Home stretch to playoffs starts this weekend

The home stretch to the semi-finals starts this weekend across most grades of Senior club rugby in Wellington, with the fortunes of a number of contenders hanging in the balance and others poised to qualify for the playoffs.

Jubilee Cup

Round five of the Jubilee Cup looms particularly large for a number of teams, with every clash pitting teams against another one close to them on the points table.

The contender for who this week is most crucial is probably Wainuiomata. Lying sixth with five points, last year’s semi-finalists welcome Marist St Pat’s to William Jones Park. A loss for the home side would probably spell the death-knell for their chances, whereas a win could see them vault their opponents on the table and keep them on the fringe of contention.

For MSP (fifth on 9 points), a loss would put a dent in their hopes, the severity of which would be determined by the results of the two matches between the four teams ahead of them on the table, while a win would put them back in the hunt with two home games yet to play.

In the first round match between these two Wainuiomata beat MSP at Evans Bay by 31-24. On their last visit to William Jones Park in last year’s Swindale Shield, MSP tipped over the home side 21-16.

In the matches featuring the current top four positioned sides, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa have the opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack this weekend.

The HOBM Eagles (leaders 18 points) welcome Oriental-Rongotai (third on 14 points)on to the Hutt Rec this Saturday, knowing a victory would all but cement a home semi-final in three weeks time.

To do that though they will have to start better than they did last week when they trailed Old Boys-University 3-19 at halftime – a margin that easily could have been worse if not for a last-ditch ankle tap – before a resounding second half saw them home.

Ories similarly went through a horror stretch last week where they coughed up 24 unanswered points to MSP before rallying to secure a 27-all draw and a win for them this week could have them topping the table on Saturday night.

HOBM won the earlier meeting of the two this season 30-25 at the Polo Ground way back in Round two of the Swindale Shield, while last year’s Jubilee Cup meeting was a resounding 44-13 win for Ories.

Tawa could also be top of the table on Saturday night if HOBM loses and they beat OBU away at Nairnville Park for the second time this season, having won the Swindale encounter 22-19; while the Billy Goats will look to atone for last week’s second half in front of home support.

Tawa (second on 15 points) bounced back from the previous week to take care of business at home against Poneke and at the very least a win will keep them in line to host a semi-final at Lyndhurst Park, before a potentially tricky trip away to MSP next week. OBU (fourth on 11 points) will look to keep themselves clear of those behind them with a win, but a loss could have them on the outside looking in if MSP topple Wainuiomata.

The final Jubilee Cup match is the bottom of the table clash between Poneke (seventh on 3 points) and Petone (last on 2 points) at Kilbirnie Park. Both sides are winless and with their hopes of making the semi-finals only flickering, the loser’s hopes would be extinguished for the year after this weekend.

The first round Swindale Shield clash for the FJ Tilyard Shield between these sides was a thriller, Petone coming from behind to prevail 25-24 on their Old Timers’ Day.

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Hardham Cup

Realistically Upper Hutt and Wellington have secured two of the four semi-final places, and despite last week’s loss Northern United are all but there as well; while at the other end Avalon’s and Rimutaka’s hopes are virtually gone and as they are yet to play each other have only a limited role as spoilers left.

The real interest is in the scrap for the fourth playoff spot, and for Johnsonville and the Wests Roosters that final place in next year’s Swindale Shield.

This week looms as a pivotal one for Johnsonville as they make the trek up State Highway 2 to take on Rimutaka at Maoribank Park. Coming off an impressive late surge to put away the Roosters by a resounding margin last week, that result will count for little if they can’t take care of the Rams on Saturday; and with them still yet to play Upper Hutt and Norths a bonus point win will be highly coveted.

Rimutaka finally got their score into double-digits last week but that wasn’t enough to see them head off OBU B and anything less than a bonus point win will confirm their return to Senior 1 level in 2014. Last year Rimutaka headed off Johnsonville in both the Hardham Cup round-robin (16-15 at Helston Park) and the promotion-relegation matches (28-19 at Maoribank) to keep their Premier status.

For Wests, last week’s loss was a major setback with poor discipline again their undoing. They host Norths this week at The Cage at Ian Galloway Park in a match that can set both sides destinies.

If Wests were to prevail they would favour their chances of at least retaining their Premier status with OBU B and Rimutaka yet to play, while a loss for Norths would not be terminal, it would be a setback in their hopes for a home semi-final. Conversely Norths will want to redeem themselves for an error-strewn performance in their loss to Upper Hutt last week and a win will keep them in the hunt for a top-two spot and force Wests into an even more desperate situation.

The match between the two earlier this year was a try-fest at Porirua Park, a scarcely believable 97-48 scoreline. It will be a shock if half that many points were scored this weekend.

