UPDATE: Please check Draws & Results across the top of this page for confirmed kick-offs and venues - some of these have changed since this article was published. With so much of the focus on the goings-on in the Premier divisions, and in particular the Jubilee Cup, it’s easy to forget that there are five other competitions that are also lining up for the Finals Day at the Petone Rec on August 5. We take a look at the situations in each of those five grades plus the top divisions of the First Grade and Under 85s as normal, with the regular look at the Jubilee and Hardham Cups to follow tomorrow Note: With this week’s inclement weather all venues and times given are as per the initial WRFU draw, and it seems highly likely that there will be at least some changes...More

Above: Hastings Boys' High School No 8 Devan Flanders (left) and first five-eighth Lincoln McClutchie are in the Hurricanes U18s starting side. Photos by Andy McArthur. The Hurricanes U18s (Gusts) side has been named to play the Crusaders U18s (Squires) for this coming Saturday’s one-off fixture at Westpac Stadium at 5.10pm. Players from twenty seven secondary schools and two clubs in the Hurricanes region have been selected in the Gusts squad. The announcement of the final Hurricanes Under-18 team comes at the end of an exhaustive five-day development camp at Rathkeale College in Masterton...More

9.36pm Saturday, I text my partner: We drew!She: Will they play another game?Me: Yes! In twelve years time . . . So before we start the countdown, here are some random observations. No doubt you'll have your own. The Lions were a very good side. For that to happen is little short of a miracle, and a huge compliment to all involved.They were not a great side, but they had a wonderful stickability, a fair dose of flair, and clearly came up with a pre-tour strategy that they stuck with and bedded in...More

Above: TJ (left) and Hemi Fermanis at Lyndhurst Park last Saturday after Tawa’s 30-20 win against Petone in the Jubilee Cup. If Tawa kick on to defend this year’s Jubilee Cup title, the Fermanis brothers would have played a leading hand in their success. The brothers, TJ, Hemi and Ezra (currently injured) personify the community club’s recent success, through their dedication, loyalty and all-action style of play that invariably swings close results in their favour. This coming Saturday against Oriental-Rongotai, oldest brother TJ runs on to his home track to make his 100th Premier start for Tawa, while youngest Hemi goes into this Saturday’s Jubilee Cup round as the Billy Wallace Best & Fairest competition leader with just two regular season matches plus playoffs to come...More

Above: Frae Wilson gets a pass underway for Wainuiomata in their 27-24 first round win over the Upper Hutt Rams earlier this year. Photo by Hugh Pretorius.  Frae Wilson was a recruit in the 2008 Wellington Rugby Academy class and played his first season of Premier rugby with Petone. However, Wilson’s stay at the Villagers was brief. The first two friends he made in the capital after returning from Hawke’s Bay were Shahn Eru and Genesis Mamea. “Shahn and Genesis convinced me to go over the hill to Wainui...More

Above: Northern United prop Gerard Faitotoa running strongly in his 50th Premier match on Saturday. No. 8 Mike Ioapo also played his 35th Blazer game in the 48-29 win over Hutt Old Boys Marist.  Off the Ball is in association with Rob Law Max , Lovelocks Sports Bar  and Harcourts Johnsonville  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. +++++ Just two weeks to play before the Wellington club rugby Premier semi-finals and just one of the eight teams (Petone) is out of contention to win this year’s Jubilee Cup...More

Above: The Tawa Colts celebrate their match-clinching try in today's top of the table Les Mills Colts match against previously unbeaten Petone, Tawa winning 31-27. The race to the Jubilee Cup semi-finals looks set to go down to the wire over the final fortnight of matches after today’s matches, with seven of the eight teams still in contention to make the playoffs and at least one home semi-final berth wide open. Old Boys University saw off Oriental-Rongotai 39-24 to take a clear lead at the top of the standings on 20 competition points, but throw a blanket over the other contenders still in the race, who are separated by just seven points and all looking to press their top four claims...More

Updated Friday afternoon: Although most of the rugby world’s attention will be focused on Eden Park and the third Test between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions, before then there’s plenty of drama to be played out across Wellington’s rugby fields as the Premier grades rapidly move towards the end of their competitions. Once again though club rugby will take place under the cloud of the loss of one of our own, with the passing of Petone senior player Sione ‘Bah’ Tuiano in the early hours of last Sunday morning and the grievous injuries sustained by his two brothers...More

In 2015, Zeke Sopoaga was told he would be starting the Jubilee Cup final for Old Boys University. Stu Simonsen explains why he usurped Sopoaga into the match day XV. “I got a phone call from coach Paddy Gough who conceded he had a change of heart. He wanted me to start because of my greater experience,” Simonsen reflects. The hooker only played 20 minutes and was supposed to return to the field, but laughs “things turned pear-shaped.” OBU, after leading 25-6 against Marist St Pat’s, eventually held on to win 30-27...More

Competition frontrunners St Pat’s Silverstream showed why they are clearly the team to beat in Wellington while Porirua College enjoyed an emphatic win over Tawa College in two WelTec Premiership fixtures in two competition games played this afternoon. In Nelson, Wellington College finished third in the Quadrangular tournament. Elsewhere, Taranaki school Francis Douglas Memorial College defeated Lower Hutt’s St Bernard’s College. Nelson College retain Moascar Cup and win annual ‘Quad’ For the first time since 2001 the Quadrangular final didn’t feature Wellington College...More