Big guns assist Ories to big win over Axemen and Johnsonville push Norths close

UPDATED: A comfortable win for a Hurricanes-laden Oriental-Rongotai and a near-upset for Johnsonville were two of the many talking points in an electrifying second round set of Swindale Shield matches played in hard and fast conditions around Wellington this afternoon.

Ories rolled out the big guns today against Wellington and it showed on the scoreboard, the 2011 Jubilee Cup champions having far too much firepower for the Wellington Axemen in winning 55-7.

On a stinking hot Wellington afternoon for rugby and with a starting XV that included Hurricanes hooker Motu Matu'u, Ardie Savea and Matt Proctor, and Mark Reddish and Wellington wing Afa Fa'atau on the bench, Ories overwhelmed the Axemen to win the Alby Jack Memorial Cup.

All were into their work early. Rake Motu'u made a crunching first-up tackle, No. 8 Savea had a direct hand in Ories' first two tries, fullback Proctor bagged a double and Ories led 26-0 with a quarter of the game gone.

Trailing 0-33 at halftime, the Axemen made a concerted effort to get themselves back in the game, scoring a well-deserved converted try. But enter Reddish and Wellington Lions wing Afa Fa'atau, this pair combining for the try of the match after a period of pressure from the Axemen in their 22 and a ?breakout and 80-metre run upfield. This put the result beyond doubt.

After pushing Poneke close last week, Johnsonville almost went all the way today against former multiple champions Northern United.

Johnsonville led 15-13 in the shadows of fulltime, but couldn't hold off Norths at the end who attacked inside the 22 and then slotted the winning kick with time almost up.?

For a full match report of the Johnsvonville-Norths game see below.

In other second round Swindale Shield matches, there were wins for Marist St Pat's, Tawa, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Old Boys University.

MSP and Tawa are the only two sides to have won their opening two matches. MSP lowered the Upper Hutt Rams colours at Maidstone Park, winning 36-21 and defending champions Tawa beat Wainuiomata 46-13.

In a tight contest, this week's Holden Bros Media Club Rugby Extra Time game of the round saw MSP leading Upper Hutt 29-21, before winning a tighthead scrum win and prevailing 36-21.

Like they did last week, Tawa absorbed all sorts of pressure from Wainuiomata at home at Lyndhurst Park for the Chris Stirling Cup, the 33-point winning scoreline somewhat flattering. Centre Tu Umaga-Marshall, a former Wainuiomata player, scored a double for the home side.

Hutt Old Boys Marist bounced back from their big defeat at the hands of Tawa last week to beat Poneke 33-20 for the Roy John Trophy. HOBM led from start to finish and had the result in the bag at 33-8 before a late flourish from the red and blacks pegged them back.

HOBM's next assignment next Saturday is the famous McBain Shield fixture against Petone, who suffered a 13-42 loss to the Old Boys University Fighting Billy Goats at home.

OBU failed to take their chances in their loss in the first round, but bounced back to repel Petone with a comfortable victory. Their mobile forwards and dangerous backs combined well all day and right from the get-go when wing Te Wehi Wright scored their first try from a long-range breakout, they were on-song. Wright and Openside flanker Tom Lawday both scored two tries.

In Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield action, there is no doubt that Avalon will be one of the teams to beat in this grade in the first round this season.

After dispatching Petone by 35 points in their opener, Avalon comfortably beat Ories 46-17 in the early game at the Polo Ground.

Avalon climbed into their work early, scoring two converted tries and leading 14-0. They brought up their four-try bonus point just before halftime and led 34-7 at the turnaround.

Tawa were also rampant for the second week in a row in dispatching Wainuiomata 48-0 in the Lyndhurst Park curtain-raiser, while Northern United's second XV put the once proud Wests Roosters to the sword, 58-0.?

Paremata-Plimmerton and the Upper Hutt Rams are the two other unbeaten sides in this grade after a fortnight. Para-Plim edged out HOBM 15-12 and the Rams defeated MSP 24-20 in another tight one.

Petone beat Old Boys University 18-17 in a thriller.

