Jubilee Cup Final : Pick the Score

Pick the score for Sunday’s Wellington club rugby Jubilee Cup final between Oriental-Rongotai and Tawa at the Hutt Recreation Ground and not only claim bragging rights but win double tickets to the Wellington Lions’ first two home ITM Cup matches.

To enter, email editor@clubrugby.co.nz who you think will win and the score at the end of the match (after extra time if it goes that far).

Important: Please also pick a halftime score, the purpose of which is to determine a winner on a countback should there be two or more correct picks.

As well as possible further prize (s) (TBC), the winner will receive double passes to each of the following ITM Cup matches:?

• 28 August: Wellington Lions v North Harbour??? ?
• 1 September:? Wellington Lions v Manawatu

Entries close at 2.00 pm on Sunday. The winner (s) will be notified soon afterwards. One entry per person please. Players are encouraged to enter if they pick their own team to win!

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Match Previews

Jubilee Cup: Tawa v Oriental-Rongotai (Hutt Rec 3.00 pm, Sunday)

If last Saturday’s Jubilee Cup semi-final between Hutt Old Boys Marist and Oriental-Rongotai here at the Hutt Rec is anything to go by, then fans at the Jubilee Cup final are in for an exciting final. Last week, Ories pipped HOBM at the post deep into injury time to win 30-27. The match was a terrific endorsement of grassroots rugby.

Ories return to play in their third consecutive final, against Tawa who are playing in their first final for 15 years and hoping to win their first Jubilee Cup since the club was formed in 1947. Tawa won its maiden Swindale Shield two months ago and its many loyal fans will love nothing else than to raise the Jubilee Cup aloft. Standing in their way is Ories, a club that celebrated for the first time in 2011 and also lost narrowly to Marist St Pat’s in last year’s final.

Tawa’s formula for success this season on the field has been based around their abrasive, energetic forwards and a close-knit culture off it. With no real ‘stars’ Tawa’s forwards hunt as a pack and plays a direct, physical style of play. That’s not to say it’s not exciting to watch; with key players in their inside backs such as the So’oialo brothers, Steven at halfback and James at first five-eighth, Highlander Shaun Treeby at second fve-eighth and genuine pace further out, they’re well balanced and hungry to win. They’re also a confidence side, if they can start well then they could be hard to stop.

Most probably without Ma’a Nonu and Julian Savea and other Hurricanes including Matt Proctor and Mark Reddish, Ories are still one of the competition’s entertainers. Led up front by prop Whetu Henry and with a dynamic loose forward combination, Ories will look to counterattack and spark their backs into action early. They’re dangerous in broken play, and are well directed by Fa’atonu Fili at pivot, and backed up by other key players including centre Paulo Aukuso and right wing Afa Fa’atau, should he play. Ories’ forwards were beaten in the air and in their driving play last week by their HOBM opposites, so there could be fireworks from them if they can lay a platform to move the ball. The other obvious question is will they have enough gas in the tank after last week’s semi-final that went 100 minutes?

Head-to-head this season, Tawa won their Swindale Shield clash 33-23, while Ories won their return clash 18-13, although that latter clash was played on the worst day of the year. If Tawa win they would become the first team since Northern United in 2010 to win the Swindale-Jubilee double in the same season, a feat that has been done 20 times so far. Top qualifier Tawa would also become the first team since MSP in 2008 to achieve the double and the Andy Leslie Trophy in the same year.

Thirteen of the past 20 Jubilee Cup finals have been decided by winning margins of under seven points; of the last 290 games overall since 2011, 114 have been decided by within seven points. Tawa have scored 79 tries this season and let in 37; Ories have scored 78 and conceded 45

Hardham Cup: Northern United v Wellington (Hutt Rec 12.45 pm, Sunday)

Northern United and Wellington Axemen supporters will go into this go into the Hardham Cup final sharing the same hopes for their teams but with differing expectations. In 2011, following Tawa’s win over OBU in the Hardham Cup final, a Norths fan walked up to his good friend who was a Tawa supporter and congratulated him and his club finishing ninth. This afternoon, the roles are reversed as Tawa will be playing to win the Jubilee Cup and Norths striving for Hardham Cup success against the Wellington Axemen, who have got nothing to lose.

Northern United is a club that has been synonymous with club rugby finals for the past decade. In fact, including this, Norths have appeared in no fewer than eight finals since their first in 2004. But the past seven were Jubilee Cup finals. Although it’s been widely acknowledged that they are a club rebuilding and that their predicament is also a reflection of the super-competiveness of contemporary Wellington club rugby where none of the ‘big’ clubs are immune from missing out on the Jubilee Cup, their fans will hope for nothing less than victory.

Their opponents, the Wellington Axemen, are returning from the wilderness. The success of Norths and their four Jubilee Cups won or shared between 2004-2010 was mirrored by the demise of the Axemen who were relegated from Premier rugby at the end of 2002 and fell to as low as Senior 2 division where they were playing just a couple of seasons ago. But Wellington’s oldest club and winner of seven Jubilee Cups, most recently in 1987, has come back from the brink. They’ve already reclaimed Swindale Shield status for 2014, at the expense of Rimutaka, so victory? over Norths would cap a meteoric rise.

Norths and Wellington’s semi-finals wins last week couldn’t have been more different. While top qualifiers Norths strolled to an 88-5 win over the Wests Roosters at Porirua Park, leading 43-5 at halftime and scoring 14 tries overall, the Axemen battled to a 10-9 upset win over upper Hutt at Maidstone Park. Can they do it again? It’ll be a tough assignment, but given the way they’ve performed so far and their ability to win the tight games then if its close near the end then look out. The week before they edged Upper Hutt 21-19, while they beat Wests, Rimutaka, Johnsonville and Avalon during round-robin play. Their only defeat was to Norths three weeks ago when they were defeated 41-10, after Norths piled on 24 unanswered points in the second half.

Key players for Norths, should they play, and not including any Super Rugby players that may line up, include openside flanker Dean Brunsdon, vastly experienced hooker Henry Smith, Tongan international halfback Tomasi Palu, young-gun first five-eighth Jackson Garden-Bachop and the recently returned from overseas flying outside back Sinoti Sinoti. Of their representative players, Alapati Leiua is expected to start at centre, while TJ Perenara could yet play as well. For Wellington, No. 8 Vaea Fifita is an athletic No. 8 who is also a key lineout jumper, while front rowers Tala Kitekei'aho and Tevita Falekakala are both players to watch. First five-eighth Hilton Mexted has demonstrated all-round composure and centre Athun Masun won the Jubilee Cup with Ories in 2011.

In the Hardham Cup (eight matches), Norths have piled on 53 tries and conceded 10, while the Wellington Axemen have scored 21 and let in 16.