Local bragging rights at stake on Derby Day this Saturday

No laughing matter: Both Johnsonville and Norths, who met last week in a one-point thriller, will be hoping for convincing performances in Saturday's third round of the Swindale Shield.

Round 3 of the Swindale Shield is Derby Day, with local bragging rights at stake and with it that extra bit of intensity derby games bring. Teams will also be aware though of the short turn-around as the season enters the compressed part of the schedule with four games in the next two weeks; and there is the possibility that with the Hurricanes having the bye this week that some players will turn out in club colours.?

Meanwhile, all other grades start their competition season this weekend, marking the first week with a full slate of games on.

Premier Swindale Shield

The headline clash is at the Petone Rec where the home side welcomes Hutt Old Boys Marist for the McBain Shield clash, and Club Rugby's Extra Time game of the week,in association with Holden Bros.Media. While both sides have identical records of a win and a loss so far this season, their form coming in is anything but. HOBM were comfortable winners over Poneke last weekend while Petone were easily beaten by OBU and will need a big turnaround if they are to claim back the silverware.? Look for a feature on the McBain Shield on Club Rugby tomorrow.

Further south across the water is the playing of the Horan-Miller Trophy between Marist St Pats and Poneke, aka the The Battle of Kilbirnie. Although MSP are the designated home team, the match will be played at the home of their opponents, Kilbirnie Park, owing to the refurbishment work at Evans Bay Park. One of only three unbeaten sides remaining, MSP started and finished strong against the Upper Hutt Rams, but will have some concerns that they let a 17-3 lead slip to 24-21 at one stage. Poneke were well-handled by HOBM last week, with two late tries giving some respectability to the scoreline. MSP are the holders of the Horan-Miller Trophy, having won last year's game 27-24

Another team making their ‘home' debut this season in different surroundings is Old Boys-University. Like MSP their normal home ground, Nairnville Park, is undergoing refurbishment and the Basin Reserve will not be available for the Goats until the end of May. On Saturday their home game will also be at the ground of their opponents when they take on Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Ground after OBU requested a shift from the originally scheduled venue of Ian Galloway Park. Both sides come in on the back of dominant wins; Ories over the Axemen and OBU over Petone, so this could be a barn-burner of a match.

At Hataitai Park the two promoted teams, Wellington and Johnsonville, face off with the Mick Kenny Memorial Cup at stake. Johnsonville will feel desperately unlucky to have lost to Norths at the death, but do have a pair of bonus points to show for their efforts so far. That's two more points than their hosts have accumulated who were given a rude taste of life in the Swindale Shield when they were simply blown off the park by Ories. Last year the two sides played this fixture in the opening round of the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield with Johnsonville prevailing in a low-scoring encounter 5-3, before the Axemen reversed that 21-0 when the sides met in the Hardham Cup. Barring a draw, one of these sides will notch their first Swindale win since either 2006 (Johnsonville) or 2001 (Wellington).

Porirua Park sees home side Norths and visitors Tawa clash for the Sammy Saili Memorial Trophy. Tawa won a rollicking contest by a single point, 28-27, last year and have started this season with all guns blazing to top the table in their title defence with resounding wins over HOBM and Wainuiomata. With 41 points in two matches, James So'oialo has more by himself than five Premier sides have managed so far. In contrast Norths lost first up to MSP and only just squeaked past Johnsonville. On form it's hard to see this particular interclub trophy changing hands, but who knows what might happen if the home side clicks.

The last Premier match sees Wainuiomata make their first appearance at William Jones Park with the Upper Hutt Rams the visitors. The Rams fought their way back into the game from an early hole against MSP but ultimately came up short, while Wainuiomata ran into the Tawa buzzsaw and will want to bounce back and notch their first win of the season. On the line is this match is the Peter Jones/Dave Ritchie Cup, which Wainuiomata won 22-13 at the same venue last year.

All Premier games are 3pm kickoffs

Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield

There are some interesting clashes in this week's Harper Lock Shield Senior 1 matches with five teams having notched wins in both the opening two weeks. In games that are curtain-raisers between the same clubs to the Premier games that follow Wainuiomata are up against unbeaten Upper Hutt at 1pm, with 1.15pm kickoffs for Petone against HOBM, unbeaten sides Norths and Tawa, and OBU face Ories. The other 1.15pm game has MSP hosting Paremata-Plimmerton - who are also undefeated - at Kilbirnie Park. In the only 3pm kickoff former Premier clubs Avalon and Wests clash at Fraser Park, with their current fortunes going in very different directions.

Colts

The Colts grade kicks into action with 10 games across three divisions. In the Paris Memorial Trophy Division 1 the opening game is under lights at Te Whaea on Friday night at 7.30pm with two-time defending champions Old Boys-University Green facing Oriental-Rongotai. Saturday's games are all 1.15 kickoffs with Norths against Wellington at Porirua Park, MSP playing Poneke at Kilbirnie, and Petone Blue against HOBM; the latter two fixtures adding to the interclub matchups of the day.

The Division 2 JRD Cup matches also start on Friday night with the Upper Hutt Rams Maroon squad playing OBU Black on the Maidstone artificial at 7.30pm. On Saturday Kapiti plays Johnsonville at Paraparaumu at 1.15, with Avalon facing Tawa at Fraser Park at 3pm.

Division 3 games are all on Saturday, with OBU White taking on Paremata-Plimmerton at Prince of Wales, Wainuiomata host the Rams' Orange team, while Petone White are at home against Otaki-based club Rahui.?

Other grades

In the Senior 2 matches OBU takes on Johnsonville at Prince of Wales Park and MSP play Poneke in a pair of 1pm kickoffs. In 1.15 games Petone play HOBM, Wellington play Upper Hutt and Avalon and Wests play the curtain-raiser to their first sides, assuming the latter can field a team this week. The final game is Norths against Stokes Valley on the #2 field at Porirua Park at 3pm.

This week sees the start of the Women's Fleurs Trophy. Club Rugby previewed this grade in a story on Wednesday, with the opening round of matches pitting champions Norths against Wainuiomata, OBU face Oriental-Rongotai, Poneke-MSP take on Avalon, and competition returnees Stokes Valley play newcomers Tawa.

The Under 85kg grade has been split across two divisions. In the Division 1 JC Bowl the 4-time defending champion MSP Blues face the Wellington Axemen at Martin Luckie Park, the OBU Spartans play MSP Reds at Prince of Wales, Eastbourne visits the Poneke Cavs at Kilbirnie, while Stokes Valley welcome Upper Hutt to Delaney Park, with all matches 3pm kickoffs. The final game in this round between the OBU Bunnies and the Tawa Titans has been postponed until Wednesday night.

In Division 2 games Waikanae hosts Paremata-Plimmerton, Johnsonville play MSP Green, Wainuiomata take on Hutt Old Boys Marist, and Avalon faces the Wests Roosters. Petone has the bye.

Lastly, both the Reserve and Presidents grades also start this weekend. The Reserve grade competition has been expanded with the inclusion of teams entered for the Senior 3 grade, which has been abandoned owing to a lack of entries. In all there are 9 Reserve grade and 7 Presidents grade games on.

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