Close start to season set to continue in third round

Update: There are two radio commentaries bringing the action to you tomorrow if you can't make it to any of the games or if you want to hear what's going on elsewhere. The Saturday Rugby Club (Radio Sport on 1503AM) is carrying the Petone v Avalon match, plus around the grounds updates, and Te Upoko o Te Ika (1161AM and online at tunein.com) is commentating Wainuiomata v Poneke.

The expanded 13-match round-robin Swindale Shield competition is just a season old, so it’s hard to determine how many wins teams will need to finish inside the top eight and qualify for the coveted Jubilee Cup later in the season.

Last year Poneke and the Upper Hutt Rams tied for the last spot in seventh place on 38 points, with Poneke finishing with a 7/6 win/loss record and the Rams with a 7/5/1 win/loss/draw record. Northern United finished ninth with 36 points and missed the cut but they also had a 7/6 record.

So, based on 2016, the minimum number of wins for teams to earn to qualify for the Jubilee Cup is seven, making this weekend’s third round an important one for those five sides that have yet to join the winner’s circle after the opening fortnight.

If Hutt Old Boys Marist, Avalon, Paremata-Plimmerton, Poneke and defending Jubilee Cup champions Tawa go 0/3 tomorrow afternoon they could be left needing to win at least 7/10 of their remaining games to make the top eight.

Of those sides, Paremata-Plimmerton and Hutt Old Boys Marist meet each other, so barring a draw, one will get on the board, while Tawa, Poneke and Avalon all face tough week three assignments.

Both home side Paremata-Plimmerton and HOBM have lost close contests in their two opening matches. After holding Oriental-Rongotai to 13-13, Paremata-Plimmerton fans saw the Magpies get away on them first up, before seeing their side go down 25-19 to Johnsonville in a match they had control of throughout most of the first half. Similarly, the Eagles were run down 23-33 by the Upper Hutt Rams and then edged by Wainuiomata 26-31. HOBM will face a lighter pack in Paremata-Plimmerton, but a side no less competitive in the open exchanges. The two sides met three times last year, most recently in the Hardham Cup semi-finals, with HOBM winning by a combined score of 138-15 and keeping the Paremata-Plimmerton tryless.

An injury hit Eagles forward pack welcomes back Ben Power this week to hooker, following a three-week stand-down after being concussed at the NZ U20 trials, while double centurion Polonga Pedro again starts at lock. Paremata-Plimmerton have made one change from the team that met Johnsonville last week, with Teina Puati coming in at second five-eighth for Asafo Faamafo. 

Last year Tawa lost their first three second round matches and went on to be crowned Jubilee Cup champions. The side led by hooker Matt Treeby in his 100th game will be eager to take down Oriental-Rongotai in the Magpies’ first home match of the year at the Polo Ground. Tawa will be targeting set-piece improvement against the Whetu Henry-led Ories after struggling there in their opening two losses to big guns Marist St Pat’s (13-31) and Old Boys University (28-45). In contrast, Ories have won their opening two clashes with bonus points, against Paremata-Plimmerton and Avalon (30-22) but their supporters will see this as a tougher challenge than against last year’s Hardham Cup sides.

Last year Ories beat Tawa twice, 25-12 in the first round and then 30-22 in the Jubilee Cup clash. This will also be the first home match for Ories since the passing of their No.1 Polo Ground fan, Bobby Gates, last October.

With Randall Bishop out with a broken leg, James So’oialo drops from 10 to fullback for Tawa, while halfback Kemara Hauiti-Parapara and prop Tolu Fahamokioa are away with the Hurricanes Typhoons. First five-eighth Luke Cummings and prop Hendrix Puleaga-Feite will be making their first Premier starts for Tawa.

It won’t be panic stations for Poneke’s supporters if they lose their third straight match to start 2017 to Wainuiomata at William Jones Park, but they know they need a win to kick-start their season ahead of a run of three consecutive home games to come.

