This week in club rugby history – 26 June – 2 July

Above: Petone celebrates their 19-13 win over Northern United in the Jubilee Cup this week in 2007.

In association with Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond Street in Wellington, some highlights from this week in Wellington club rugby history are below.

26 June

2010: Hutt Old Boys Marist's Matt and Alexis Time each score decisive second half tries as part of the club’s centenary weekend 22-15 victory over 100-year old rivals Petone. The Time’s tries make the difference as the home side fight back from a 10-15 deficit early in the second half to draw level and then score the winning try several minutes from fulltime.

27 June

1987: MSP clean out Petone 31-13 in today’s Swindale Shield ‘final’, winning four tries to two. Former All White soccer player Grant Turner plays for Hutt Valley Marist on the wing and helps beat Western Suburbs 10-3 and make the Jubilee Cup round.

1998: Western Suburbs open up a 7-point lead at the top of the table with two rounds to play before the semi-finals. Young loosie Rodney So’oialo comes off the bench and scores two second half tries to give the Roosters a 31-20 come-from-behind win over Petone.

2008: Upper Hutt upset Northern United 24-18 at Porirua Park in a thrilling round of Jubilee Cup matches played around Wellington, in which three of the four games played go down to the wire. These close matches also include a last-gasp 23-22 win for Old Boys-University over Hutt Old Boys Marist at the Basin Reserve and a gritty 15-11 victory for Marist St. Pat's over Poneke at Evans Bay Park.

2015: On their Old Timers’ Day at the Basin Reserve, Old Boys-University wins their fourth straight Jubilee Cup match to take an outright lead at the top of the standings and take a significant step towards booking their semi-final place. OBU pull clear of Marist St Pat’s in the second half to win 29-20 and become the only unbeaten side, after Tawa are pipped on fulltime by Petone 31-30 in their match at Lyndhurst Park.

28 June

1963: Marist Brothers Old Boys will win or share the second of three straight Jubilee Cups this season, under the captaincy of Mick Horan and coaching of Frank Ryan and Ray O’Callaghan. However on this day they are upset by Oriental 6-15. Marist has pace and skill in the backs, but Oriental plays with guts and determination in the forwards. The Dominion reports on the win: “the ‘Magpies’ had pecked away for a long time, and justifiably earned their reward.” Elsewhere, Mick Williment scores the try of the season for University in their 22-15 win over Onslow.

1983: Petone beat MSP 19-13 in their last round match to share the first round Swindale Shield with them. Mike Clamp runs in his 15th try of the season, while first five-eighth Murray Blandford finishes as the first round’s leading scorer with 133 points.

1986: MSP halfback Neil Sorenson kicks 17 points in his team’s 25-9 Jubilee Cup win over Upper Hutt. Sorenson also makes an early piercing run that sets up a try to flanker Steve Mark. MSP, Petone and Wellington are the three unbeaten sides after two rounds with Petone defeating Ories 11-6 and Wellington beating Avalon 28-3.

1997: Western Suburbs enhance their challenge for the Jubilee Cup where they beat Harlequins five tries to one, 42-8. In the feature match at Athletic Park, Wests are boosted by Super Rugby players Filo and Ace Tiatia and Alama Ieremia. In the curtain-raiser, MSP beat Petone 29-26.

29 June

1985: MSP snatch a 21-18 victory from under Upper Hutt’s nose after seemingly holding an unstoppable 18-0 lead at halftime. Upper Hutt come back with the wind to level at 18-18, but MSP halfback Neil Sorenson kicks an injury time penalty to seal the win.

1996: A fired up Poneke set the blueprint for their success later in the season, beating defending champions MSP for the first time in three years, winning 26-9.

2002: Second five-eighth Ma’aNonu sets up two of his side’s three tries to give Oriental-Rongotai a narrow 18-17 win over Norths in a thriller. Nonu’s 50-metre burst on the half-hour mark puts Ories ahead 9-8 at halftime. Norths regain the lead after halftime, but a subsequent telling Nonu break leads to the match winner for Ories.

2013: Hutt Old Boys Marist soar to a three-point lead at the top of the Jubilee Cup standings after reeling in a 3-19 halftime deficit and beating Old Boys University 37-22 for their fourth straight win, while the Wellington Axemen have officially qualified for next year’s Swindale Shield after beating Avalon 49-24 and also winning their fourth straight game in the second round. HOBM will qualify second for the Jubilee Cup semi-finals, while Wellington qualifies third for the Hardham Cup playoffs and go on and make the final.

30 June 

1951: Jubilee Cup giant-killers Hutt record their third success over a team ranked higher than themselves when they upset Petone 9-5 and win back the McBain Shield. In doing so, Hutt also qualifies for the ‘top six’ for the second round.

1963: A major upset today as Oriental beats leaders Marist 15-6. Hooker Keith Mettrick leads a strong forwards effort and they hold on throughout the second half after scoring a shock try against the run of play just after halftime.

2007: Centres of attention today, with several midfielders playing prominent roles. Conrad Smith greatly helps OBU beat Wests 33-7, former NZ Colt Willie Lafaele scores a searing 40-metre try for Tawa against HOBM in a 10-43 loss, Ma’a Nonu helps guide Ories to a 27-10 Hardham Cup win over Wainuiomata and young and old collide at the Petone Rec where Tana Umaga’s Petone beats Robbie Fruean’s Norths 19-13.

