Much at stake for title hopefuls in seventh round

Wet weather has struck Wellington this week but it hasn't dampened supporters' enthusiasm for this weekend's round seven set of Wellington club rugby matches.

This Saturday's action features three club Old Timers' Days, three more interclub trophies contested in the Premier and Senior 2 grades, a top of the table Swindale Shield clash between Hutt Old Boys Marist and Upper Hutt and the first trophy presentation of the year in the Premier Women's grade.

Northern United, the Wests Roosters and the Wellington FC are all holding their Old Timers' Days and their respective top teams all have much to play for in their respective Swindale Shield and National Mutual Cup matches.

In the Swindale Shield, Northern United and Petone renew acquaintances at Porirua Park in a significant clash for the first round fortunes of both sides. For seventh placed Norths, a bonus point win over the Villagers would keep alive their chances of retaining the first round title for a fourth consecutive year, while for eighth placed Petone a win would keep them above the waterline in the promotion-relegation battle for the next round. For Petone's coaches Frank Rees and Tom Martin, formerly at the helm of Norths, this encounter is also a sort of homecoming.

Also at Porirua Park, the Northern United women's team will be presented with the first round Fleurs Trophy following their match against Ories that kicks off at 11.30am.

After beating Norths the previous week, the Wests Roosters failed to pick up any points in their loss last week to Poneke at Kilbirnie Park. With Hurricanes Charlie Ngatai and Reg Goodes on board and former Wests flanker Galu Taufale running hot, Poneke pulled ahead of the Roosters in the second half. This week the Roosters host an MSP side on to Ian Galloway Park for their Old Timers' Day that is playing positive running rugby and whose four tries to two win in round six over defending Jubilee Cup champions Ories could easily have been greater if not for missed chances.

Wests and MSP go into this meeting with contrasting immediate goals. If third placed MSP win? they will leapfrog one of the two frontrunners HOBM and Upper Hutt who clash (unless HOBM and Upper Hutt draw), while 10^th placed Wests can win this and climb straight back into Jubilee Cup contention. Wests will also need to overcome a poor recent record against MSP, losing to them on their previous seven encounters.

Wests and MSP play for an interclub trophy named after Viv Haigh, who first played for the former Onslow club in 1929. After his promising career was cut short by injury he turned to administration and coaching. He died suddenly at the age of 46, having had a continuous association with the club for more than 30 years, the last 16 years as Treasurer. After Viv's death, W.B. Griffiths presented a trophy in his memory for competition between the then Onslow and Marist clubs. Marist won the first match, played on 14 May 1960.?

For table topping Wellington, their ?Old Timers' Day clash against third placed Poneke in the Senior 2 grade could prove the decisive clash of the remainder of the National Mutual Cup. Fresh from beating second placed Upper Hutt last week, the Axemen can put away their next nearest rivals Poneke at Hataitai Park from 3.00pm and then sail to victory in the coming weeks in the first round Senior 2 grade. They won't be getting ahead of themselves, but Wellington's remaining four opponents after this week are the four teams currently occupying positions nine-12 on the National Mutual Cup points table.

Should Poneke win, a three-way race over the last month is likely to develop between these two sides and Upper Hutt. This week Upper Hutt? play Hutt Old Boys Marist, who are fourth but nine points adrift of the leading trio, meaning should HOBM win and Poneke were to topple Wellington these three sides would have a two-game buffer to the rest of the field with four rounds to play.

Wellington and Poneke also play for the Spud Lindsay Memorial Cup in this match, which is currently held by Wellington after their 24-12 win in this corresponding fixture last year.

In other Swindale Shield matches in round seven this Saturday, the top of the table match between Hutt Old Boys Marist and Upper Hutt and the clashes between OBU and Ories and Tawa and Poneke are all massive clashes in the context of the first round competition.

The HOBM and Upper Hutt fixture between the joint leaders at the Hutt Recreation Ground could ultimately prove to be a title deciding clash. Although bonus points could still play a part, the winner of this match would likely just need to win their remaining four games that follow for the 2012 Swindale Shield to be theirs.

