Above: Hurricanes lock Vaea Fifita had a barnstorming game against the Lions These early morning games out of Africa are a bit of a challenge. Especially when you're a Sky refusenik. I've been a Sky refusenik since realising about a decade ago that the 1000 dollar a year fee was all that was standing between me and an enormous property portfolio. I am now pleased to say that in another decade or so, I will be rich enough to afford to get Sky again. So that's why at 4am last Sunday I was gently manoeuvring my laptop into position (to avoid waking Ms Kev), and gingerly logging in to Rugby Planet to catch the second half action from Joburg...More

Above: Wainuiomata's Josh Robertson-Weepu gets a pass away in the frantic final few minutes of his side's 23-25 defeat to Tawa today in round eight of the Swindale Shield. UPDATED: Plenty of tries scored, high scoring comebacks and match winning dropped goals – there was much to get enthused about in today’s eighth round of Wellington’s Premier Swindale Shield competition. After an exciting round of rugby on a glorious autumn afternoon, the result of the Marist St Pat’s – Northern United match at Jerry Collins Stadium was the hottest topic of discussion in most clubrooms this evening...More

It’s the end of a hectic week for the region’s Premier sides with their third game in eight days, but after tomorrow normal weekly service resumes for the remainder of the year. Elsewhere many of the lower grades are also already at the halfway stage of their first rounds as a full schedule of club rugby returns. Two clubs – Hutt Old Boys Marist and Johnsonville – have their Old Timers’ Days tomorrow. Two games will also carried on radio; Ken Laban will call the Poneke v Petone game on RadioSport, while the HOBM v OBU game will be on Te Upoko 1161AM...More

Above: Poneke's Cole Stewart and Tawa's Hemi Fermanis battle it out in the lineout in their seventh round match, which Tawa won by a point.  UPDATED: Oriental-Rongotai, Old Boys University and Tawa each won contrasting but significant victories under lights tonight in the seventh round of the Swindale Shield to stake their claims as serious Jubilee Cup contenders later in the season. Competition leaders and unbeaten OBU came through a tough encounter against Northern United at Fraser Park, conceding an early two-try deficit, running the lead down and then holding on to win 34-29...More

Michael Fatialofa was hot property leaving school, but a few years later he was in danger of being a forgotten journeyman. A horror run of injuries conspired against the 23-year old - who is a distant relative of Peter Fatialofa - from reaching Super Rugby sooner. Back surgery in 2011, bilateral hip surgery in 2012, a pectoral muscle injury in 2013 and knee surgery in 2014 all limited the ability of Fatialofa to play regular rugby. In fact for three consecutive years he missed six months of rugby per season...More

So at what point on Saturday night did the inner you start screaming that the kicking tee had to go to somewhere other than 10? Come halftime, I still wasn't at that point because to be honest, it felt like we were on top and we would get home comfortably enough despite the squandered kicks at goal. Certainly got that wrong. It's interesting more questions haven't been raised about the Canes' game management at the critical part of the match. I don't know how the team leadership operates on the park or how that links back to the coaching box, but here are a few posers...More

UPDATE: It’s another quick turnaround for the province’s Premier club sides, with the seventh round of the Swindale Shield tomorrow night under lights marking the halfway point in the competition and the second of the two midweek night rounds. Once again the matches are being played in neutral venues, but unlike the previous outing in round three not all matches are on artificial turfs. Also of note is that none of these match-ups took place in last year’s ‘balloted-out’ Swindale Shield...More

Above: Three of the Best & Fairest winners of the early 1980s. Left to right: Jim Laing (Hutt Valley Marist), Neil Sorensen (Marist St Pat's) and Fraser Mexted (Wellington College Old Boys). 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 4 below profiles the winners between 1981-85...More

Above: Teariki Ben Nicholas scoring one of his four tries this evening for the OBU Goats against the Wellington Axemen. Updated: Old Boys University have maintained their unbeaten start to 2016, beating the Wellington Axemen 32-6 in their top-of-the-table Wellington club rugby Derby Day clash at Westpac Stadium this evening. The Goats won a hard battle in deteriorating conditions five tries to one, after leading 8-6 at the halftime interval. In pouring rain, they pulled further ahead to take their 15th straight win in Premier rugby...More

Tomorrow is one of the bigger days in the Swindale Shield calendar with Derby Day. Introduced a few years back, it’s been a popular addition to the season, putting local bragging rights at stake. Six of the seven match-ups are geographical ones, the seventh is the between the two Marist clubs, and all have an interclub trophy at stake as well as valuable competition points, and all ahead of another midweek round to come on Wednesday. Two Premier games will be covered tomorrow on radio. Gordon Noble-Campbell will have the call of Norths vs Paremata-Plimmerton on RadioSport with Norths’ Director of Rugby Tom Martin alongside, and Adam Julian will cover Old Boys-University vs Wellington on Te Upoko 1161AM...More