The Swindale Shield: the best show in town

• The first round draw (including details of ground changes) and the starting XVs for the first round on Monday can be viewed on? the Draws & Results page above.
  
• Read Saturday’s Dominion Post for their season preview, including details of player gains and losses for 2013.

The 2013 season may be well underway but the real rugby in Wellington starts on Easter Monday with the opening round of the Premier Swindale Shield, Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup competitions.

Wellington rugby fans can look forward to watching or following 198 Premier, Senior 1 and Senior 2 matches over the coming months - and that’s just in the first round. First round winners will be decided on 1 June, ahead of the prestigious Jubilee Cup competition that runs throughout June, July and early August.

All 12 Premier teams will be out to hit the ground running on Monday in the race to finish inside the top eight of the Swindale Shield and play Jubilee Cup rugby. The goals of the leading teams in the Senior 1 and 2 grades are earning spots in the Premier 2 Hardham Cup and Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup in the second round.

Fans can expect the early season action to be hard and fast, and in more ways than one. In the week leading into the start of the season, the ‘big dry’ is keeping grounds parched. Rugby players and administrators alike are hoping for rain soon after a seriously disrupted pre-season for all clubs. Rulebook-wise, the new IRB law now applied in Super Rugby of the ball needing to be cleared from rucks and mauls within five seconds is being applied to all levels of rugby and serving to speed up the play.

Who will take the spoils in 2013? Another hotly contested season is predicted and several clubs are expected to be in the mix in the coming months, all fielding a combination of established players, new stars not long out of school and Hurricanes squad members - several of whom have been allocated to various clubs. There’s also a Japanese connection in there, with Honda Heat players Kaito Morikawa (Poneke) and Koji Nakata (Wests Roosters) in Wellington for the early part of the season on a player exchange.

Last year’s first round saw Hutt Old Boys Marist sweep to the title, finishing clear at the top with a game in hand. Playing an attractive brand of positive rugby, the Eagles won 10 of their 11 matches, their only loss to Northern United who finished sixth. After a hard fought second round, Marist St Pat’s got up to defeat defending Jubilee Cup champions Oriental-Rongotai in the final in pouring rain.

HOBM also recently defended their pre-season New Zealand Marist club title, the Spillane Shield, winning for the fourth consecutive time with wins over Taranaki’s Tukapa and Auckland Marist.

Few people will go past Ories as not being in the hunt again this season, particularly given it’s the club’s 125th Anniversary season.Ories’ Eastern Suburbs’ rivals MSP look set to be strong again, with several losses offset by new players, while Poneke pushed Sydney Shute Shield side Northern Suburbs close last weekend in their final hit out.

Old Boys University have a new coaching team, with Phil Proctor on board from Ories and former OBU player and Hurricnae Shannon Paku - both helping Paddy Gough try and realise their potential and take them into the Jubilee Cup.

The Wests Roosters should be a threat to many teams in the first round - provided they can keep their top players fit and on the field. Injuries haven’t been kind to the Roosters in recent seasons.

Tawa were a threat all last year and have a very settled look about them, and in Steve So’oialo and Willie Lafaele they could have one of the most dynamic halfback-first five-eighth combinations in the competition.? Up the road at Porirua Park, most of Norths’ key players are back for the year.

Of HOBM’s rival Hutt clubs, Petone and Wainuiomata and Upper Hutt will all introduce new players to the fray this year, while Rimutaka will want to consolidate their place in Premier rugby with an improved second season in the Swindale Shield.

There’s five interclub trophies on the line in the first round of the Swindale Shield.

MSP and OBU play for both the Bill Brien Challenge Shield? and the Jack Lamason Cup.

MSP are the holders of the Bill Brien Shield, named after the publican and Wellington rugby identity who sadly passed away two years ago. Like the Ranfurly Shield, the Bill Brien Cup is put on the line in all the holder’s home matches.

The Jack Lamason Cup is in recognition of the man who was a legendary figure in Wellington sport before and after the Second World War. He played senior cricket for WCOB for 20 years, represented Wellington and toured England with the New Zealand team in 1937.He also played senior rugby for WCOB, being captain and later coach. He represented Wellington from 1929-36 and was part of the 1930 Ranfurly Shield winning team coached by the renowned Norman Millard.

Norths and Poneke play for the Cyril Collett Memorial Shield, after the man who played for the Porirua club throughout the 1950s. One of Cyril’s sons, Paul, played for Porirua in the 1970s and the other, Bruce, for Poneke in the 1970s, so this trophy marks that association.

Petone and Wests meet for the Gareth Head Memorial Trophy. Gareth Head played his early rugby for Onslow before moving to Petone in 1966 and played over 100 Senior games for both Petone and Wellington,? before turning his hand to coaching at Petone. The Wests club was formed from in 1982 and it was to Gareth Head they turned to coach their Premier side in its inaugural season. Two seasons later Gareth was back at Petone and teamed up with long-time teammate Andy Leslie. He helped establish the Ken Gray Academy at Petone and was an active member of the 1985 Centennial Committee. His sudden death at age 54 in January 1997 was a great loss to the Wellington rugby community.

Tawa and Upper Hutt contest the Mexted Motors Cup. The Mexted Motors Cup was donated by Ken Gethings, from the Upper Hutt Club and owner of Gethings Motors in Upper Hutt, and the Mexted family, who have strong links to Tawa RFC and Mexted Motors in Tawa.

There’s also plenty of interest in the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield, which starts this Monday alongside the Swindale Shield, with the top teams of four separate clubs vying for a place in the Hardham Cup in the second round and then for promotion to the Swindale Shield.

Recent Premier clubs Avalon and Johnsonville are joined by Paremata-Plimmerton and the Wellington Axemen, the latter sweeping all before them in last year’s first round Senior 2 National Mutual Cup and then winning the second round Ed Chaney Cup. These clubs are desperate to finish inside the top four of the 12-team first round Harper Lock Shield, but blocking their way are the second XVs from eight other Premier clubs. MSP are the defending champions in this grade.

In the match of the round in this grade, Wellington and Johnsonville square off for the Mike Kenny Cup in what could be one of the big early season clashes. Last year’s champions MSP and second placed OBU also meet in another key first round Senior 1 contest, while Petone and Avalon meet for the Morgan Family Trophy.

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