But like Wellington in the National Mutual Cup, neither will be looking that far ahead on Saturday. Going into this match, HOBM have won five and lost one (last week to Norths) and Upper Hutt have won four, lost one and drawn one. Upper Hutt are also the only team to have surpassed 200 points for the season to date and are averaging 36 points a game, while HOBM have the competition's leading individual point scorer (Glen Walters, 86) and try scorer (Tupeni Kamakorewa, 8) in its ranks.

Head to head, HOBM have won nine of their past 10 clashes, and each of their previous six Swindale Shield encounters. Many of these games have been exceedingly close though, with several thrillers fought out between these sides in recent years. Last year's twin wins for HOBM over Upper Hutt were comparatively comfortable, the Eagles prevailing 29-17 in the first round and 22-5 in their Jubilee Cup encounter.

In the one Premier match in town this week, Old Boys University welcome Ories on to the Hawkins Basin Reserve for their inaugural clash there this season. Both realistically need to win this if they are to still harbour hopes of winning the Swindale Shield. Fifth placed Ories are coming off a disappointing loss to MSP in round six and want to bounce back quickly, while OBU? were left ruing a missed chance to collect what would have been a decisive win over Wainuiomata at William Jones Park. Instead Wainuiomata held off their advances and kept them to a 15-15 draw.

Fans of both sides will well remember this corresponding clash last year at the same venue, won by OBU 27-24 in a thriller. A see-sawing match had the students up 13-0 at one stage, before Ories came back to lead 14-13. The lead changed hands twice more, before OBU scored a late converted try to seal victory.

The encounter at Lyndhurst Park between Tawa and Poneke could be the dance of the desperate as far as the home side's supporters are concerned. The story of Tawa's season to date has been one of being close but coming up empty. The five points that they collected from their 35-12 win over OBU has been their only reward in six matches to date. Five losses in their other matches, all in tight struggles, haven't yielded any bonus points that could cost them if they don't topple Poneke in this match.

Also needing to win this to stay afloat in the top eight race, Poneke will be up for this encounter. Their fans will be counting on the points, ahead of their home run that includes matches at home against HOBM, Upper Hutt and Ories and against OBU through the tunnel at the Basin.

Tawa and Poneke matches are always close and invariably throw up drama too. In their one and only clash last year, a Tawa comeback in the second half wasn't quite enough for victory, Poneke holding on 28-21.

But in this match in 2010, in Poneke's last visit to Lyndhurst Park, Tawa succeeded in mounting a spectacular comeback - earning a memorable 42-35 victory being seemingly down and out early in the second half. Trailing 7-35, they came roaring back with five unanswered tries - wing George Tilsley racing in to score his second consecutive hat trick. Current injured Highlander Shaun Treeby scored the match winning converted try under the posts with two minutes to play.

Their 2009 encounter won by Poneke 40-13 was notable for being delayed half an hour due to the Lyndhurst Park sprinkler system firing into life on its automatic cycle and no one being at the ground to turn it off.

In the final match of this weekend's Swindale Shield round, Rimutaka host Wainuiomata. Rimutaka will be ?hoping to record their first win in the Premier grade, while Wainuiomata will be keen for more points to continue their advance towards a top first round finish.

Wainuiomata's supporters will also be following the fortunes of their Senior 1 Harper Lock side, who meet ninth placed Paramata-Plimmerton at Ngatitoa Domain. Another win for them and victory for their Premier side this Saturday will go a long way to realising the club's hopes of having teams in both the Jubilee and Hardham Cups later in the season.

This weekend's seventh round of the Harper Lock Shield is also a big one for the Johnsonville and Avalon, who are both pressing for Hardham Cup berths and ultimately promotion back up to the Premier grade. Sixth placed Johnsonville on 17 points host second placed MSP on 24 points, while seventh placed Avalon on 16 points play fourth placed HOBM on 19 points at the Hutt Rec.

In another key match for their chances, fifth placed Norths host eighth placed Petone on their Old Timers' Day curtain raiser fixture at? Porirua Park.

Meanwhile, an interclub match in the National Mutual Senior 2 competition, Avalon and Stokes Valley contest the Roger Mildenhall Cup. Donated by his family in 1995, Roger Mildenhall was a Life member of the Avalon Rugby club and a long-term resident of Stokes Valley.