This is for the Hakaraia Trophy, which honours both Paul Hakaraia, who was associated with both clubs, and his son Peter who died in a diving accident a decade ago in 2007. Poneke are the holders, having pipped Wainuiomata 28-26 in this first round clash last year. Wainuiomata then beat Poneke 16-14 in their return match in the Jubilee Cup.

Both teams have made changes at first five-eighth, with Michael Lealava’a moving in to 10 for Wainuiomata and Hilton Gibbons making his first start for Poneke there. Poneke centre Levi Harmon returns to start after playing in the recent Borneo Sevens, while Greg Foe is heading to Hong Kong to play in their 10s tournament. Poneke players Isaia Leaware-Walker and Toa Halafihi are with the Hurricanes Development side in Auckland. For Wainuiomata, Attila Va’a comes in at prop and the versatile Henry Smith moves into hooker.

Across the hill, Old Timers’ Day comes early to the Village this year, and home side Petone could be boosted by a healthy crowd for their opening home match of the year against Avalon following their win over Marist St Pat’s last week.

Petone and the Wolves will be playing for both the Bill Brien Challenge Shield and the Morgan Family Trophy. Petone won the Bill Brien off MSP last weekend, winning 24-20, while Avalon fell to their second successive close loss to start their 2017 campaign, losing to Ories 22-30. Last year this game was a low scoring slugfest, with Avalon scoring the only try in an 8-6 win. Petone won their second round meeting 31-26.

Petone welcome back previously injured captain Mateaki Kafatolu to start at blindside flanker, Jared Kahu is on the bench, while newly minted Samoa U20s player Losi Filipo slots in on the left wing. For Avalon, Cameron Cross and Thomas Kiwara switch places at 10 and 15, while Corey Blake makes his first start of the season at lock and Solomon Tuiano comes into tighthead prop for last week’s double try-scorer Tommy Ma'atusi Sione.

The Morgan Family trophy was established 30 years ago, in 1987, donated by cousins John and Trevor Morgan. Trevor's father, Ray Morgan played Senior A, coached Senior B, and was also the club treasurer. Ray was also the secretary/treasurer of the NZRU. John Morgan played age group rugby for Petone in the 1970s. Through his wife Lauren, he joined the Taita club, where he became treasurer and was on the committee that amalgamated to form the Avalon club in 1980. Trevor represented Wellington between 1971-75. He was also Player-Coach of the Avalon Senior As in the club's early years.

Elsewhere, there are three matches in WCC ratepayer-fleeced environs, one in Khandallah, one in Hataitai and one in Kilbirnie.

At Nairnville Park, the OBU Goats host nearby Johnsonville, who will travel up Burma Road with some confidence after beating Paremata-Plimmerton 25-19 in round two. But the Hawks took a long time to get going and they know if they want to swoop on the Goats they will need to be on-song from the opening whistle. OBU’s pack is climbing into its work already and their tight five looks solid, especially with NZ Schools prop Tim Farrell on the bench tomorrow. Look out for the Hawks’ starting loose forward trio of flankers Marcus Ale and Siaosi Mafi and No. 8 Kane Thompson, while American prop Mason Briant returns and makes his first start of the year. Backs Frankie Byrant and Dane Robertson are out with the flu, but Jeff Makapelu is a proven handful in the midfield and Levi Kemp starts at first five-eighth to face his former OBU teammates.

The Goats won this fixture at this same venue 72-13 in 2015 and prevailed again 64-5 last year at Helston – scoring 19 tries combined in these two outings. Going back over the previous decade, the teams didn’t play each other in the Swindale Shield for six occasions owing to Johnsonville being relegated those years, so the last time Johnsonville beat OBU in the first round was in 2005, winning 14-10.

Last year, Northern United started the Swindale Shield with a hiss and a roar, winning their first two matches, but ultimately missed out on the Jubilee Cup (see above). So their current players know first-hand the club season is a marathon not a sprint. But they also know that a win against the Wellington Axemen at Hataitai Park could be big for them. Next week they return home to host Johnsonville and if they were to win that too then they’ll be halfway there ahead of some big games coming up. Ricoh Black Rams Japanese fullback Takahiro Nakawaza starts for Norths, while Mike Ioapo continues his transition from both a tighthead and loosehead prop to make his second start at No. 8.

