Above: Onslow - Jubilee Cup winners 1955. Photo credit below. In association with Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond Street in Wellington, some highlights from this week in Wellington club rugby history are below. This is the last in this series for this season. 21 August 1937: Athletic beat Wellington 20-0 to secure their second successive Jubilee Cup title, in the penultimate match of the season. Athletic (28 points) finish ahead of WCOB (25), Johnsonville (21) and Poneke (20). 22 August 1936: Interest has stirred to a high pitch by this meeting between WCOB and Athletic in the last match of the season to decide the Jubilee Cup title...More

Off the Ball is in association with Rob Law Max, Lovelocks Sports Bar,  Motor Doctors and Sarah Kilner Real Estate  Looking at some of the news in briefs, milestones, happenings, statistics and observations from the weekend of rugby just gone and what’s coming up this week. Another big weekend of rugby is in the history books, with club finals, college finals being contested and representative rugby starting up. Rugby fans can take a breath until next Saturday when it all starts up again, although there is a relatively 'light' programme of home matches this coming weekend...More

Above: St Pat's Silverstream flanker Ioan Apineru scores under the posts to take his side to a match-winning 26-15 lead late in the second half. Silverstream won 29-22. PHOTO: Andy McArthur. St Pat’s Silverstream go back to back in First XV competition St Patrick's College, Silverstream have become the first team since Wellington College in 2009 to successfully defend the Premier 1 championship - edging St Pat’s Town 29-22 in a bruising and gripping decider at Jerry Collins Stadium this afternoon...More

Members of the Upper Hutt Rams U85kg side after being presented with the Paul Potiki Shield today. Both the U85kg finals went 100 minutes. There were three more Wellington club rugby titles decided today, with the Upper Hutt Rams and Wellington annexing the two U85kg grade finals and the HOBM Barbarians winning the First Grade Division 1 silverware. The HOBM Barbarians completed an unbeaten season in beating the Stokes Valley Chiefs to win the Johnsonville Centtenium Cup. HOBM won 60-24 at home at the Hutt Recreation Ground...More

The Wellington Samoans - Festival Cup winners 2017. Can they defend their title? Teamlists below It’s a quiet but noisy weekend of rugby around the province as the club and college seasons wind to an end and representative rugby fires up in earnest. Club Three more titles will be decided tomorrow, with the championship round silverware to be handed out in the First Grade and both divisions of the Under 85kg grade, and two teams are looking to complete undefeated campaigns. First grade One of those are the Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians who are finally looking to claim the First Grade crown, the Johnsonville Centennium Cup, after missing out in the final the past two years and add it to the first-round Thompson Memorial Trophy they have already taken...More

Above: Aotea College take on the St Pat's Silverstream 2nd XV for the Murray Jensen Cup tomorrow. This weekend sees the end of the college XV’s season with their finals day. St Patrick’s College, Silverstream will again play host, with 10 finals and titles to be decided across the day. These follow the Girl’s finals that were played out on Wednesday night and ahead of the Premiership decider between Silverstream and St Pat’s Town on Sunday. Eleven schools have at least one team in a final this year with Wellington College topping that with four teams and Silverstream with three...More

Last year’s beaten finalists and the top qualifiers against the first time finalists. Neighbouring clubs and friends off the field but keen rivals on it. This Saturday’s Paul Potiki Memorial Shield Division 1 2018 decider has all the hallmarks of a cracking final. And there has been a few in this grade. Few will forget the MSP Blues beating the Tawa Titans 6-3 on penalties in 2014 or the Titans beating the Poneke Cavs 8-3 in 2015. Just last year, it was the Wellington Axemen beating the Avalon Wolves 20-17 at Hataitai Park...More

Truth is a pretty fluid concept these days in the modern leading countries of the world, but here in the backwaters, it’s still quaintly held on to.   Which made me wince a bit for Vaea Fifita when he was quoted as saying maybe Steve Hansen wasn’t telling him the truth over why he’s been dropped for the upcoming internationals.   The reason is supposedly that Fifita has played lock for the Hurricanes this season, when he’s seen as a blindside by himself, and the selectors...More

Above: northern United celebrating winning their second Jubilee Cup final, on this week in 2006. In association with Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond Street in Wellington, some highlights from this week in Wellington club rugby history are below.   13 August   1966: University beat Athletic 14-0 in today’s Jubilee Cup ‘final’, No. 8 Garry Hermansson and tight forwards, hooker Ken Grant and locks Kerry McDonald and Bob Gregory, battle hard into a strong wind and scores are locked 0-0 at halftime...More

Above: St Pat's Town face the St Pat's Silverstream pre-match challenge when they met a few weeks ago in their midweek Traditional. PHOTO: Andy McArthur. St Patrick’s College, Silverstream have won 21 games in a row in the Premiership competition and haven’t lost to their Grand Final opponent, St Patrick’s College, Wellington since 2015. The last time Stream played Town the former prevailed by a record score of 52-10. How can David topple Goliath at Jerry Collins Stadium, Porirua on Sunday? “Chop ‘em down at the ankles,” responds openside flanker Sam Donaldson...More