Wellington club rugby highlights of the past decade: Part 2

Above: Former Marist St Pat’s No. 8 Alex Tulou running hard against Petone in 2007. MSP lost this match 34-39, before going on to pip Petone 24-23 in the following week’s Jubilee Cup semi-final. Tulou was directly involved in two stunning wins for MSP over arch-rivals Northern United in 2007 and 2008, as summarised below.

A decade in review part 2: Part 2 of 4 looking back at some of the highlights of Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup rugby over the past decade (2003-2012), -? as witnessed first-hand by the Club Weekly.

11. 22 April 2006: Tawa sublime in big win over Petone

Form and pre-game predictions went out the window right from the opening kick-off in this round four Swindale Shield clash at the Petone Recreation Ground between the defending Jubilee Cup champions Petone and Tawa. In one of the most sublime performances by a Premier backline then or since, Tawa’s backs flicked their headlights to full beam and cut through Petone like they were having a training run. Fast out of the blocks, they scored two tries in the opening five minutes and crossed for five unanswered tries in the first half. The highlight was one breathtaking long-range try started from their goal line. The best a shell-shocked Petone could do was hang on in the second 40 minutes of play as Tawa ran out 46-21 winners. Fullback Hirini Robin scored a hat-trick, while other key players, halfback Nigel Hunt, left wing Junior Togia and centre Willie Lafaele, all got their names on the scoresheet.

7 May 2006: Waldrom and Sciascia on fire for Avalon

Avalon’s 29-25 bonus point win over Marist St. Pats at Fraser Park was set up by halfback Peter Sciascia and No. 8 Thomas Waldrom who both had blinders. In a comparatively high scoring game between the two teams with the second and third best defences in the competition heading into this clash, Waldrom and Sciascia both featured strongly. Waldrom was the game’s outstanding forward, with his strong ball carrying and sense of space increasingly prominent as the match opened up, while Sciascia’s sharp passing and eye for a gap was influential. Just after halftime the Waldrom and Sciascia show came to the fore off the base of a scrum close to the line. Waldrom broke open and attracted the defence and then offloaded to Sciasica who made a strong dart to the line.

14 May 2006: Close encounters of the Hutt kind

Another week and another remarkable win for Hutt Old Boys Marist in this seventh round Swindale Shield match. The high flying Hutt side maintained their unbeaten record at the top of the table with yet another amazing come-from-behind win, this time pipping Tawa with the last act of the game to win 22-20. In a pulsating finish, played out to a bumper Old Timers’ Day crowd, HOBM won with a converted try to replacement wing Dennis Unasa, after they had spent a ten-minute spell pressed hard on attack in Tawa’s 22. Trailing 15-20, they seemingly couldn’t crack Tawa’s outstanding defence in close. In desperation they finally went wide and Unasa scored. This levelled the scores at 20-20 with a wide angled conversion to come. HOBM fullback Mike Kingsbeer stepped up and calmly slotted the extras.

13 May 2007: Robson drops in for the Roosters

The Wests Roosters won this thriller against Avalon 20-17 courtesy of a last-ditch dropped goal by Toby Robson. The veteran fullback couldn't have scripted it better, as only minutes earlier his side were seemingly dead and buried at 7-17 behind and playing high risk catch-up rugby. It paid off when they suddenly broke through to score two tries in as many minutes deep into the contest that leveled the game up. They then won a turnover and made one last foray up field. Robson positioned himself in the pocket and nailed his drop kick, giving the Roosters a important victory that proved key in them making the 2007 Jubilee Cup - the last time they have done so. This result mirrored several knife-edge games between these two sides. In 2004 Avalon first five-eighth Mano Flutely had kicked a wide angled penalty into the wind and the rain to give Avalon a 12-11 win.

17 June 2007: Tulou scores under the rainbow

Marist St. Pat's No. 8 Alex Tulou provided the pot of gold in his side's upset 12-10 come-from-behind win over just crowned Swindale Shield champions Northern United in this opening round Jubilee Cup fixture. With a rainbow touching down over MSP's Evans Bay Park clubrooms, Tulou scored the match winning try late in the second half by taking a quick tap penalty and skirting 15 metres to cross to the right of the uprights. Reliable MSP flyhalf Fa'atonu Fili added the extras in a thrilling conclusion to a hard fought game, dominated by high quality forward play. Norths had clung to a 10-5 lead throughout the second half, after responding to a 60-metre solo try by MSP fullback Jackson Martin with a converted try and a penalty.