2012: Wainuiomata scores 38 unanswered points from late in the first half to power past multiple Jubilee Cup champions Petone 50-20. Wainuiomata are electric in a highly entertaining game. Petone lead 20-19 at halftime, but after the turnaround, Wainuiomata quickly scores two converted tries to race ahead 31-20 and they don’t look back.

1 July

1939: The Dominion: “Rugby interest ran high today, a record crowd [10,000] for the season being attracted to Athletic Park for the meeting of [top of the table] Wellington and Petone”. Scores are locked up at 8-8 when Fulton chases a kick and scores the match winner under the posts for Wellington. Players to stand out in a losing cause for Petone in a high quality include Petone’s All Black fullback Bunk Pollock and theirAll Black hooker Artie Lambourn. Wellington are coached by 1929-34 All Blacks halfback Frank Kilby.

1972: Petone coach Ian Upston walks out of Athletic Park late in the match, the tension too great. But Petone – thanks to two earlier dropped goals and a penalty to Richard Cleland – hold on to beat University 9-7 and thus share the first round Swindale Shield with Wellington.

1989: A late try by wing Carl Burr, converted from the sideline by Alan Henderson, gives Upper Hutt an 18-16 win over Avalon. Henderson, who had missed five of his previous six attempts, landed the one that mattered most to the delight of the 2,500 spectators at Maidstone Park.

1994: Avalon wing Solomon Su’a is the toast of his club, scoring the winning try on fulltime to give his side a 13-9 win over Johnsonville. First five-eighth Craig Laursen adds the conversion to add salt into the wound as Johnsonville had dominated much of the match..

2000: With two rounds to play, Petone and MSP (both on 23 points) have a 10-point lead to third placed Poneke (13), after Petone forwards Thomas Tupuivao, Inoke Afeaki and Ross Filipo lead them to a 48-10 win over Poneke and MSP account for Avalon 42-34.

2006: Poneke come back from 10-18 deficit to beat home side Avalon 26-21 at Fraser Park in an important win that ultimately pushes them to top spot at the end of the round-robin series. Avalon, well led by No.8 Thomas Waldrom, score two tries through wing Siu Katoa but Poneke prop Kwain Auelua carves through to score a key try to get them back in the game.

2017: The 2017 Jubilee Cup comes alive with three of the four matches this afternoon decided on the last play. MSP fullback Andrew Wells finishes off a sweeping movement to see his team beat HOBM 33-27, Cameron Craig slots a late penalty to give Norths a 28-25 win over Petone and James So’oialo nails a dropped goal in his 50th match for Tawa in their 16-15 edging of OBU. Later tonight the All Blacks lose to the British & Irish Lions 21-24.

2 July

1949: Atrocious conditions today as Petone takes the lead in the Jubilee Cup after beating Wellington 8-5 and St Pat’s Old Boys lose 6-8 to WCOB - after the latter kick the match-winning penalty in injury time to snatch victory. This proves to be a vital defeat for St Pat’s OB who goes on to win the Jubilee Cup for the first and only time but its shared with Petone.

1955: Strugglers Hutt provide the major upset of the season by downing three-time defending champions University 6-3 to knock the students out of title contention. In terrible weather, Hutt’s forwards are much more committed.

1966: While Wellington’s representative players are away in Canterbury, an understrength Athletic is pipped 16-17 by St Pat’s Old Boys. The loss is significant, giving University a two-point (one win) lead over the defending champions Athletic. University and Athletic are on a collision course to meet in the final next month, especially after the students are held to a 11-11 draw by Wellington next week.

1988: Right wing Chris Welch scores five tries in MSP’s 73-3 win over Jubilee Cup newcomers Wainuiomata, while Wellington survive a withering late comeback to beat University 34-30 and Petone fullback Naera Parata kicks a late dropped goal to give his team a 10-7 win over Upper Hutt.

2005: Avalon come from 3-19 down to pip MSP 28-26 in a classic encounter at Fraser Park. As part of a rousing comeback, Avalon wing Noel Woods scores the match winner with time almost up.

2011: Two super-tight Round 4 Jubilee Cup matches today, resulting in wins for Norths and Poneke. Norths upstage Petone 25-23 in front of a large home crowd at Porirua when centre Alapati Leuia skips through the bootlaces tackle of Petone flanker and New Zealand U20 winner Brad Shields to score the winning try with about three minutes left on the clock. At Kilbirnie Park, home side Poneke comes from behind to beat Upper Hutt, left wing Ben Huntley crosses with a few minutes remaining to give his side a 27-24 win. Across the road, Ories are marching towards the semi-finals, ending MSP’s 2011 challenge 31-6, while HOBM beats Wainuiomata 21-10.

2017: Is this the comeback of the year? The Upper Hutt Rams end Oriental-Rongotai’s unbeaten record in the second round with a stirring come-from-behind 46-29 win in their fourth round Jubilee Cup fixture. The Rams are seemingly dead and buried at 7-24 behind late in the first half, but launch a furious five-try assault on Ories either side of halftime.  Flankers Mitchell Markov and Daniel Schrijvers and centre Max Pearson are key players in the comeback that sees them snatch a 26-24 lead at halftime and then 38-24 midway through the second spell. Meanwhile, after dropping their first three games, Tawa beats Wainuiomata 29-15 at Westpac Stadium.