The Senior 2 National Mutual Cup has seen seen two defaults in the first two weeks. Consequently, the Wellington Axemen second XV have played once but are out in front on a maximum 10 points after being defaulted to by Wests.

Petone, MSP and Poneke have two wins under their belts. Petone ousted OBU 26-20 in the battle of the 3rd XVs, MSP beat the Upper Hutt Rams 20-12 and Poneke downed HOBM 15-8.

Avalon beat Stokes Valley 41-10 and Johnsonville blanked Norths 28-0 in the other second round Senior 2 fixture.

Norths get out of jail against Johnsonville

By Jack Callender

In a tight affair, Northern United pipped Johnsonville in the dying seconds 16 - 15.

Both sides had made a few tweaks to their line-ups after round one losses.

Johnsonville made multiple changes to their starting 15, including shifting captain Corey Lawrence from openside flanker to hooker. For Norths, Cook Islands sevens representative Adam Vardey slotted in at halfback and Jackson Garden-Bachop returned from injury.

Helston Park was baked in sunshine as both teams expressed a willingness to attack.

Norths led early on in the contest through a Perry Hayman penalty before Thomas Donaldson replied for Johnsonville.

But Wellington Lions rep Jackson Garden-Bachop ran hard and straight and smoked past the would be tacklers of Johnsonville. This put Norths 10-3 up.

Norths and Johnsonville were both reduced to 14 players each after a brawl, and they remainder of the first half was full of vigour and energy from both sides. Norths went into the halftime 10 - 3 up on the back of outstanding defence from the forwards. Blindside flanker and captain Aiden Cains was inspirational, making over 10 tackles in the first half.

Despite many forays into the Johnsonville 22, staunch defence and a referee's call on a forward pass which would have hurt Norths as centre Perofeto Siliva looked in for a certain try.

However, the start of the second half was a scrappy affair with both sides conceding needless penalties. Both sides forayed for brief periods in each others half, but after another Perry Hayman penalty, Norths looked comfortable at 13-3 up.

Suddenly the tables turned

Johnsonville camped out in the Norths 22, a well worked backline move saw reserve winger Ash Vavili dot down in the corner. The crowd were on their feet when this occurred. Donaldson added the extras to make it 13 - 10.

The Norths supporters were left fuming later in the second half when lock Jared Matauto was yellow carded for hands in the ruck. This lifted the spirits for Johnsonville and another try was scored out wide to dynamic second five eighth Tama Makamaka. They took the lead 15 - 13 and they looked to have the game under wraps. The shocking lineout from Norths in the build up to that try certainly aided the Hawks.

However it wouldn't be club rugby without a few moments of drama.

Perry Hayman had a kickable penalty on the 22m line. Plenty of ‘advice' was given from the Johnsonville supporters in the build up to the kick. The kick sailed wide and the crowd were in raptures.

His day got worse as he bombed what looked to be a certain try for Norths on the far right hand side of the field. Quick hands from Garden-Bachop and Siliva put Hayman into a great position. But he dropped the football.

After another botched opportunity for Norths, the boisterous crowd of 300 became more certain that Johnsonville were going to hold on for the win.

But there was one final twist in the tail, Johnsonville were penalised at the breakdown in front of their own posts. Norths kicked the ball through the sticks to escape with a very fortunate win.

Having worked so hard to get back into the contest, Johnsonville snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Despite the loss, the second half belonged to Johnsonville. A reliable lineout and quick backline play off the scrum caught Norths napping on several occasions.

Norths were solid both on defence and attack. But were almost the masters of their own undoing.

Both sides will have plenty to work on before next Saturday. Norths will need to fix their lineout and quick before they face red hot Tawa at home, Johnsonville travel to Hataitai Park to face the Wellington Axemen who are also winless after two games.

?Man of the match: Jackson Garden - Bachop

Garden - Bachop played a blinder since coming back from injury. He was defensively sound, made a linebreak and kicked well. He clearly benefited from being in the Wellington Lions squad and with a calm head in the backline, he got them out of the 22 with his strong touch finders.