Above: Petone scores on fulltime to beat Poneke 28-21 in their 125th anniversary match this week in 2010. In association with Lovelocks Sports Bar on Bond Street in Wellington, some highlights from this week in Wellington club rugby history are below. 7 May 1955: Former Petone first five-eighth Jackie Dougan has made the switch to Onslow and today makes his debut for his new club against his former one. Petone win the match 6-3. Petone and University, who defeat Taita 27-6, are the two unbeaten teams after three rounds...More

“I’m nothing special, but I’m pretty loud. I put my hand up to do most things,” Mitchell Gough responds when asked why he was appointed head prefect of Rongotai College last year. The 18-year-old hooker recently showcased his superior work ethic at Poneke by playing five games of rugby in a week, celebrating four wins and a starting Premier debut. On Friday, April 20, Gough played 80 minutes for the Colts in their 40-15 win over Avalon. The next day Poneke’s Premier hooker Kelvin Harper was injured not long after the opening exchanges against Johnsonville so Gough steeped up for 70 minutes in a 25-15 victory...More

Above: The Northern United Colts beat defending champions Petone on Saturday. This coming weekend, Petone turns to play undefeated Marist St Pat's.  The dust has settled on another big weekend of rugby around Wellington, leaving many questions still to be answered over the final five weeks of the Swindale Shield. The feature game of this coming weekend’s Swindale Shield 10th round is a replay of last year’s final between Old Boys University and the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles for the Wood Cup at Nairnville Park...More

Above: Ben Power surges over to score for Hutt Old Boys Marist against Tawa today. Wellington club rugby Swindale Shield frontrunners the Hutt Old Boys Eagles returned to winning ways today in the ninth round of the competition on a blustery afternoon – but only just. The HOBM Eagles held on to beat Tawa 30-28 in a thriller the Hutt Recreation Ground this afternoon in a match the visitors should have won after being awarded a penalty on fulltime but they opted to turn down the penalty shot in favour of an attacking scrum and failed to score a try...More

Above: Brad Shields captains a Hurricanes side with five changes to that which overcame the Sunwolves last week. Kick-off at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night is at 7.35pm.  The Hurricanes have made five changes to the side that struggled against the Sunwolves last week as they prepare for a grudge match against the top South African team, the Lions. The Hurricanes will be looking for redemption after they were dumped out of the semi-finals by the Lions last year in Johannesburg. In the forwards, Jeff Toomaga-Allen moves into the front row with Vaea Fifita returning to lock after a week off whilst Gareth Evans also steps in for Reed Prinsep at number 8...More

With just five rounds remaining the last month of matches and the final run-in towards the end of the Swindale Shield and on to either the Jubilee or Hardham Cup. Some teams will be looking to maintain their position, others to make a late move into contention. There are also significant games across all other grades, and college rugby gets underway as well marking the first weekend that fields across the region are full. Old Timers’ Day festivities also continuing, with both Poneke and Oriental-Rongotai holding theirs this weekend...More

There is a glimmer of hope coming out of Helston Park for Johnsonville supporters this season with the under 85kg side experiencing early success. The Johnsonville under 85kg Terrahawks team are two from two to start the season, putting them on top of the overall JC Bowl ladder. Johnsonville started with a 41-19 win over Marist St Pat’s Reds in round one, then backed it up with a 51-0 win over Hutt Old Boys Marist the following week. They will be looking to improve on last year’s performance in the 85kg Restricted JC Bowl where they won only two games to finish sixth...More

The 2017, St Patrick’s College, Silverstream First XV was historic for many reasons. Perhaps their most unique distinction was the fact they didn’t attempt a single penalty kick for the entire season. Joining only nine other teams in the school’s history to have won all six traditional matches, last year’s side also set a school record for scoring, amassing 982 points in 18 games. Silverstream will start their defence of the First XV Premiership as favourites, but coach Tim Mannix isn’t getting too far ahead of himself...More

We’re now officially in the down trou part of the season. That’s where teams manage to drop a match they should never drop. Usually, at this point it’s the Chiefs who do this, while the Highlanders grind out narrow wins to remain in touch. It doesn’t typically happen to the Crusaders, and the Canes make a point of getting their humiliation out of the way first up, and always overseas. The Blues, of course, are way past that now, having actually no longer any trousers of any description and not even a trip to K Mart scheduled to buy some more...More

Try time in last year's Premier 2 final between St Pat's Silverstream and St Bernard's College. Silverstream on 27-22, doing the double in the top two grades.  The local College Rugby scene gets underway in earnest on Saturday with qualification and grading matches across the grades. Tranzit Coachlines 1st XV Festival As normal now, last year’s Premiership top four return to the top grade by right and instead of the qualifying process will again take part on the Tranzit Coachlines-sponsored 1st XV Festival over the next three weekends instead...More