Much at stake for Jubilee Cup hopefuls in tenth round

2011 Swindale Shield champions Northern United will be presented with the Shield for the third consecutive year at the conclusion of their round 10 tussle with Poneke this weekend. But for up to half the field there’s still much to play for over the final fortnight of the first round.

Anything could and probably will happen over the next fortnight, so there’s plenty of rugby left over the final two weeks of the 2011 Swindale Shield.

For at least five teams in the middle of the pack and two more either side of it – Petone and Tawa –finishing inside the top eight and securing spots in the Jubilee Cup starting on 11 June is the paramount consideration over the next fortnight.

With two rounds to play, the situation sees five teams – Hutt Old Boys Marist, Marist St. Pat’s, Wainuiomata, Upper Hutt and Old Boys-University – realistically still fighting it out to varying degrees for the second four Jubilee Cup spots.

These five teams, currently occupying places fifth through to ninth, are separated by just four competition points. A sixth team, Tawa, currently 10^th, are also mathematically not of it and two bonus point wins for them and results going their way could see them sneak in through the back door. A seventh, Petone, currently 4^th, could lose their last two games, see results go against them and get swallowed up by the chasing pack and miss out. This is of course highly unlikely, but food for thought there is that if it came down to a who beat who or circular tie scenario they have lost to each of the four teams immediately below them on the points table.

This makes the Petone – Tawa round 10 match this weekend at Lyndhurst Park a potentially explosive encounter. Petone just need to win and their Jubilee Cup spot will be safe, while Tawa will go all out and beat the Villagers with a four-try bonus point.

History suggests a free flowing encounter between Tawa and Petone. The head-to-head ledger from their past five Swindale Shield clashes stands at two wins to Petone (in 2008 and 2009), two draws (21-21 in 2007 and 33-33 last year) and one victory to Tawa in 2006.

Last year’s nine-try thriller saw scores all locked up after a penalty by Petone first five-eighth Ben Aoina at the death that would have given the Villagers a 36-33 win hit the uprights and bounced back into the field of play. Tawa's 2006 win was a memorable 46-21 eight try extravaganza.

In the gun this week are Old Boys-University. If the Swindale Shield ended now (which it has for Norths supporters) they would be the unlucky team to miss out on the Jubilee Cup. But if they win this week on their Old Timers’ Day then they should still be right in the mix in the last round. Lose this week and they could be treading water. The issue for them is their run home. It’s tough. This week they meet second placed Oriental-Rongotai, who pushed Norths all the way last weekend, and their opponent next week is Marist St. Pat’s.

Old Boys-University host Ories this week at the Hawkins Basin Reserve for the first time this season after using Nairnville Park as their base so far. They are coming off a 23-20 loss to Wainuiomata at away at William Jones Park and will be without the services of lock Bryn Evans who is on Hurricanes duty this week. OBU will also be out to snap a two-game losing streak in first round matches to Ories, including a heavy 17-78 defeat in 2009.

It could be a historic weekend for Wainuiomata who should make it safely through to the Jubilee Cup round for the first time since their re promotion to the Premier grade in 2007 if they can overcome Marist St. Pat’s at Evans Bay Park.

Like Petone, MSP will likely wrap up their Jubilee Cup spot with a round to play should they overcome the green and black contenders so won’t be giving them a sniff if they can prevent it. After a patchy first two months, MSP have won two in a row and appear to be coming good at the right time, although they were pushed hard by lowly Avalon last week. MSP have also beaten Wainuiomata handsomely the last three times they have met, winning 60-15 in 2008, 88-3 in 2009 and 53-15 in 2010. In these games, former first five-eighth Fa’atonu Fili scored 59 points, while former fullback Mike Kingsbeer memorably ran in six tries as part of the 2009 win.

Upper Hutt supporters have certainly been on a roller-coaster journey this season, with five of their nine matches to date going down to the wire, and last week’s 32-29 win over Tawa also close. Particularly after they found their team down 17-0 before they had finished their pre-game hotdogs.

Consequently, they are currently sitting on the cut-off mark between the top eight and the bottom four. But if they win this week against bottom placed Avalon they too could seal their Jubilee Cup berth ahead of their final match against the Wests Roosters.

Avalon may have won just once, against the Roosters back in round 2, but if nothing else they have been plucky and will want to impress on their Old Timers’ Day at Fraser Park.

This match is also for the Harper Vine Trophy. The Harper Vine Trophy was donated by the families of Tammy Harper and Bob Vine.Tammy Harper was the first elected Life Member of Avalon Rugby Club and had an intense rivalry with Bob Vine of The Upper Hutt Rugby?Club.

