Above: Joe Apikotoa and his Tawa counterparts at fulltime having given it their all in their Swindale Shield match earlier in the season. HOBM won the match 28-22 with Apikatoa at blindside flanker, and the following week they claimed the first cub rugby round title Up until late July, Joe Apikotoa’s 2015 had been dedicated to his club rugby with Hutt Old Boys Marist and working as a construction labourer. That was until he got an unexpected call from Wellington Lions Coach Earl Va’a...More

Above: Action from the National U19 tournament in Taupo last year, where several players are now making their marks in the ITM Cup  A full programme of Hurricanes Youth Council U16, U18, U19 and U20 Development rugby started this past weekend and runs through to the start of October. The U20 Development teams from Wanganui, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Wairarapa-Bush and Poverty Bay side are in action over the next three weekends in a round-robin series at the Sport and Rugby Institute at Massey University...More

Above: The Bishop Viard College First XV celebrating their Premier 2 college win today over St Bernard’s College, winning 27-24. Wainuiomata High School beat Newlands College 20-10 to claim the Premier 3 title. In a repeat of the Wellington WelTec Premiership final a fortnight ago, local champions St Pat’s Town and Scots College will clash in the Hurricanes region First XV final next Saturday (venue TBC). In today's Hurricanes region semi-finals, St Pat’s Town beat Hastings Boys' High School 20-13, and Scots and Gisborne Boys’ High School drew 33-all...More

Above: Action from the Festival series last week, which continues today at the Petone Rec with Wellington City and Wellington Maori playing at 1.00pm and Wellington Samoans and Wellington Suburbs meeting at 2.30pm. Club Rugby Just three grades remain in action, all at the semi-finals stage Under 85kg Restricted Division 1 Paul Potiki Shield Kilbirnie and Lyndhurst Parks are the venues for the two semi-finals; the Poneke Cav’s went through the round-robin undefeated and will host the Wellington Axemen who’s victory over the MSP Reds propelled them past HOBM on the table and into the fourth spot and will be looking to reverse the 16-15 result to Poneke from three weeks ago, while the Cav’s will ensure a home final should they again prevail...More

Jubilee Cup hero Joe Hill speaks casually of his career, yet the Jim Brown medal winner proves to have a happy knack of making an impact when it matters most. The OBU goat’s two-try-hero of the Jubilee Cup final versus Marist St Pat’s kept his purple patch alive last weekend as the Wellington Lions kicked off their championship campaign with a tight 19-12 win over Taranaki, the reigning Premiership champions. His recent try-scoring feats have all come at the right time; it was only three seasons ago that OBU were contesting the Hardham Cup final- a game where he scored a brace once more- now, fast-forward to 2015 and the Premier side he has toiled with for many years have been crowned Jubilee champions...More

Hoani Matenga made a promise to his dying father a decade ago. He told John, a respected Aranui High School teacher, he would try and became the best rugby player he could be. After leaving Christchurch Boys' High School in 2004, the lock or loose forward settled in Dunedin and completed a degree in marketing and tourism. Additionally he played for the University club, at that time coached by internationals Josh Kronfeld and Josh Leslie. In 2009 he earned his first-class debut for Otago against Canterbury...More

Match Details Result: Wellington 42 – Fiji 21 When: 17 April 1988Weather: Fine, surface hard and fast: Crowd: 20,000 The Tour A South Pacific Championship (SPC) match. This was one of four early season matches Wellington was to play at home against Fiji between 1986-1992 as part of the SPC. The SPC was a forerunner to Super Rugby, instigated by the New South Wales and Queensland unions to give them more meaningful games. The six-team SPC involved the two leading Australian provinces at the time, Wellington, Auckland and Canterbury and Fiji who were then  the strongest Pacific Island rugby nation...More

Above: The Old Boys University Goats second XV celebrating their Ed Chaney Cup win today over Marist St Pat’s Old Boys University and Hutt Old Boys Marist won two of the Wellington club rugby Championship titles on the line today, the Ed Chaney and John E Kelly Cups. Two weeks after their top side raised the Jubilee Cup high after being Marist St Pat’s, Old Boys University’s second XV defeated their Marist St Pat’s counterparts today to win the Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup...More

As the local season rapidly draws to a close, this weekend sees another slate of club finals, remaining grades in their last round-robin outing, and the majority of college semi-finals taking place. Premier Reserve Ed Chaney and HD Morgan Memorials A shade less than two weeks after their Premier sides fought out the Jubilee Cup final, Old Boys-University and Marist St Pats’ second XVs will meet to decide who claims the Ed Chaney Memorial Cup. Like their Premiers, OBU only just scraped into the top echelon at the conclusion of the Harper Lock Shield after playing in the Hardham Cup in prior years under the old club format, but in the second round have dropped only a single game – a crossover match to Oriental-Rongotai...More

Above: The Northern United and Hutt Old Boys Marist Colts teams celebrating their respective semi-final wins last weekend UPDATED (WITH TEAMS AT THE BOTTOM): Hutt Old Boys Marist will be hoping its third time lucky while Northern United will be chasing their first title in this grade since 2010 when their Colts teams meet at Jerry Collins Stadium in the final of the Division 1 John E Kelly Cup on Saturday afternoon. Both will arrive primed for the final having won their semi-finals away from home...More