Above: Wainuiomata beat Petone 20-11 on their Old Timers' Day at William Jones Park. Both teams will have to fight hard over the second half of the Swindale Shield to finish inside the top eight and make the championship round. Then there were two. Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa are the two teams yet to taste defeat after six rounds of Wellington’s Swindale Shield Premier club rugby competition. Both teams earned narrow, albeit wildly contrasting, victories in today’s Anzac Day round to head the standings at the halfway point of the first round...More

Above: In two significant matches this Saturday, Adam Stewart and the Wellington Axemen host the Old Boys University Goats at Hataitai Park and Dean Brunsdon’s Northern United meet neighbours Paremata-Plimmerton for the Ivan Hargreaves Trophy at Ngatitoa Domain. UPDATED: The halfway point of the Swindale Shield sees matches being played on Anzac Day and the 100th year anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli; with Saturday’s matches kicking off at roughly the same time troops would have been going ashore at Anzac Cove...More

Above: Vince Tavae-Aso?playing for the Petone club in Wellington last weekend against Hutt Old Boys Marist in their famous McBain Shield match. Photo by Thomas Tupuivao.? Vince Tavae-Aso?has a strong chance of appearing in a second IRB Junior World Championships in June. Tavae-Aso has already garnered an impressive resume of representative rugby. He has played for the New Zealand Schools', Auckland and been reselected into the under-20's squad for the short tour of Australia in May. This came as no surprise to astute observers of the game...More

Above: The crowd builds at Athletic Park in 1950 for the big match.? Match Details Result:?Great Britain 12 – Wellington 6When: 24 June 1950, at Athletic ParkWeather: Fine and sunny Crowd:?30,000 The Tour The 1950 British Lions are regarded as being one of the most exciting international sides to visit New Zealand. Playing expansive, attractive rugby, they were wildly popular everywhere they went. The midweek attendance of 40,000 at their final match of the tour against New Zealand Maori reflected this...More

The Wellington Rugby Referees’ Association, together with the Wellington Rugby Football Union, is holding a referee recruitment night this Wednesday at the Green Man from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm. There is currently a significant shortage of referees, and from this coming weekend onwards this will exacerbate with the start of college rugby. As the hosts, the WRRA and WRFU will provide refreshments for prospective referees, as well as local and international referees to speak about their experiences, and why they chose to referee...More

Above: Hutt Old Boys Marist with the McBain Shield on Saturday afternoon UPDATED: The Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles have regained the famous McBain Shield off rivals Petone with a 32-25 win, while the Poneke Colts side has ended OBU Green’s long-standing winning streak with a thrilling 25-24 win, in two notable results in Wellington club rugby this afternoon. A 13-man HOBM Eagles side held off a late Petone surge to win back the McBain Shield and retain the Bill Brien Challenge Shield in their first defence...More

Above: Tough knocks. Both Poneke and Norths will be hoping to beat Paremata-Plimmerton and Wellington respectively tomorrow to keep in touch of the leaders at the mid-point of the Swindale Shield first round competition. The Swindale Shield is rapidly approaching the mid-point of the season, and already some teams have made a break on the field while it’s also becoming catch-up time for others. The cold snap of weather this week might alter some game plans, while also providing a test for the hardiest of supporters...More

Above: Defending champions Oriental-Rongotai host Wainuiomata at the Polo Ground in the second round of the Fleurs Trophy this Saturday. The second round of the Wellington women’s competition gets underway this Saturday, with Poneke taking the field for the first time after having the first week bye. All matches are at 11.30 am. Match Previews Poneke to kick-off season against Northern UnitedThe Red and Blacks travel to Onepoto Domain for their first game of the season to the fancied Norths...More

Thomas Fleming playing for Old Boys University against Avalon at the start of this season. On Saturday the former Wairarapa-Bush and VPC Andorra player plays his 100th Premier match for his club.? The Andorran national rugby team’s nickname is Els Isards, which is a Pyrenean chamois or a European mountain goat. Thomas Fleming, who recently spent an off-season playing for Andorran club side VPC Andorra XV, is set to play his 100th match for the Old Boys University Goats this weekend when they take on Tawa in a key Swindale Shield match...More

Profile and photo courtesy of the Wellington Rugby Referees Association here? When did you start refereeing?2012 with the Tasman Union Did you play rugby?I played for the Waimea Old Boys after playing rugby at Naylands College. I have also played for the various Nelson Police sides as well. I covered various positions including flanker, centre, fullback, and wing. Are you involved in other sport? I am a keen multisporter and just completed the Porirua Grand Trasverse in the weekend where I finished 2nd overall...More