After two shoulder operations and lengthy stints on the rehab table, Amanda Rasch is fully fit this season and in top form for the Wellington Pride ahead of their Women’s NPC semi-final at home against the North Harbour Hibiscus this coming Saturday. Rasch is the leading points scorer in the NPC this year, with 104 points, boosted considerably by two individual hauls in the past three weeks. Against Tasman, the Pride’s second five-eighth and goal-kicker scored a Wellington record 23 points in the 88-3 win...More

The Mairst St Pat's and Tawa teams after the Plate final of the Tawa Invitational 7s on Saturday. MSP won 24-19. More details below. 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. This coming weekend there are two separate rugby events for supporters to choose between, plus a third college sevens tournament over the hill in Masterton...More

Wellington Pride fullback Sieni Mose scores the first of 18 tries in their win over Taranaki.  The Wellington Pride entered the record books and the Wellington Development downed their Canterbury counterparts in today’s two representative fixtures involving Wellington teams. At Jerry Collins Stadium, the Wellington Pride slew Taranaki 118-0 to qualify top for next week’s Women’s NPC Championship semi-finals. The Pride’s winning score surpassed the previous Women’s NPC record of 116-0 that the Auckland Storm beat North Harbour by in 1999...More

The Wellington Development side will need to put in a Fine performance to beat Canterbury B in Christchurch tomorrow.  The Wellington Pride and Wellington Development teams are in action tomorrow, home and away, and club rugby returns with the first sevens tournament of the summer at Lyndhurst Park. The Wellington Pride play at home for the third and final time in this year’s round-robin campaign when they take on the Taranaki Whio at Jerry Collins Stadium at 1.00pm. After losing to Hawke’s Bay in their season opener, the Pride have won their last four matches in a row and have already qualified for a home semi-final next weekend...More

Above: members of the Wellington and Hawke's Bay U16A teams after today's Hurricanes final. PHOTO: David Brownlie Photography  The 46th annual Hurricanes Under-16 tournament has concluded in Masterton this afternoon.  Wellington Development retained their Saracens Cup title against Hawke’s Bay, who had the last laugh winning the premier prize for just the second time since 2010. Don Broughton Shield Final Hawke’s Bay have won the Don Broughton Shield for the first time since 2014 after a gripping 40-36 win over Wellington...More

I most definitely am biased, but it feels to me that this weekend’s test at Loftus Versfeld is the first of the Big Three matches this year – the others being in Ireland and England. Pretty much any game at Loftus rates for me, but this one especially so. This game won’t be definitive, but it should answer some important questions: whether the Boks are seriously on the rise, and whether they are genuine contenders for the World Cup. One loss in the season to South Africa is unfortunate, a second would set alarms ringing...More

The 2018/19 summer of sevens rugby kicks off this weekend with the first of several tournaments in Wellington between now and the rest of the year, with the Tawa Invitational 7s taking place at Lyndhurst Park from early in the morning to late afternoon. Twelve teams in two divisions are set to take part in the Tawa Invitational 7s tournament. There are two men’s pools of four teams each and a four-team college-aged pool. These are: Men’s Pool A: Upper Hutt Rams, Johnsonville, Tawa, MSP Red Men’s Pool B: Northern United, MSP White, Old Boys University, Wellington Axemen College Pool: St Pat’s Town, Aotea College, St Pat’s Silverstream, Tawa College The Tawa tournament is an officially sanctioned WRFU event, with WRRA match officials on hand helping to run the event smoothly...More

The Centurions U18s - 2018 Trustbank Central Secondary School Shield winners. Read more below. Photo: HYRC  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. The rugby rolls on this week, with international schools rugby at Porirua Park today and Friday, the Wellington Lions hosting Auckland on Thursday and the Hurricanes U16 tournament all this week in Masterton...More

Above: The Wellington U13s leapfrogged the Auckland U13s in the main game on Jerry Collins Stadium this afternoon, winning 43-24. There were wins for young and old in representative rugby involving Wellington teams today. Senior representative sides the Wellington Development and Wellington Pride both had comprehensive wins in their away matches. The Wellington Development team defeated their Hawke’s Bay counterparts 59-31 in Napier in their second match of the four-game campaign. The Wellington Pride defeated the North Harbour Hibiscus 50-10 away in round five of the Farah Palmer Cup, to book a home semi-final spot with a week to spare...More

UPDATED: It’s Finals Day of the Hurricanes U18 competition tomorrow, with the Centurions U18s team travelling to Masterton to take on the Wairarapa Bush U18s in the main decider. Both the Centurions and Wairarapa Bush have sailed through the preliminary rounds and the latter hosts the final based on superior points differential. Kick-off at Memorial Park is at 12.30pm. Back home, the Wellington U18s Samoans and the Wellington Community U18s meet at Jerry Collins Stadium at 12.00pm in the playoff for third and fourth...More