The third side in that hunt are OBU B. While ineligible for a Swindale berth, they would want to emulate the accomplishment of Norths B (2011) and MSP B (2012) as second sides to make the Hardham Cup semis. This week in the early kick-off at 12.30 pm they host the? Wellington Axemen on the neutral turf of Helston Park where they have already tasted victory this year, beating Johnsonville 29-28 way back in the second week of the season.

Both sides can advance their respective cases, OBU for that semi’s berth and the Axemen to host one at Hataitai Park, with a win while loss will put these sort-term aspirations in jeopardy. In their earlier meeting this season the Axemen trounced OBU by 62-3, though this was during the period when OBU’s senior sides were weakened by having players away with the NZ Universities team.

The final clash sees Upper Hutt make the short trip south to take on Avalon at Fraser Park for the first meeting between the clubs top sides since Round 11 of the 2011 Swindale Shield.

The unbeaten men from Maidstone will be heavy favourites to keep their lead at the top of the standings, but with really only pride to play for Avalon will look to see if they can claim a Premier scalp.

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Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup

This week is the halfway point in the nine-round Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup. With the bottom two sides to drop out to the Senior 2 grade next season this competition also impacts the quality of depth a club’s Premier side has to call on.

The feature game this weekend is the table topping clash between Paremata-Plimmerton and Tawa at Ngatitoa Domain at 2.15 pm. Last year’s runners-up Pare-Plim are unbeaten with their only blemish in this competition so far a draw with MSP and come off a low-scoring win over HOBM last weekend. Tawa’s only setback was a narrow loss to Petone and come into this match on the back of a 66-12 drubbing of Upper Hutt.

Of the two sides promoted from the Senior 2 grade at midseason third-placed Ories travel to Porirua to take on Norths (seventh), while HOBM (fifth) welcome Upper Hutt (10th) on to the Hutt Rec in the early game.

The other matches mirror the following Jubilee Cup fixtures. Wainuiomata (fourth) host MSP (ninth) at William Jones and Petone (eighth) travels to Kilbirnie to play Poneke (sixth).

All games bar the Pare-Plim v Tawa match are 12.15 pm kickoffs.

Senior 2 HD Morgan Cup

The Senior 2 HD Morgan Cup this week sees the two unbeaten sides so far both playing at home. Wests hosts Norths in The Cage at Ian Galloway Park, while Avalon will face Petone at Fraser Park.

Both sides will be looking to get a break on the chasing pack, especially since third-placed OBU and fourth-placed Stokes Valley meet each other at Prince of Wales Park. The other two matches see the third Wainuiomata v MSP match-up of the day, this one at Mary Crowther Park, while Poneke and Johnsonville clash at Kilbirnie Park.

All matches are 12.30 pm kickoffs

Lower Grades

In the Women's Victoria Tavern Trophy Avalon welcomes the combined MSP-Poneke side on to the back fields at Fraser Park in a match-up of winless teams. Second-placed Ories travel to Wainuiomata (third) at Mary Crowther Park while the final match sees OBU host table-topping Norths at Newlands Park.

All matches are 11.30 am kickoffs

In Colts Division 1 action Ories and HOBM Green take to the turf at Te Whaea under the lights on Friday night at 7.35 pm. On Saturday Petone hosts Poneke at the Petone Rec at 12.30 pm and Johnsonville travel to meet Norths at Porirua Park at 2.15 pm. In the final game competition leaders, and unbeaten all season, OBU Green host the young Axemen at Prince of Wales also at 2.15 pm.

The Senior 3 grade games this week have Rimutaka hosting MSP in the early game at Maoribank, while the HOBM Barbarians, Upper Hutt, and Wellington host Petone, Ories, and Tawa respectively, all at 2.15 pm. The HOBM Originals have the bye this week.

The feature lightweights Paul Potiki Shield clash this weekend is the all MSP match-up between the all-conquering Blues side and their Reds counterparts on the artificial at St Pats college at 3.00 pm. The other Division 1 clashes have the Tawa Titans taking on the OBU Bunnies at Lyndhurst Park at 12.30 pm, while Eastbourne host Wellington by the sea at HW Shortt at 2.30 pm.

Only three College Premier 1 games are scheduled for Saturday, all with 2.30 pm kickoffs. In the final round of round-robin games Rongotai College and Wellington College face off in their traditional match at Rongotai, with HIBS hosting Scots out in Trentham. The third game sees Naenae College, coming off a strong win over Rongotai last week, host a Porirua College team buoyed by their upset win over St Pats Town last weekend.

The fourth game of the round will be played on Wednesday, when competition leaders St Pats Silverstream host their Town rivals in the annual Traditional.