Bonus point wins see Poneke on top, Petone stay alive

Bonus point away wins for Poneke and Petone and other results going their way have seen these two clubs emerge as the significant winners of a sodden fifth round set of Jubilee Cup matches played around Wellington on Saturday.

In steady rain, Poneke swamped Upper Hutt 31-3 at Maidstone Park to go to the top of the table and put themselves in a strong position heading into the semi-finals after the next two rounds, and Petone overran Old Boys-University 20-3 at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve to keep their playoff chances alive.

In other games, Northern United held on to defeat home side Marist St. Pat's 18-3 at Evans Bay Park and Hutt Old Boys Marist grabbed a plucky 14-8 home victory at the Hutt Recreation Ground over Oriental-Rongotai.

MSP's loss in their fourth and final home game of the regular season sees them slip from first to fourth (on 14 points) behind new leaders Poneke (18), but with just four points separating first to fourth with a maximum 10 points up for grabs over the remaining two weeks, the race to the playoffs is far from over.

In a desperate battle further down the table, fifth placed Petone (11), sixth placed Ories (9) and seventh placed Upper Hutt (7) are all still mathematically still in top four contention, with OBU (4) the only team officially out of the running.

Petone and Ories meet in next week's penultimate sixth round in a do or die clash, with the winner in line to pile the pressure on the loser of MSP's round six clash with third placed HOBM (17).

In the Hardham Cup, the Wests Roosters beat Wainuiomata 14-8 in a top of the table clash at William Jones Park to move to 23 points and all but clinch the first home semi-final berth.

The Roosters' win over their closest rivals, the fifth consecutive victory of the second round and sixth on the trot overall, has seen them open up a five-point lead on the Hardham Cup standings to second placed Wainuiomata, with the next three teams separated by five points with two weeks to play.

In other round five Premier 2 games, Tawa and Johnsonville drew 10-10 at Lyndhurst Park - Johnsonville's second draw in a row after finishing all square with MSP B last week and Tawa's third draw of the season after tying games with HOBM B four weeks ago and with Petone earlier in the year.

In the battle of the B teams, Northern United B went down 12-18 in the Kelburn Park mud to MSP B, but keep their fourth placed position intact for another week due to the Johnsonville - Tawa result.

At the Hutt Recreation Ground, Avalon got up to beat Hutt Old Boys Marist B 18-17 for their first win of the Hardham Cup season, and while they can't make the semi-finals, they can still finish ahead of Johnsonville who they play next week at Helston Park and make next year's Swindale Shield ahead of them.

In some highlights from Jubilee Cup matches played on Saturday, 2003 champions Poneke grabbed their fourth consecutive win of the round against Upper Hutt on the back of more outstanding defence and some clinical attacking play.

After three extremely hard fought wins in succession, including back-to-back come from behind victories over MSP and Ories, Poneke's supporters were relieved to see their side score two early converted tries and race to a 14-0 lead. Centre Tolly Auva'a scored first, followed by lock Presley Tufaga after a breakout from inside their own half.

Upper Hutt pounded away at Poneke's line for a long time, but instead it then got better for Poneke when lock Cam Garvie scored at the other end for their third seven-pointer and they led 21-3 at halftime.

The second half saw Poneke extend their lead through a penalty to replacement first five-eighth Sam Rasch, before being awarded a penalty try to bring up their bonus point.

Petone won at desolate Basin Reserve on the back of a patient first half against a plucky OBU side and a clinical second half through a dominant forwards effort with the win and rain at their backs.

After leading 5-3 at halftime, courtesy of an early try to openside flanker Mateaki Kafatolu off a short burst by right wing Willie Moala, Petone secured their much needed bonus point win and ended OBU's season after scoring three more unconverted tries after the break.

OBU first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga kept his side in touch with a long-range penalty to close the gap at halftime. But it was his Wellington XV teammate from Friday and Petone's first five-eighth Hayden Cripps that helped create Petone's second try right after halftime.

A well weighted Cripps wipers kick pinned OBU into a defensive lineout in the corner, from which Petone attacked OBU's setpiece, won the ball back and forced a 5-metre scrum. From the scrum, standout ball running No. 8 Piers Gordon detached blind and created a try in the same corner for the veteran Moala.

Soon after Petone pushed up into OBU's 22, halfback Jared Kahu very nearly breaking through, leading to second five-eighth Michael Lealava's scoring their third try to the right of the uprights. Again Cripps' conversion went wide but at 15-3 up in the conditions the game was in the bag for Petone and all they needed now was a bonus point.

OBU, with Shannon Paku now on the field as a replacement before heading to Manawatu for the ITM Cup, made a brief comeback but their efforts were snuffed out.

Fittingly it was Petone No. 8 Gordon and Moala who combined again to create momentum for Petone's fourth and last try of the afternoon, Gordon making a break and kicking ahead for Moala to almost score his brace. Instead another attacking scrum was forced and blindside flanker Api Sione rumbled over to make it 20-3, the final score.

Off the field, the Petone RFC commemorated the first ever game of rugby played in the North Island with the unveiling of a plaque on Saturday near the site of the historic match that took place on 12 September 1870 between a Nelson side and a Wellington one.

Through the tunnel at Evans Bay Park, Norths battled hard for their 8-0 halftime lead against MSP, which remained the same well into the second half. Centre James So'oialo kicked an early penalty before scoring the first try himself off a break by second five-eighth Leon Ellison. So'oialo brought up his 250th point of the season in scoring his try.