30 June 2007: Umaga inspires Petone to win over champs

Tana Umaga helped win this match for Petone over Northern United 19-13 with two pieces of brilliance - one on attack and one on defence.? First, the former All Blacks captain scored what proved to be the match-clinching try midway through the second half with a 30-metre dash to the line after regathering a chip and chase put through by first five-eighth Dan Kirkpatrick. Second, with Petone under all sorts of pressure under their own posts, he stopped a try dead in its tracks with a thunderous tackle on his opposite? - rising Norths star Robbie Fruean. Umaga jarred the ball free from Fruean’s clutches and the attacking team’s chance was lost. Instead, all Norths could take from a long period of pressure inside Petone’s 22 was a penalty, which was not enough and the Villagers took the points.

28 July 2007 Petone produce comeback of the season against MSP

Petone produced the comeback of the 2007 club rugby season to secure their spot in the following weekend’s Jubilee Cup semi-finals, beating top qualifier Marist St. Pat's 39-34 with the last play of the game at home at the Village. Petone fullback Tu Umaga-Marshall provided the final pass and? wing Willie Moala scored the try in the right hand corner to break a 34-34 deadlock and complete a blockbuster Petone win. Petone had trailed 26-8 at halftime and scored 18 unanswered points.? Petone weren’t able to recreate this magic in the following week’s semi-final against MSP, the scarlets winning the playoff 24-23 in another thriller in which the lead changed hands four times in the second half. MSP went on to lose to Hutt Old Boys Marist 10-18 in the final, after HOBM had dealt Northern United their first loss at home at Porirua Park in three years in the other semi-final.

19 April 2008: Tulou, Fili stun Norths on Old Timers’ Day

Then Wellington Lions No. 8 Alex Tulou and Samoa first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili produced the magic that saw MSP snatch a thrilling 25-22 win over Northern United on their 2008 Old Timers' day clash at Evans Bay Park. Tulou scored two tries in a matter of minutes early in the second half, both off the shoulder off Fili, and Fili kicked both conversions as well as two late penalties that helped turn the game around and earn victory for MSP after they fought back from a 15-0 deficit at halftime.? The second of these two Fili penalties four minutes from fulltime saw MSP take the lead that snatched a remarkable victory, after scores had been deadlocked at 22-22 late in the match. As far as the competition unfolded, this win was to prove even more significant for MSP as they went on to win the Swindale Shield and finish four points clear of second placed Norths.

21 June 2008: Hat-trick for top try scorer Sinoti Sinoti

Prolific try scorer Sinoti Sinoti (To’omaga) scored a memorable hat-trick in Northern United’s 44-0 win over Ories in this Jubilee Cup encounter at the Polo Ground. Norths overran Ories in a quickfire burst of four tries just before and just after halftime - extending their lead from 5-0 to 27-0 in this period. The Norths attacking machine was at its best, sending Sinoti in to score his 13th, 14th and 15th tries of the 2008 club rugby season in 13 games up to that point. Rising star centre Alapati Leiua had a direct hand in two of Sinoti’s tries and also scored one himself. Sinoti scored 17 tries for Norths in 2008 and was that season’s most lethal attacking player in Wellington club rugby, going on to play professional rugby in France and Italy and also for Hawke’s Bay in the ITM Cup.

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28 June 2008: Tomasi Palu droppie pips HOBM

The two halfbacks were leading figures in this Basin Reserve thriller, culminating in Old Boys University halfback Tomasi Palu potting? a dropped goal from close range with the last play of the game to give his team a 23-22 victory over visitors Hutt Old Boys Marist. What made this memorable was that Palu’s pot came just moments after his opposite Nick Risdon had seemingly helped win the game for HOBM with a cleverly weighted stab kick that prolific try-scoring prop Simon Malaeulu ran on to score a try from in the corner. This try gave the Eagles a? 22-20 lead. The Eagles then breathed a sigh of relief when Seminar Manu missed a late 40-metre penalty. But they failed to find touch and the students set Palu up in front of the sticks. In the same round, another halfback, Alby Mathewson, scored the winning try in an upset win for Upper Hutt over Northern United.

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