Top Start For Tawa In Hardham Cup

Tawa's terrific start to the second round was the talk of the Hardham Cup last weekend, with a convincing 48-12 first-up win over defending champions Wainuiomata away at William Jones Park. In doing so, Tawa crossed the tryline eight times, with dangerous backs Shaun Treeby and Jon Masaga each scoring twice as they reversed their 12-21 loss to the Wainuomata in the just completed Swindale Shield.

Tawa have a great chance to get their 2008 Hardham Cup season off to a flyer over the next fortnight when they return home this week to face Marist St. Pat's B and then clash with Johnsonville in round three. Unless they encounter diabolical conditions or they suffer a dramatic loss of form, their supporters will hope they win these two clashes by maximum bonus point margins and thus start to eye up a leading qualifying place in the playoffs in early August.

It's a similar scenario for the Wests Roosters who meet Johnsonville this week at Helston Park and then Northern United B the following Saturday in the third round, although they were held to three tries and thus no bonus point in their opening 25-5 win over Avalon. In this match the Roosters will meet a desperate Johnsonville after the boys in blue failed to account for MSP last Saturday. Johnsonville stumbled to a 12-31 loss that has really put their 2009 Swindale Shield aspirations on the back foot after also losing their first round match last year to Poneke and missing out on promotion. However Johnsonville have a history of passionate encounters against their near-neighbours Wests and they lost to them by just a solitary point in both of their last two clashes, 18-17 in the 2006 Swindale Shield and 27-26 in the Hardham Cup that followed.

In other round two Hardham Cup matches, Avalon have the chance to record their first win of the season against the Norths second team at Porirua Park and Wainuiomata travel to Maoribank Park to play Rimutaka.