The third week of the Jubilee and Hardham Cups often proves to be a pivotal one and this year shapes as to be no different. Come the end of play tomorrow teams will be that much clearer on just what their chances are and what work they need to do over the remaining weeks. Conditions are likely to be much better than they were for the corresponding round last year, which was played in the aftermath of a significant southerly storm and saw only a handful of games go ahead. Jubilee Cup There's perhaps no better indication of how important this set of matches is to the Jubilee Cup contenders with nearly three-quarters of teams that win going onto the semi-finals over the past 10 years...More

Norths and Black Ferns lock Sanita Levave on the burst against Ories in their first round match in April. Insert: the Victoria Tavern Trophy. Can Northern United defend their Wellington Women's club rugby championship title, will first round winners Oriental-Rongotai do the double this year or will another team emerge from the pack and take out this year's Victoria Tavern Trophy? All is in readiness for the start of the second round on Saturday, when Wellington's eight women's clubs line up for a full round-robin series followed by playoffs and a final on the weekend of 15 and 16 August...More

Brian Cederwall played 16 seasons of top level club rugby and cricket - also playing 103 representative rugby matches for Wellington (and many more riding the reserves bench) and 52 first-class cricket games. We asked him some questions about his career: You played well over 300 Senior [Premier] matches; can you recall playing in your first game for Athletic in 1971 and your last game for Western Suburbs in 1986? The first match I played was against Wellington College Old Boys, straight from Rongotai College where I had played only one season in the First XV...More

Wellington College and Christchurch Boys' High School have drawn their inter-island First XV clash 19-19 this afternoon. Home side Wellington College used their get out of jail free card to score a late converted try to even the match up, chancing their arm and breaking out from their own 22 through fullback Hugo Philips, leading to a try to hooker Jimmy Hewitt after a penalty and an attacking scrum under Christchurch's posts. The result was the fifth time in the past six matches that these schools have finished within a point of each other, following their consecutive 15-14 scorelines in this match in 2012 and 2013...More

The second round Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup, which started last weekend, is traditionally one of the closest of them all in the championship half of the Wellington club rugby season. This year there are nine clubs vying for the HD Morgan Memorial Cup, in a nine-week round robin series leading into the semi-finals and final later in August. Included in the mix is the HOBM Barbarians side that finished fourth behind winners Poneke in the just completed first round National Mutual Cup after making the final of Senior 3 last year and subsequently winning promotion as Petone couldn't go up with a team already in the Senior 2 grade...More

Action from Porirua Park in the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup match between Norths and Wellington, won by the home side 30-16.? Three close results, including a draw, and a blowout were part of this afternoon's scintillating second round set of Wellington Premier club rugby Jubilee Cup matches, played on another glorious winter's day around the region. The sun beat down on the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles, who held on at home at the Hutt Recreation Ground to beat Petone 20-17 in a grandstand finish and emerge as the only unbeaten side after the opening fortnight of the championship round...More

Above two of the four McMillan-Parata brothers playing for Paremata-Plimmerton tomorrow against Poneke in action last weekend, Taiaroa at left and captain Tane claiming the high ball The Paremata-Plimmerton Premiers have launched themselves back into the Hardham cup competition for the first time since 1987. Premier captain, Tane McMillan-Parata is leading his side from the front but has some help in the form of his three siblings, Taiaroa, Apirana and Kewa all plying their trade for the flourishing side, the latter being his twin...More

Running away with it - a second Jubilee Cup win this Saturday for Petone against fellow first round winners HOBM will put them in the box seat to make the semi-finals at the end of July. The second week of the Jubilee and Hardham Cups has the prospect of being a true test of mid-winter rugby, with inclement weather so far this week and more forecast before the weekend. For the sides that were victorious last weekend this Saturday represents a chance to take a significant step towards the semi-finals, while those that lost find themselves on the back foot already with much work to do...More

St Patrick's College Silverstream has retained the Ken Gray Memorial Trophy after defeating Wellington College 24-12 in tricky conditions at Silverstream today. A greasy surface combined with a harsh northerly caused havoc for both teams. The difference in the game was two brilliant individual tries by Silverstream centre Losi Filipo. With five minutes left, Silverstream was ahead ?17-12, but Wellington was pressing hard. However ?Filipo received the ball 40-metres out and skipped past two defenders to score the match winner...More

Some of Petone's young guns in action on Saturday against MSP from left to right: Jacob Gooch, Brad Shields, Josh Hrstich, James Blackwell (in headgear) and Ta'amilo Va'a. Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/PetoneRugby Much of the focus of this weekend's second round set of Wellington club rugby Jubilee Cup games will be the match at the Hutt Recreation Ground between the home side Hutt Old Boys Marist and Petone. Both teams are coming off first round wins, HOBM getting up over Old Boys University 30-27 and Petone beating Swindale Shield winners Marist St Pat's 27-19...More