Jubilee and Hardham Cup semi-finals previews

Jubilee Cup

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For match details visit Games & Results across the top of this page (teams will be published on Friday morning).

Oriental-Rongotai v Hutt Old Boys Marist

Top qualifier Oriental-Rongotai will make history if they can repel Hutt Old Boys Marist’s challenge in their semi-final at the Polo Ground. If so, Wellington’s fifth oldest club will reach the Jubilee Cup final for the first time since the playoff system was introduced in 1993, and then have a chance the following week of winning Wellington’s Senior championship outright for the first time since 1910.

All the signs point to an Ories victory against the fourth placed qualifiers HOBM and 2007 champions who were also beaten semi-finalists last year (losing to Norths), and a historic spot in next Sunday’s final at the Petone Recreation Ground. After some strong showings in the first round in recent years, Ories have tended to drift off the pace in the second round. But not this year. With their big pack, hard running loose forwards and electric backs, they cut a swathe through the competition over the past seven weeks and enter this first semi-final unbeaten after the round-robin season. Averaging 31 points game, significant scalps have included Petone (49-23), MSP (31-6), Norths (32-30) and Poneke (23-19).

HOBM have been plucky all season, without being a model of consistency. They sealed fourth place with a comfortable last round win over Upper Hutt. When they click they’re as dangerous as any other side in the competition. Led by their 2007 Jubilee Cup winning halfback Nick Risdon, the Eagles are well balanced and always play positive rugby. They’ve tended to win when they’ve had to this year, and their four second round victories were against Norths (20-19), Wainuiomata (21-10), MSP (24-0) and Upper Hutt (22-5).

Ories have beaten HOBM in both their 2011 games in contrasting matches. In the first round at the Polo Ground they prevailed 14-10. In a stop-start penalty fest they scored a runaway try with 10 minutes remaining to seal the result. Their second meeting a month ago at the Hutt Recreation Ground was an evenly contested 10-try thriller won by Ories 36-31.

Previously, HOBM won both their matches in 2009 and their contests were shared one apiece each year in 2007 and 2008. HOBM have won six of their last 10 encounters overall but Ories have won three of their last four Jubilee Cup clashes and have beaten HOBM at home at the Polo Ground on each of the last three occasions.

Going by recent Jubilee Cup playoff history, home ground advantage should be a significant advantage for Ories in this game - as the top qualifier has progressed through to the final in nine of the past 10 Jubilee Cups since 2001. This means that HOBM will have to be just the second fourth placed qualifier in over a decade to topple the top ranked team, after fourth placed Norths beat top qualifier Poneke in the 2009 semi-final. Few spectators on both sides will doubt that they are capable of this, making this a mouth-watering match to look forward to.

Poneke v Northern United

The names Poneke and Norths have become bywords for Jubilee Cup playoffs in recent? years. One or both of these clubs has been involved in the Jubilee Cup semi-finals every year for the past decade and the two have gone on to meet in the final twice in this period. But just one will be left standing after what promises to be an epic semi-final on Saturday.

With hundreds of fans of both sides lining Kilbirnie Park, this will be knockout rugby at its best. The pair met just week at this same venue with Norths holding on to win 19-13 after opening up a three tries to nil lead early in the second half. Both sets of supporters will know not to read anything into this match from that one which was also played in diabolical conditions.?

If there’s one club where home ground advantage is king its Poneke. When a Poneke side plays on Kilbirnie Park it tends to lift a notch and the club’s dogged determination always comes to the fore. Poneke’s famous style of keeping play through their forwards and playing one-off pick and go rugby is always effective, particularly if it rains. Opposing them is a Norths team who are at their flamboyant best when they run the ball, and they are the most potent counterattacking team in the competition.

Poneke also proved conclusively this year what everyone already knows: that they are a second round side. They qualified for this home semi-final with their last round match against Norths to spare after a less than convincing Swindale Shield that saw them finish in a three-way tie for sixth and well out of contention. Although they won seven from 11, they failed to leave their mark on any game. One of their losses was 18-3 to Norths in round 10. But they won their first four games on the trot in the Jubilee Cup to stay ahead of the pack and only suffered losses to Norths and top qualifier Ories (19-23).

