Above: Allan Hewson playing for Petone in the 'final' of the 1980 Jubilee Cup. Petone won 12-3, breaking MSP's 42 match winning streak. Photo courtesy of Petone Rugby.In 1965, while attempting to retrieve a tennis ball, 11-year-old Alan Hewson fell through the roof of his neighbours glasshouse and cut his left leg three-quarters of the way through to the ankle. Hewson survived that bloody ordeal but was lucky to play sport again.?In 1979, if All Blacks coach Eric Watson had his way, Hewson might have been lucky to play for the All Blacks longer than that year’s Northern Hemisphere tour...More

Above: Midfield back Ope Peleseuma who won his maiden Jubilee Cup medal with the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles in 2014 seen here evading the opposition playing for the Wellington Samoans against the Hawke’s Bay Saracens. Photo by Hugh Pretorius.?With 2014 coming to a close, here’s our annual recap of the champion teams and competition winners in Wellington club rugby this year.2014 club rugby in Wellington was the year of the Eagle. But this year’s Jubilee Cup champions Hutt Old Boys Marist were close to missing out on the big show altogether, such was the competitiveness of the competition...More

Summer 2015 brings Beach Rugby 5s back in action.?The second year for Beach 5s NZ will be back with the first leg at Mount Maunganui Beach in Tauranga on Saturday 17 January 2015 and the second leg at Mission Bay Beach in Auckland on Sunday 8 February 2015.?Beach 5s NZ has a strong social flavour with emphasis on Presidents Teams 35+ and Club teams. Both events coincide with pre-season club rugby and it’s a great opportunity for clubs to get their teams together, check players’ fitness and engage in team bonding just before season starts...More

The structure of the Wellington Premier club rugby competition for next year has been confirmed, with an expanded first round Swindale Shield from 12 to 14 clubs and a start date of 21 March for the 2015 season.With planning and pre-season season well underway at club headquarters and anticipation already building for fans, most clubs have settled on their Premier coaching structures for the 129th season of Wellington club rugby.A feature of the Premier coaching ranks for 2015 is the return to two clubs of former Jubilee Cup winning coaches, while most clubs will have made changes...More

Above: Current WRRA referee Richard Gordon (right) and former local and now Hong Kong based Tim Baker at last weekend’s World Rugby Dubai 7s.?Like many of the province’s players, Wellington’s leading referees have remained in action after the end of the club season, both locally and across the globe, and achieving recognition for their efforts.Mike Fraser controlled the Taranaki - Auckland ITM Cup semi-final that went to extra time before completing assistant referee appointments in the recent series of northern hemisphere internationals, while the ITM Championship final was the swansong of Garrett Williamson’s career...More

Wellington Rugby last night announced the clubs that will not play each other in the 2015 Swindale Shield competition.Following a thorough consultation process, clubs were asked to submit a list of teams they did not wish to play, in order of preference. This process was necessary due to an expanded 14 team competition playing a first round of only 11 weeks.During the consultation, clubs expressed no interest in playing midweek fixtures, or double-headers over a long weekend. After a number of options were tabled, the vote was in favour of a shortened first round in the Swindale Shield...More

Over 1100 players have worn the famous All Blacks jersey, some of whom played one Test. Below is a one-Test All Black XV:??15. Gerald Kember – Test Cap v South Africa, 1970; Lost: 17-20Gerald Kember played for Wellington in their victory against the British Lions in 1966 and became a regular for the province for the next five years. He earned All Black trials in 1966, 1967 and 1969. In 1970 Kember toured South Africa and earned a call up for the final Test against the Springboks and scored 14 of the All Blacks’ 17 points in a narrow loss...More

Latu Vaeno and Selica Winiata were the heroes for the Taranaki men’s and Manawatu women’s teams in their respective finals of today’s Central Region Sevens tournament ?titles at Massey University.Strapping Tongan schoolboy Vaeno, who six days ago led Rotorua Boys’ High School to the National secondary schools Condor Sevens title, scored hat-tricks in both Taranaki’s 43-0 semi-final win over Wairarapa-Bush and their sensational 40-33 final win over Manawatu.After crossing for two earlier tries, Vaeno burst over to score the winning try in the final for the amber and blacks in extra time, after scores had been locked up at 33-33 at the end of regular time...More

Above: Hawke’s Bay playmaker Ihaia West was the star of this tournament last year, here making a break in the final against Taranaki.The representative Sevens season proceeds in earnest on Saturday in Palmerston North with the Men’s and Women’s Central Region Qualifying tournament for the Sevens Nationals in the New Year.All eight Hurricanes region sides plus Taranaki will contest the Men’s side of the draw, with five spots for the Nationals up for grabs, while Wellington, Wairarapa-Bush, Manawatu and Taranaki will be chasing three places available for the Women’s Nationals...More

Rotorua Boys' High School are the new Condor Sevens champions with a 33-19 win over Wellington 1st XV champions Scots College in the Cup final at Kelston Boys' High School in Auckland.The win is the first for Rotorua in the 28th year history of the tournament and spoilt any opportunity Scots had, as runners-up for the second year in a row.Scots College reached the final with Cup quarter-final and semi-final wins over Feilding High School 20-12 and Hamilton Boys’ High School 22-19 respectively...More