The Roosters will hope to play spoiler to Hutt Old Boys Marist’s immediate Jubilee Cup intentions when they host them at the Hutt Recreation Ground in the battle of the birds. The Eagles will almost certainly qualify with next week to spare should they win, but a loss could make their fans nervous ahead of their last round clash over the hill against Wainuiomata should it come down to it.

It’s been a long time between wins for Wests over HOBM, their last Swindale Shield victory over them being 19-7 in 2005. Since then they have suffered losses on six consecutive occasions between 2006-2010. Of note, the 2003 Hardham Cup was the last time that these sides met in the second round. Each year since one or the other but not both together have either been in the Jubilee or Hardham Cups. This year seems no different with the two heading for the different competitions in the second round

Newly crowned champions Norths and second placed Poneke meet at Porirua Park for the Cyril Collett Memorial Shield. Information about this Shield would be welcomed.

It’s also a rematch of last year’s Jubilee Cup final, won 24-5 by Norths. The two teams have met 13 times since the start of 2006 with Norths winning nine, Poneke three and with one draw. Poneke won this corresponding clash in 209 in round one at the neutral venue of Trentham Memorial Park, but Norths beat Poneke twice at Kilbirnie Park in the second round. Last year Norths won 34-18 in the first round and Poneke 17-15 in the Jubilee Cup round-robin.

Just four of these 13 clashes have been at Porirua Park, with Norths winning 34-18 last year, 28-12 in the 2008 Swindale Shield, 67-7 in the 2007 Jubilee Cup and they played out a 13-13 draw in the 2006 Jubilee Cup.

Harper Lock Shield

Hutt Old Boys Marist would wrap up the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield with a round to spare if they win this week and their closest rivals Norths and Petone both lose.

With a four point lead to second placed Norths, HOBM entertain eighth placed Johnsonville at home at the Hutt Recreation Ground in what could be a big day for the club. Even of they don’t win this week, HOBM will probably still be in the box seat to take the title and would be favoured to do so in the last round against current 10^th placed Paremata-Plimmerton.

Northern United can stay in the mix if they overcome fourth placed Poneke at Porirua Park in the clash of the big guns in this week’s Harper Lock Shield, while third placed Petone will all but book a top four finish and a long awaited return to the Hardham Cup should they defeat winless Tawa at Lyndhurst Park.

Fifth placed Rimutaka could climb into the top four this weekend if they beat winless Stokes Valley on the latter’s Old Timers’ Day at Delaney Park. They then play Johnsonville at home in the last round which could then become a de facto final for them, with their Hardham Cup participation likely to be on the line in this match.

Sixth placed MSP, currently two points back from Rimutaka, are realistically the only other team that could push for the top four over the last two weeks. They play strugglers Paremata-Plimmerton this week and then meet seventh placed OBU in the final round.

In the round’s other match this week, OBU host ninth placed Ories at Nairnville Park.

National Mutual Cup

The National Mutual Cup remains close, with the leading seven teams all still the hunt for the first round Senior 2 title and for the two spots open in the second round Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup with two rounds to play.

Joint leaders Upper Hutt and Wainuiomata are firmly in the box seat, and if both win their matches with bonus points this weekend it is unlikely that the winner will come from any of these two teams.

Upper Hutt have a tricky assignment away at Fraser Park against sixth placed Avalon who have everything to play for, while Wainuiomata travel to Martin Luckie Park to play fifth placed MSP who are in the same position as Avalon.

Third placed OBU will be hoping that both Upper Hut and Wainuiomata lost and they beat seventh placed Wellington in the second game of the afternoon on Martin Luckie Park. Again, Wellington are still in with a chance of reaching the top two if they beat OBU and the two leaders stumble.

Likewise, fourth placed HOBM can come through the middle of the pack and hit the lead if the two frontrunners and OBU all lose and they beat the ninth placed Wests Roosters at the Hutt Recreation Ground.

Meanwhile, down the points table, bottom placed Norths host eighth placed Poneke and tenth placed Petone and eleventh placed Johnsonville will both be searching for their second wins when they meet in the 3.00pm game at the Petone Recreation Ground.

In the second round of the Victoria Tavern Trophy Women’s competition, first round champions Eketahuna entertain Eketahuna, Stokes Valley hosts MSP after a week off and Wainuiomata and Petone search for their opening second round wins at Mary Crowther Park. Defending champions Norths have the bye.

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