Norths blazed a trail of destruction through the first round, winning their first 10 games and drawing their last, to win the Swindale Shield. Injuries (notably to the influential Palu brothers) and disruptions (to representative teams, notably star fullback James So’oialo to Samoa) saw them go off the boil during the middle rounds. But they appear to be back firing at the right time and last week’s win over Poneke makes this game a potential cracker. Overall, the two teams have met 15 times since the start of 2006 with Norths winning 11, Poneke three and with one draw.

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Hardham Cup

For match details visit Games & Results across the top of this page (teams will be published on Friday morning).

Old Boys-University v Northern United B

Of the four Jubilee and Hardham Cup semi-finals this weekend, this one should be the most straightforward to predict for most fans, with nothing less than an Old Boys-University cakewalk expected against the fourth qualifying Norths B side. Playing at home at the Hawkins Basin Reserve and with the club’s best available players to choose from, victory for top qualifier OBU and a place in the final the following Saturday at Fraser Park is likely to be a formality for the students.

OBU head into this match unbeaten in seven games in the Hardham Cup round-robin phase having qualified for their home semi-final with two weeks to spare and finishing a whopping 14 points ahead of second placed Tawa on the competition points table. Norths enter the semi-finals with a three win-four loss record and got up to grab fourth place by virtue of their last round 21-12 win over Poneke B and the Wests Roosters’ loss to Tawa. Norths are the first ‘B’ team to reach the Hardham Cup semi-finals since MSP in 2002.

For OBU, Hardham Cup success in 2011 will be good consolation for the 2009 Premier 2 champions The students narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Jubilee Cup, their 21-27 loss at home in the last round of the Swindale Shield to Marist St. Pat’s sealing their fate They were also left rueing close losses to Poneke (14-18), Upper Hutt (23-27) and Wainuiomata (20-23) and won five of their games.

Despite the Norths club throwing the weight of their resources at their Jubilee Cup side playing in their semi-final at the same time, any Norths team is a dangerous one. OBU will be weary of what their opposition can potentially do to them should they drop their guard. OBU played this team just two weeks ago in the penultimate round at Porirua Park and only won 23-21. Norths came storming back at the end but ran out of time to potentially force an upset. OBU will also be conscious of last year’s top qualifiers the Wests Roosters who were pipped 12-11 at the death by fourth placed qualifier Avalon and won’t want to suffer the same fate.

In the just completed round-robin, OBU scored 207 points and conceded 69 and Norths B scored 139 and conceded 92.

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Tawa v Rimutaka

An intriguing second Hardham Cup semi-final is on the cards at leafy Lyndhurst Park between the under achieving Tawa who have appeared to have finally found some good form at the right time and Rimutaka who are playing in their first Hardham Cup semi-final and who will be eager to taste playoff success and go all the way to the final.

It’s been a disappointing season for Tawa, who were never in the hunt in the Swindale Shield despite finishing off their first round campaign with two wins including a victory over Jubilee Cup-bound Petone. They made a wobbly old start to the Hardham Cup round-robin, losing their first two matches to Avalon (3-32) and OBU (8-21) and battled to wins over Poneke B and Norths B over the following fortnight. This was followed by an 8-12 loss to Rimutaka when they met at Maoribank Park in the fifth round and at that stage their foremost thoughts were on avoiding relegation rather than qualifying for a home semi-final.

But a 51-12 demolition over Hutt Old Boys Marist B in their last home match and an outstanding 20-0 win over the Wests Roosters away last weekend, in which they extended their 15-0 halftime lead with a try after the break and kept the Roosters scoreless in the second half playing into the teeth of a strong southerly, propelled them to second. They now have a chance to win their semi-final and repeat the Hardham Cup title success that they last achieved in 2008 when they beat Wainuiomata 33-20 in the final.

Having achieved their stated goal of reaching the Swindale Shield for the first time in the club’s 29-year history, Rimutaka can now go one better and challenge for the Hardham Cup silverware if they topple Tawa. Having emerged from the pack to finish second in the first round Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield, the Rams won four and lost three of their second round matches and beat HOBM B 26-14 to secure their place in the semi-finals. This has been their fourth appearance in the Hardham Cup in the past seven years after previous showings in 2004, 2008 and 2009, but their first time in the playoffs.

In the just completed round-robin, Tawa scored 127 points and conceded 85, while Rimutaka scored 121 but conceded 136.

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