Above: Rongotai College Old Boys Paulo Aukuso (Ories) and Ben Huntley (Poneke) in action against each other in the 2009 Swindale Shield and Jimmy Grbich Shield match UPDATED: The Oriental-Rongotai (Ories) and Poneke FC rugby clubs are jointly organising a fundraising weekend at the end of May to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jimmy Grbich Memorial Shield, which is played for between the two clubs annually in their first round Swindale Shield match. The aim of the two clubs is to create the ‘Rongotai College Rugby Hub'...More

Nephew of All Black Piri Weepu, Josh Robertson-Weepu was a prolific scorer for the St Pat's Silverstream. In 2012 he scored 103 points and in 2013 he amassed 146. Robertson-Weepu famously kicked two penalties in the 2012 Premier One Final, at the Hutt Rec, when Silverstream upset massive favourites Wellington College by 6-3. In the 2013 final he was outstanding scoring 17 points in a narrow defeat. Weepu who has earned representative honours in touch, league and rugby, is a player who relishes running the ball...More

Above: MSP's young and willing forward pack took control of their match against HOBM, MSP winning 28-25. UPDATED: The Johnsonville Hawks swooped on the Ories Magpies at the Polo Ground today, kicking a late penalty to win the game 19-16 and grabbing their maiden Swindale Shield win of the season and first Premier rugby victory in eight years.? Johnsonville broke a 16-16 deadlock to win the game with time almost up, winning the Ash Pointon Cup off Ories and breaking a 23-game losing streak dating back to their 20-17 win over Ories at the Polo Ground in April 2006...More

Club rugby makes a quick return with a second set of games tomorrow following those that took place on Thursday night and Friday as part of the Easter double round. Premier Swindale Shield Round 4 produced some interesting results, with stirring comebacks and thrilling finishes the order of the day, with the hope that Monday produces more of the same. Results elsewhere mean that Tawa stretched their lead with their fourth consecutive bonus point win, this one over Wellington, on Friday...More

Above: Ories and the Upper Hutt Rams pack down for a scrum at Maidstone Park on Friday. The Rams come into town on Monday to play the Wellington Axemen in the fifth round Club Rugby: Extra Time highlights match. It was a Good Friday for Wellington club followers today following a pulsating set of matches that had fans wanting much more. That's okay, as the next round of matches is on Monday when the 12 Premier teams do it all again in this weekend's second leg of Easter rugby. Following last night's blockbuster 30-30 draw between Wainuiomata and Marist St Pat's, four of today's five games went down to the wire and three of them were decided in the shadows of fulltime and could have gone either way...More

MSP and Wainuiomata (above) fought out a thrilling 30-30?at Porirua Park in the first match of the Easter double-header showecase. Photo courtesy of Holden Bros. Media. Rugby hits the busy part of the schedule over the Easter weekend with games tomorrow night, on Good Friday, and again on Easter Monday, making for a bumper crop of action in the top three grades. When games next Saturday are added it's a stretch of three games in nine days that passes the halfway mark in the Swindale Shield, and a poor run of results will be a significant dent in the Jubilee Cup aspirations of many teams...More

First five-eighth Pakai Turia has joined Poneke and the WRFU Academy from Wellington College, where he was a star in last year's Wellington Premier 1 playoff series. Turia kicked a dropped goal and set up two tries, from deft kicks, as Wellington powered into the final with a 27-0 win over Scots College. In wet and windy conditions in the final he kicked 20 points (seven goals from seven attempts) as Wellington upset Silverstream, 25-22. He was then injured in the Hurricanes final and missed the National semi-final which was a major blow for Wellington because Turia with his confidence up is a daring and exciting player...More

Above: Action from the Stokes Valley - Tawa first round match at Delaney Park.There were bonus point wins in all four matches of the opening round of Premier Women’s Fleurs Trophy matches on Saturday, with last year’s finalists Northern United and Oriental-Rongotai and Hutt Valley neighbours Avalon and Stokes Valley all starting their seasons off with maximum reward. Norths, Stokes Valley and Avalon each reached the half century of points in their matches. Defending champions Norths opened up with a 59-12 win over Wainiuomata, Avalon defeated Poneke 50-14 and Stokes Valley beat newcomers Tawa 54-0...More

An inspired Petone defied pre-match predictions to beat Hutt Old Boys Marist 20-19 and re-claim the famous McBain Shield today in front of a bumper crowd at the Petone Recreation Ground. With the use of the second half wind and the confidence of an outstanding first half on defensive effort the Mateaki Kafatolu-led Petone side turned around a 3-14 deficit into a thrilling one-point win. In a drama-fuelled finish to an intensely fought match, HOBM first five-eighth/fullback Glen Walters had the chance to re-take the lead but pulled his penalty attempt wide into the southerly...More

Long standing club rivalries will resume across several venues tomorrow as part of the Derby Day round of senior matches in Wellington club rugby, but perhaps none more so than at the Petone Recreation Ground where Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist take the field for their annual McBain Shield clash. The McBain Shield commemorates the memory of Alexander McBain who was the first headmaster of Eastern Hutt School when it opened in 1915.? He was a lifelong local rugby supporter and Life Member of the Hutt Club and he also served as vice-president of the WRFU...More