Celebrating 50 years of the Billy Wallace Best and Fairest Wellington Premier club rugby competition. The Billy Wallace competition has been contested annually since its inception in 1966. Players in every Premier match are awarded points on a 3, 2 and 1 basis. Part 6 below profiles the winners between 1991-96 1991Winner: Ofisa Tonu’u Position: HalfbackClub: Poneke Best and Fairest points accrued: 18About: Former Rongotai College halfback Ofisa ‘Junior’ Tonu’u’s older brother Hennie (also a Poneke halfback) had been in Best & Fairest contention several times throughout the 1980s...More

In April the New Zealand Deaf Rugby Football Union (NZDRFU) toured Argentina for the first time. The 21-strong Deaf Blacks touring squad competed in three matches, winning two and missing out in one. The squad featured club players from Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington, Canterbury and Mid Canterbury, and was selected following the annual Easter tournament between the Northern, Central and Southern Zone teams. This year the Southern team won the NZDRFU Rugby Shield, which has been contested since 1994...More

Above: Wellington Axemen prop Damian Winter crosses for a late try in his side's 31-15 win over the Upper Hutt Rams. Two-time winners Oriental-Rongotai are unbeaten after two rounds of the Wellington club rugby championship after coming out on top this afternoon in their second successive eastern suburbs derby. In fine, breezy conditions, Ories held off rivals Marist St Pat’s 25-22 at home at the Polo Ground, after edging out Poneke 19-15 last week. Ories won a scrappy, penalty fest of a game four tries to three, early tries to centre Paulo Aukuso and wing Tuga Mativa, his 12th of the year, which put them ahead 12-0, ultimately proving the difference...More

After last weekend’s tense and tight opening round to the bucqi Jubilee Cup you’d get good odds on another tomorrow as the eight teams already know how tough it will be to just make the playoff stage. Things are little different in the Hardham Cup either, while there are significant clashes in most of the lower grades as well. One thing to note is that with the second All Blacks vs Wales Test match at Westpac Stadium most club kickoff times are 30 minutes earlier, with the Jubilee and Hardham Cup games all starting at 2...More

Above: Johnsonville-Tawa had a 27-5 win over the Upper Hutt Rams in their Gala Day match last week. They play HOBM tomorrow, while Upper Hutt plays Poneke.  UPDATED: Last weekend’s results in the Premier Victoria Tavern Trophy division shook up the hierarchy that’s been established in recent seasons, and the first time in many years both of the previous year’s finalists lost on the same day. Wainuiomata top the table after their stirring late comeback to pip Oriental-Rongotai, and will be favourites to remain there when they host Avalon at Mary Crowther Park in tomorrow’s third set of matches, Avalon have the bye but were well-beaten before that by Norths...More

In his first two seasons in Wellington club rugby, Northern United captain Aiden Cains won the Jubilee Cup once and the Swindale Shield twice. Something he sometimes reminds his current teammates. “I was pretty lucky to win those titles when I first started playing for Norths,” he said. “I say to some of the young guys that if I knew that was the only Jubilee Cup that I would win I would’ve partied for a bit longer that I did!” Last Saturday he played his 100th Premier match for Norths, the club he won those titles with in 2010 and 2011, and where has been back with since 2013 after one other full season playing for Petone...More

Alex Dalzell missed much of the Swindale Shield with a broken thumb. Since returning from that setback in May the loose forward has impressed with his aggressive intensity and productive work rate. Its little surprise Dalzell is enjoying playing for the Wellington Axemen. He is a member of a famous North Canterbury rugby family. His grandfather was Nelson Dalzell a member of the 1953-54 All Blacks tour of the UK and France. Nelson's wife was the sister of Canterbury and All Black team-mate Allan Elsom...More

I'm starting New Zealand's smallest club. It's called We Need English Rugby to Flourish. Before you doubt my sanity, and bearing in mind the tradition of everyone reading way too much into the opening tests of the southern window, I may need to do some explaining. England you see are on a hot streak - it's amazing what a change of coach can do. They seem to be playing to their strengths of muscle, but mixed with some adventure, and capped off with their usual solidity in goal-kicking. Under Fast Eddie Jones, they also seem to be playing with a bit of mongrel...More

A commanding second-half has earned St. Pats Silverstream a 33-7 win over Christchurch’s St. Bede's College in the annual traditional fixture at home today. The first-half was largely forgettable as both teams left their hands in the dressing room. The first mistake was from the opening kick-off with Silverstream players guilty of being in front of the kicker, and the errors piled up over the next 30 minutes. Gradually Silverstream seized the upper hand and centre Albert Polu was able to find some holes in the visitors defence...More

Wellington College have continued their resurgence defeating Christchurch Boys' High School 26-10 in the annual traditional fixture in the capital today. In the six previous games between the schools', four had been decided by a point and the 2014 contest was drawn 19-19. Despite a slightly heavy pitch both schools look to shift the ball wide early and it was Christchurch who had the best of the early chances. Wing Atu Manu was tackled by Naitoa Ah Kuoi with the try line at his mercy and Wellington foiled a determined sequence of pick and goes by the visitors under the nose of their own posts...More