While Norths have started with two wins, over big traditional clubs Petone and Poneke, the Axemen have had a win and a loss. They defeated Johnsonville 37-27 before conceding 50 points to the Upper Hutt Rams at Maidstone. This could be a crucial test for them in their first home match of the year.

The Axemen welcome back captain Sam Gard’ner to No.8 after missing last week’s loss, while Penijamini Nabainivalu starts in their midfield for the first time this season after coming off the bench against the Rams. Promising halfback Callum Harkin gets his first start, with Jamie Hargreaves having made a midweek move down to Poneke.

Last but certainly not least, the clash down on the flat at Evans Bay Park between home team Marist St Pat’s and the Upper Hutt Rams could be the most intriguing of all from a competition fans’ perspective.

After emphatically beating Jubilee Cup champions Tawa 31-13 in round one, MSP stumbled in their home opener against Petone. The Rams’ opening 25 minutes of the season was forgettable, but they turned around a 3-17 deficit to beat HOBM 33-22 and then they smoked the Axemen 50-24.

Upper Hutt's travelling faithful won’t want reminding of this, but their side hasn’t beaten MSP in 24 matches, going back to 2002.

Upper Hutt’s last Swindale Shield or Jubilee Cup win over MSP was in May 2002 when they won 29-19 at Maidstone Park. The closest Upper Hutt have got to MSP in this time has been a pair of one-point losses in 2005 and 2007. Last year MSP won 29-17 and 49-19, the latter Jubilee Cup encounter at this same venue that saw MSP hooker Valentine Meachen bag a brace of tries.

Most attention in this game will likely fall on the loose forward match-ups, with Rams openside Mitch Markov declared fit after a shoulder scare to line up alongside last week’s Player of the Match Sam Wasley and energiser man Dan Schrijvers. For MSP, Issac O’Connor takes his accustomed spot at openside, with the in-form James Tuia at six and former NZ U20s No. 8 Matt Peni complementing this pair. The battle between halfbacks Peter Sciascia (MSP) and Hayden Schrijvers (Rams) will be a keen one, while loosehead props Vince Sakaria (MSP) and Apa Heemi (Rams) could also be key for their sides in this one.

Harper Lock Shield

It’s also the third round of the Harper Lock Shield Premier Reserve competition, with all games at 1.00pm matching the corresponding Premier ones that follow.

It’s been a closely contested second XV competition so far, with just two teams unbeaten, two winless and nine in between with a win and a loss beside their name.

Hutt Old Boys Marist and Norths are the two teams with two wins from two. HOBM are coming off two close wins against the Rams and Wainuiomata and play the early game at Ngatitoa against Paremata-Plimmerton who earned a comeback win over Johnsonville in round two.

Norths face one of the winless sides, Wellington, after pipping Petone 19-17 and Poneke 17-13 in the opening fortnight.

Colts

The inaugural Colts knockout competition starts this Saturday and runs for three weeks before the start of the two-round season proper.

The knockout competition is being run in two divisions. Teams are:

Division One: OBU Green, Tawa, Marist St Pat’s Red, Poneke, Upper Hutt Rams, Northern United
Wellington, Oriental-Rongotai

Division Two: Avalon, Johnsonville, Wainuiomata, Paremata-Plimmerton, Petone, Hutt Old Boys Marist, Kapiti, OBU Black (Marist St Pat’s B will join the competition at the completion of the knockout competition.)

The draw for the first weekend of Colts matches is (all games at 1.00pm):

• Division One: Poneke v MSP Red (Kilbirnie 1); Wellington v OBU Green (Kilbirnie 3); Upper Hutt Rams v Northern United (Maidstone 1); Ories v Tawa (Polo 2)
• Division Two: Johnsonville v HOBM Green (Helston); Paremata-Plimmerton v Wainuiomata (Ngati Toa); Kapiti v OBU Black (TBC); Petone v Avalon Wolves (Petone 2)