supporters had to wait to win their historic maiden Jubilee Cup title in 1955. Club rugby was put on hold for three weeks for the representative season, before Onslow could play and beat Athletic and win the title.

11 – As in 11-9, the score in perhaps the most famous Jubilee Cup final upset of them all, when Poneke beat Petone to win the championship in 1975, for the first time since 1951.

101 – The number of years between drinks between Oriental first winning the club championship in 1910 and winning it again as Oriental-Rongotai in 2011.

66 – The number of years it took before Tawa was formed to it winning its first major Premier grade silverware in 2013. The wait was worth it, their side wining the Swindale-Jubilee double and also winning several big interclub trophies.

14 – The number of times that Marist St Pat’s have won the Jubilee Cup since formation in 1971.

12 – Years since Petone last won the Jubilee Cup, after winning it or the Senior Championship (up to 1928) 38 times in total starting in 1895.

5 – The clubs that have yet to win their maiden Jubilee Cup title - Johnsonville, Avalon, Paremata-Plimmerton, Wainuiomata and the Upper Hutt Rams.

122 - There are this many Premier matches coming up over the next five months of the Wellington club rugby season; 91 Swindale Shield contests and 31 Jubilee Cup battles.

4 – The number of clubs to have won the first round Swindale Shield in the past four seasons – Tawa in 2013, MSP in 2014, HOBM in 2015 and OBU in 2016.

22 – The number of Premier club rugby rounds coming up over the next 21 weeks – starting this coming Saturday at 2.45pm with games at Awakairangi Park and Maoribank Park.