Above: Jackie Patea (with ball in hand) returns to captain the Wellington Pride tomorrow against Waikato, while Accacia Te Iwimate plays halfback. Local club rugby is winding down this weekend but representative rugby is ramping up. There are several matches around Wellington and a couple more further afield tomorrow, leading up to the Wellington Lions opening their National Provincial Championship campaign in Napier against Hawke’s Bay at 5.35pm. The weekend kicks off tonight at Johnsonville’s Alex Moore Park at 7...More

This Saturday sees the curtain fall on the club rugby season with the last three finals and winners to be decided; the two Premier Reserve division titles along with the Reserve Grade division 1 crown. Elsewhere there’s representative action (to be covered separately), national championship qualifiers, and following last week’s weather-related postponement the full slate of lower grade college rugby semi-finals. Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup Saturday’s Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup final will see the Poneke and Hutt Old Boys Marist second XVs clash at the neutral Petone Recreation Ground...More

Above: Luke Campbell playing for Te Puke Sports in Bay of Plenty club rugby this year. Photo credit: Rick Moran. Former Wellington U19 tournament Graham Mourie Cup winning halfback and captain and 2015 Jubilee Cup winner Luke Campbell is looking forward to his maiden National Provincial Championship season with the Bay of Plenty Steamers. One of several ex-Wellington players in Bay of Plenty’s playing and coaching staff, Campbell made the move north to Steamers country at the start of this season...More

Wellington Maori: 20 (Hayden Whelan, Mykel Herewini, Jamie Norman tries; Greg Mullany 1 con, 1 pen) Wellington U19:19 (Paul Bickle, Lester Maulolo, Maile Koloto tries; Paul Bickle 1 con, Alex Ropeti 1 con) In their first fixture ahead of September's National U19 tournament in Taupo, the Wellington U19's have shown plenty of heart and promise against the open-aged Maori in their opening Festival Series fixture at Fraser Park on Wednesday night. Outsized and lacking experience, the U19's did well to hold the Maori's to 15-7 at halftime and had a late chance to win the game...More

Above: Hawke's Bay's 58-8 Ranfurly Sheld win over Wellington illustrated in a cartoon in the Dominion on 16 August 1926. The following article was first published here two years ago - one of our favurite Ranfurly Shield stories from a previus era. The 1920s and the 1960s. They were the two great eras for Hawke's Bay rugby, and throughout both decades they staved off numerous Ranfurly Shield challenges, including several from Wellington. With a host of star players, many of whom are still revered and talked about, Hawke's Bay defended the Ranfurly Shield on 24 occasions in a golden run spanning five years between 1922 and 1927...More

The Centurions Rugby Football Club is busy preparing for it’s 2016 representative season, starting at the end of this week. The Centurions field two representative teams, a Development side and an U85kg one. The Development side plays a five-game representative programme for the RDO Shield, starting this Friday night against the Wellington Maori Development side, while the U85kg team is scheduled to play matches against their Waikato, Counties-Manukau, North Harbour and Auckland counterparts...More

Wellington College: 12 (Reece Plumtree 4 pen) St. Pats Town: 9 (Luke Georgeson 3 pen) The curse of the top qualifier has at last been broken in Wellington. After six years of the top qualifier in the round robin losing the WelTec Premiership decider, Wellington College has edged St. Pat’s Town 12-9 in a tight and torrid climax at Jerry Collins Stadium. In the 68th minute scores were tied at 9-9 when Wellington College had a lineout on halfway. Centre Stone Warren-Robinson broke dramatically to the Town 22 before being tackled by halfback Luke Georgeson...More

Above: The Old Boys University Colts side celebrating at Te Whaea today with the John E Kelly Cup. Old Boys University, Tawa and Wests Roosters teams won the four club rugby lower grade finals played today in Wellington club rugby, on the wettest day of the season. In persistent rain, Old Boys University won both their home finals at Te Whaea, their Colts side beating Tawa 24-5 to claim the Division 1 John E Kelly Cup and their First Grade team defeating the Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians 20-7 to win the Johnsonville Centennium Cup...More

Many of the Hurricanes Region's secondary-school and age-group players take to the field this weekend, for the first series of representative matches for the 2016 season. In the National Secondary School Play-Off Series, Napier Boys' High School will host Te Aute College in Napier on Saturday, in the Challenger Match for a spot in the Hurricanes Region Semi-Finals next weekend, while in Palmerston North, the first round of the Under 20 Heartland Development Series will played at the Sport & Rugby Institute...More

Will the curse of the top qualifier be lifted this year when season frontrunners Wellington College take on defending champions St Pat’s Town in Sunday’s 2016 WelTec Premiership final at Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua? The last time the best team in the round-robin of Premier One in Wellington won the overall title was in 2009 Wellington College beat St. Pats Silverstream 43-7. That day present All Black Lima Sopoaga started at first five-eighth for Wellington College. On Sunday another Sopoaga will start at flyhalf for Wellington College...More