In a scrappy game, MSP were unable to get into the game in the second half when Norths had two players in the sin bin at the same time. Instead Norths pulled ahead to 13-3 with the scoring of a vital try to replacement halfback TJ Perenara, who was backing up from Thursday's New Zealand U18 Barbarian Shield final, in which the Hurricanes Juniors lost to their Blues counterparts.

MSP kept up the pressure on Norths right to the end, but a third try, scored by openside flanker Dean Brunsdon, sealed another important victory that also reversed two losses to MSP in the Jubilee Cup in 2009.

The run of play was also exceedingly tight at the Hutt Recreation Ground in the battle of the birds between the HOBM Eagles and Ories Magpies. Ories were on the board first through a penalty to first five-eighth James Proctor and led 3-0 for much of the first half before HOBM second five-eighth Alex Time crossed for a converted try to put the home side ahead 7-3.

It became a Time double act in the second half when No. 8 Matt Time scored HOBM's second try and first five-eighth Dan Snee converted to make it 14-3. For the second week in a row, Ories had their chances but were unable to take them until it was too late when speedster Ambrose Curtis crossed to bring them into bonus point territory. After promising much, Ories now need to beat Petone away in round six or they'll be joining OBU at the beach over semi-finals weekend.

In the Hardham Cup, the Wests Roosters' scored their second try against Wainuiomata to take a 14-8 match winning lead deep inside the second half. In a spirited encounter, both teams had late opportunities to score further points but neither could seize the day and the score remained unchanged at fulltime.

Wainuiomata had earlier scored an unconverted try to openside flanker Aaron Gage to take a 5-0 lead. Wests second five-eighth Ahtuni Masum followed up a kick and chase to score a converted try and the Roosters led 7-5. The next scoring play was a Wainuiomata penalty and they now led 8-7, before Wests grabbed the victory.

The derby match between neighbours Johnsonville and Tawa at Lyndhurst Park was always going to be an explosive battle, especially after Johnsonville were left smarting after their first round Swindale Shield Carman Cup 27-65 loss to Tawa.

Tawa drew first blood when halfback Phillip Finau intercepted a Johnsonville pass, made the break and passed to left winger and gas merchant George Tilsley in support to score the five-pointer.

But Johnsonville came roaring back and scored two unconverted tries themselves to take a 10-5 lead into halftime. Veteran first five-eighth Corey Burt scored the first. Then a Burt break and cross kick led to the second that was scored by centre Nathan Collins.

Now with the elements in their favour, Tawa dominated early in the second half but failed to score as Johnsonville's defence stood up well to scrutiny. However it finally broke and fullback Junior Togia came up with the try to make it 10-10, the final score.

Avalon's Premier re-introduction chances for 2011 are still alive ahead of their crunch clash with Johnsonville next week at Helston Park. Avalon got to this stage by the skin of their teeth against a HOBM B side that has already shown its mettle in the Hardham Cup round. Included on Avalon's try scoring list were veteran halfback Cameron Cross, who also kicked the penalty that made the difference, and prop Errol Weston, a cornerstone of the strong Avalon sides several years ago.

Steady rain fell throughout the entire match in the early game at neutral Kelburn Park between MSP B and Norths B. MSP deserved their hard fought 18-12 win, playing with more composure and making far fewer handling errors in the atrocious conditions.

A highlight of this match was the two tries scored by barnstorming MSP No. 8 Tui Tuia, his second being a stunning solo effort off the back of a scrum from 15-metres out. Low to the ground and powerfully built, Tuia propelled himself off the back of the scrum and dragged at least three defenders with him as he crashed over near the posts.

Tuia's second try 10 minutes into the second half was also a decisive one in the context of the match, extending MSP's lead from 8-7 to 13-7.

Then, almost immediately after Tuia's blockbuster, MSP swept hard back on to attack and ran in a third try to first five-eighth Dan Kauraka in the left hand corner after a barrage at the opposite corner post by the forwards. This made it 18-7 and was enough for the win despite a slick try in reply to Norths right wing Cameron Craig and an urgent assault by Norths over the final 10 minutes.

MSP had earlier taken an 8-0 lead into halftime, centre Frankie Va'aua kicking a 14th minute penalty and Tuia scoring his first try on 30 minutes after a concerted period of pressure. MSP kept the heat on Norths until halftime and could have scored twice more before the halftime huddle, including their backs blowing a three on one overlap 10 metres from the line.

Norths fizzed early in the second half and prop Opeta Maleisia crashed over early for a converted try after a penalty and attacking lineout in the corner. But MSP regrouped and No. 8 Tuia led the way for them.

In other grades, Ories, OBU and Poneke continue to set the pace in the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup, each grabbing their fourth wins in five weeks.

Leaders Ories pipped Tawa 25-22 and joint second placed OBU and Poneke defeated Petone 25-8 and Rimutaka 14-6 respectively.

In a tight midtable clash, fourth placed Stokes Valley beat sixth placed Paremata-Plimmerton 11-6, and Avalon overran Norths 32-11 in the battle of the previous winless teams.

With four rounds to play until the Ed Chaney Cup semi-finals, just six points separate the leading seven teams.

There's a similar logjam for the minor placings in the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial, with three teams tied for second on 18 points behind runaway leaders MSP who are now on 23 points following their fifth straight win.

In a top-of-the-table clash, MSP beat Wellington 14-12, who are the one of those three teams along with Upper Hutt and HOBM.

Upper Hutt beat sixth placed Poneke 14-0 and HOBM accounted for bottom placed and winless Paremata-Plimmerton 48-24.
OBU are fifth, having edged out Petone 13-10, while eighth placed Wainuiomata beat ninth placed the Wests Roosters 22-16 in the Senior 2 round's other clash.

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