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 1 below profiles the first five winners, 1966-1970. 1966Winner: Tom ListerPosition: blindside flankerClub: AthleticBest and Fairest points accrued: N/AAbout: The inaugural Billy Wallace Trophy winner, Tom Lister had moved to Wellington two years earlier from South Canterbury, where he joined the Athletic club, became a rubbish collector and set about fulfilling his dream of becoming an All Black...More

Update: Wellington wins Te Tini a Maui tournament Wellington has won the The Central Region provincial Maori Te Tini a Maui tournament. Wellington beat defending champions Taranaki Maori 36-16 first up, then beat Manawatu Maori by default on Saturday. On Sunday, Wellington beat Whanganui Maori 43-10 in the final.  Wellington's key players included the Henrys, Whetu and Jared, first five-eighth Greg Mullany and wing Andy Ellis.  Others to play well were young blindside flanker Dean Ropata and the McMillan-Paratas...More

The 85th New Zealand Marist Spillane Cup tournament is being hosted by Hamilton Marist this weekend at Marist Park and at nearby Hamilton Boys’ High School. The tournament includes Senior, Colts and President’s sections, with leading clubs from Waikato, Auckland, North Harbour, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Manawatu, Wanganui, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Canterbury taking part. There are five trophies up for grabs, the Spillane Cup (Division 1), Ham Cumming Cup (Division 2), Brennan Cup (Division 3), Moran Cup (Colts) and the Liston Cup (President's)...More

The Wellington region will come to a standstill on Good Friday, 25 March, when the opening round of the 2016 Swindale Shield kicks off and the 130th season of Wellington club rugby gets underway. Below are summaries of five of the best Wellington club rugby winners of the past and what made them special. Petone 1907 Season record: Played 12.Won 9.Lost 1.Drew 2.Points for 171. Points against 49 Season summary: 1907 was a triumph for the entire Petone club, not just its top team. Five Petone teams entered into the Wellington competition and all five finished clear winners of their respective championships...More

Of the 981 club rugby Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup club rugby matches played in Wellington over the past decade there were 118 instances of an individual player scoring 20 or more points in a match. Of these 118, 11 were of a player scoring 30 or more points in a match, including two individual 50-point hauls – the highest of these by Brandyn Laursen in 2013 is believed to be the all-time record for most points in a match in Wellington club rugby by one player. These are listed below...More

Above: Nehe Milner Skudder in action against the Brumbies in last year's semi-final UPDATE: Captain Dane Coles has been ruled out with a calf injury sustained at training on Wednesday morning, hours after he was named captain for the first game. Leni Apisai comes into hooker while Ricky Riccetelli is reserve rake.  New players, new teams, new competition structure, new jerseys, new laws, new bonus point system. There’s a fresh feel to Super Rugby in 2016. There’s also plenty for Hurricanes fans to look forward to ahead of the start of the 21st Super Rugby season that starts this Friday night against the Brumbies in Canberra, kick-off 9...More

Above: Wests wing Tupeni Kamakorewa keeps a close eye on the late Nene Va'alepu in this match in 2013. Norths won 97-48, but Kamakorewa scored a hat-trick for the Roosters. Of the 98 Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup individual try-scoring hat-tricks and the 27 Premier 2 Hardham Cup try hat-tricks in Wellington club rugby in the decade between 2006-15, a select few were scored by players in a losing cause. Six players scored hat-tricks in this period, including two in one game, but their team still lost the match...More

All 14 Premier clubs from the top of the Hutt Valley to the Miramar peninsula are busy planning for another busy year of Premier rugby. The 130th season of Wellington club rugby kicks off on Good Friday, 25 March, with the opening round of the Swindale Shield. Most clubs have made changes to their coaching teams this year, including a group of well-known former players joining the Premier and Premier Reserve coaching ranks for the first time. The Upper Hutt Rams have a familiar face joining their Premier coaching ranks in 2016, with former first five-eighth Ben Aoina joining the club as Premier backs coach...More

Above: Poneke hooker Andrew Castle scores a try as part of his club rugby hat-trick and [inset] Henry Smith scores one of his three tries in a match. Both of these were in 2012. Of the 98 Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup individual try-scoring hat-tricks and the 27 Premier 2 Hardham Cup try hat-tricks in Wellington club rugby in the decade between 2006-15, many were scored by forwards. There were 27 hat-tricks scored by forwards in the past decade of Wellington club rugby. Of these, 11 were run in by tight forwards...More

Above: Wellington’s Petone won the Colts competition at Saturday’s Hawke’s Bay Sevens tournament for the third straight year. Forty teams played in hot conditions at Central Park in Saturday’s 33rd annual Hawke’s Bay Sevens tournament, with Napier Pirates (Men’s), Petone (Colts) and Feilding Old Boys Oroua (Women’s) winning the three competitions. Three players of the tournament were chosen. In each of the 70 games played, the match referee picked one player of the match...More