No laughing matter: Both Johnsonville and Norths, who met last week in a one-point thriller, will be hoping for convincing performances in Saturday's third round of the Swindale Shield. Round 3 of the Swindale Shield is Derby Day, with local bragging rights at stake and with it that extra bit of intensity derby games bring. Teams will also be aware though of the short turn-around as the season enters the compressed part of the schedule with four games in the next two weeks; and there is the possibility that with the Hurricanes having the bye this week that some players will turn out in club colours...More

Above: Wainuiomata (2012) and Norths (2013) are the recent winners of the Women's club championship Victoria Tavern Trophy. Who will take the spoils this season? Wellington's Women's Premier competition has been given a boost this season with the introduction of two new teams to increase the teams from six to eight. New teams confirmed to line up this Saturday for the opening week of the first round Fleurs Trophy are Tawa and Stokes Valley, while it is understood that former champions Johnsonville also recently came close to forming a side...More

In association with our partners RobLawMax Labour Hire, we're running regular player profiles this season, showcasing many of the young up and coming players and some of the more established players in Wellington Premier Men's and Women's club rugby. This weekend is Derby Day, with several mouth-watering local derby clashes for local fans to look forward to. Not least the annual McBain Shield clash between Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist. New to Petone and to Wellington rugby this year is last year's New Zealand Secondary Schools fullback Sam McNicol, who has come to Wellington from Hawke's Bay to play rugby and to study at Victoria University...More

UPDATED: A comfortable win for a Hurricanes-laden Oriental-Rongotai and a near-upset for Johnsonville were two of the many talking points in an electrifying second round set of Swindale Shield matches played in hard and fast conditions around Wellington this afternoon. Ories rolled out the big guns today against Wellington and it showed on the scoreboard, the 2011 Jubilee Cup champions having far too much firepower for the Wellington Axemen in winning 55-7. On a stinking hot Wellington afternoon for rugby and with a starting XV that included Hurricanes hooker Motu Matu'u, Ardie Savea and Matt Proctor, and Mark Reddish and Wellington wing Afa Fa'atau on the bench, Ories overwhelmed the Axemen to win the Alby Jack Memorial Cup...More

Wellington club fifteens and American Ambassador's Women's Sevens champions Northern United will join the national champion Wellington Men's Sevens side at the Central Coast International Sevens Rugby Festival taking place on 25 and 26 October. Billed as the premier women's rugby sevens tournament in the southern hemisphere, Norths will join the returning Bay of Plenty Women's representative team and a number of Australian and international teams competing for the Kinsio Cup...More

The opening round of the season is in the books, and as alluded to in this column last week it perhaps raised more questions than answers for the twelve Premier sides. Week two is a chance for teams to build on or atone for last week, but just over the horizon is Derby Day, followed by a period of three games in eight days over Easter and Anzac weekends. In the only game that pits opening-round winners against each other, the Upper Hutt Rams welcome Marist St Pat's to Maidstone Park in the Club Rugby Extra Time game of the week...More

From First XV rugby to the Swindale Shield. There are a number of first year school leavers set to make an impression in senior Wellington Club Rugby this year, such as HOBM wing Frances Tanuvasa above, playing for in last month's Spillane tournament. Adam Julian from Sky Sport College Rugby takes a look at some of the top young prospects in the capital. ? Chase Tiatia - (St Patrick's College, Silverstream/Hutt Old Boys Marist) Chase Tiatia made his Swindale Shield debut last week against Tawa and scored an impressive try in a heavy defeat...More

In association with our partners RobLawMax Labour Hire, we're running regular player profiles this season, showcasing many of the young up and coming players and some of the more established players in Wellington Premier Men's and Women's club rugby. The Women's club rugby season kicks off in the coming weeks. Details ?and draw to be confirmed, but an increase in the number of teams from six last year is likely. Last year, Northern United won both Women's competitions, and they beat Oriental-Rongotai in the Victoria Tavern Trophy final in July...More

?A maiden Wellington Premier club rugby win for the Upper Hutt Rams and an ominous warning from defending champions Tawa that they are again the team to beat this year, in an action-packed opening round of Swindale Shield matches played around the Wellington region today. For the most part, the opening round was super-competitive, with only Tawa's six tries to two 50-14 win over the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles the only blowout score of the six games played under ashen skies and in a moderate wind...More

The Phony War is now over, and on Saturday competitive hostilities commence for the Wellington club rugby season with the Premier, Senior 1 and Senior 2 grades opening the season As always, the opening round is full of intrigue and uncertainty. Who's moved clubs? Who's new? Who's left? Are we better than we were last year?? By 5.00 pm on Saturday many of those questions will be on their way to being answered. Tawa open the season on home turf at Lyndhurst Park, and for the first time as defending Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup champions...More