Eagles topple Norths in Porirua boilover as Ories, Poneke and MSP win big in Jubilee Cup

A momentous win for the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles over defending champions Northern United and clinical bonus point wins for Oriental-Rongotai, Poneke and Marist St. Pat’s have thrown the Jubilee Cup wide open after two rounds.

At Porirua Park, Hutt Old Boys Marist survived a late comeback in which the home side scored two late tries to beat Northern United 20-19 and register their most important win of the season.

Beaten up by Poneke in round one, HOBM came out firing against the Norths side who were missing their points scoring fullback James So’oialo, up in Samoa for a World Cup trial, but still containing some big guns in their pack such as Jacob Ellison, Api Naikatini and Dean Brunsdon.

After early dominance, ?HOBM first five-eighth Glen Walters opened the scoring with a penalty, before wing Leka Tupuola scored up the shortside and Walters converted from the sideline to give them a 10-0 late in the first half. Captain and hooker Henry Smith scored in reply for Norths, but Walters slotted his second penalty and HOBM went to the break leading 13-7.

The run of play remained extremely tense in the second half, before HOBM lock Sam Faisaindier scored the game’s decisive try midway through the spell. This time fullback Kahu Tamatea kicked the conversion and the Eagles now led 20-7.

Norths hung tough and came back to score two tries to outside back Nene Va’alepu. But with super boot James So’oialo away, they could only manage one of these conversions.

The loss for Norths is their first setback of the year, after surviving a 32-32 scare with Petone two weeks ago. This was their first loss since this corresponding round last year when Poneke beat them 17-15 and their first loss at home in any competition since Tawa prevailed over them 24-15 in the first round of the Jubilee Cup in 2009.

It was also by far the closest contested of the four round two Jubilee Cup matches, with Oriental-Rongotai the most impressive in beating Petone 49-23 away at the Petone Recreation Ground to record their second successive bonus point victory of the second round and shoot to the top of the standings after a fortnight.

Ories scored seven tries against Petone to register easily their biggest win in recent seasons over the Villagers, seven individuals finding the whitewash including first five-eighth Trevor Marama who also kicked 14 points.

After out scoring Petone two tries to one in the first half to take a 15-11 lead into the interval, Ories blasted past the Villagers early in the second spell to race to a 35-11 match winning lead.

First round strugglers Marist St. Pat’s have come alive in the second round and they registered their second successive Jubilee Cup victory, a four-try 30-3 win over Upper Hutt.

On another rainy Saturday, although also mild and calm, second round specialists Poneke brought their wet weather game to Kilbirnie Park to account for Wainuiomata 33-18. Poneke preyed upon Wainuiomata mistakes and swept to their bonus point win early in the second half when dynamic hooker Dane Coles kicked ahead and scored the winning try under the posts.

From a turnover at a ruck on Wainuiomata’s 22, Coles found himself in the middle of the backline with ball in hand and put boot to ball. The Wainuiomata defender spilt the ball and Coles rushed through to score the bonus point try.

This try extended Poneke’s lead to 30-3 and the game was as good as won for Poneke against a Wainuiomata side whose mistakes and lack of ball retention in the slippery conditions had proved extremely costly.

Coles had previously been involved in the second of Poneke’s first half tries, all the result of ?turnovers or Wainuiomata handling errors. A knock-on from a penalty re-start led to their first try in the corner to wing Peter Shand, after a scrum 40 metres out and a blindside dart by halfback Ruki Tipuna and another attacking scrum in prime position.

A turnover? near halfway was picked up by Coles, who kicked ahead for fullback Ambrose Plaister to chase through and score to make it 15-3 after about 20 minutes.

Wainuiomata hit back with a second penalty after a sustained period of attack, before Poneke first five-eighth Jeremy Te Huia scooped up a loose ball in a ruck and sprinted 40 metres to score untouched. Te Huia missed a straightforward conversion but added a penalty just before halftime after another turnover and a breakout by blindside flanker Presley Tufaga who everywhere on attack and defence during this period.

Poneke started the second half how they finished the first, their grafting? pack securing early field position and putting pressure on Wainuiomata’s on defence. This led to Coles’ try and the win was sealed.

Wainuiomata made a comeback in a scrappy remainder of the second half, scoring two tries, but left their run too late. Replacement halfback Corey Draper added some spark and their big ball runners made inroads with a lot more sustained possession.

First five-eighth Earl Va’a scored under the posts from a scrum and blindside flanker Genesis Mamea scored from a lineout drive with about 10 minutes to play.

However, the home side rallied later and averted a possible grandstand finish when replacement halfback Ruki Tipuna, taking over from Te Huia who had gone off at halftime, slotted a penalty.

Hardham Cup

There were two significant results in the Hardham Cup and a third result, at Ian Galloway Park, that was perhaps not unexpected but extremely relieving for the home side.

At Lyndhurst Park, favourites Old Boys-University made it two from two by beating home side Tawa 21-7 and thus inflicting a second successive defeat on them.

In the early game at Kilbirnie Park, Poneke B beat first round winners Avalon 13-10 to register their second successive victory. On a muddy number 2 field at Kilbirnie, Poneke openside flanker Sam Tui scored and first five-eighth Chris Thomsen added the conversion and a penalty to give them a 10-0 lead at halftime.

Avalon hit back early in the second spell with a penalty to fullback Joyner Keys that closed the gap to 10-3, but for much of the second half it was Poneke not them pressing hard at the attacking end of the field. Thomsen missed with two penalty opportunities, while hooker Kenny Anderson couldn’t control the slippery ball as he dived over in the right hand corner after a short side dart by halfback Jack Casey-Potter. But awarded a third penalty, Thomsen was successful this time and Poneke led 13-3.

Avalon finally broke into Poneke’s 22 and after a sustained attack hooker Manuel Efaraimo scored a seven-pointer to close the gap to 13-10. But the clock was ticking and Poneke managed to hold out for another great win for the club.

At Ian Galloway Park, the Wests Roosters defeated Rimutaka 27-11 for their first win, and an important victory to help their cause for Premier survival next year. But the Roosters were pushed close by Swindale Shield hopefuls Rimutaka and only pulled clear late in the second half with a flurry of scoring to halfback Sean Winter who scored and converted a try and added a penalty.

The game had been on tenderhooks when Wests had been up 11-6 and the Rams had their tails up and their right wing Ofa Pongi went desperately close to scoring in the corner that would have locked the score up with the kick to come. But the Roosters survived this period and inched ahead before winning comfortably at the end.

At Porirua Park, Northern United B grabbed their second win of the Hardham Cup round with a convincing 52-12 victory over Harper Lock Shield champions Hutt Old Boys Marist B. Halfback Keith Henderson and second five-eighth Tim Serawalu each scored two tries, while veteran first five-eighth Peato Lafaele kicked five of seven conversions and two penalties for 16 points.

In the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup, Petone, Johnsonville and Paremata-Plimmerton each grabbed their second straight wins.

Competition favourites Petone accounted for Ories 38-0 to earn their second successive bonus point win, while Johnsonville edged out MSP 17-13 and Paremata-Plimmerton beat Wainuiomata 40-38 in a thriller.

Elsewhere, Stokes Valley got their first win of the season, beating Avalon 24-13.

In the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial, there were second straight wins for Wellington and Hutt Old Boys Marist, Wellington beating OBU 22-5 and HOBM pipping Poneke 17-15. In another close result, Norths and Petone drew 13-13.

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