Above: The Wellington U18s in action against Manawatu in Palmerston North last year.UPDATED: The Wellington U18s and Wellington 20s sides kick off their respective four-week Hurricanes age-grade competitions tomorrow against their rivals from the Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki and Manawatu provinces.The two competitions take the form of three-match round robin series, leading up to Finals Day in Palmerston on 12 October where first plays second and third meets fourth.The two Wellington teams start their show on the road...More

The Sevens rugby season kicks off over the next two weekends with three secondary school Sevens tournaments being played.Wellington Men’s Sevens co-coach Scott Waldrom hosts the inaugural Hutt Valley Secondary Schools Sevens tournament this coming Sunday, while there are two tournaments next weekend.These are the Western Schools Sevens Derek Wootton Memorial Trust tournament at Porirua Park and the College Sport Wellington Sevens festival at Wakefield Artificial, featuring? open teams from all other schools...More

Above: The Wellington Maori side on Saturday after their remarkable win over Canterbury Maori. In possibly the comeback of the year, Wellington Maori have beaten Canterbury Maori 52-51 today in Christchurch.Wellington Maori were down in the first half and behind by as many points after 30 minutes, before an injury break and a fractured leg to their No. 8 Mykel Herewini forced them to regroup and they scored two tries before halftime to trail 17-44 at halftime.They continued their fightback throughout the second half, and with Canterbury scoring another converted try they trailed 45-51 with time almost up...More

Above: Jackson Garden-Bachop (with ball) and Andrew Wells (on his left shoulder)? both made their Wellington Lions ITM Cup debuts last night against BoP and both return to the Wellington U20s squad tomorrow for their match against the Manawatu Maori. Wellington Representative fixtures on Saturday 14 September at a glance:Wellington U20s V Manawatu Maori in Feilding at 2.30 pmWellington U18s v Manawatu U18s at Otaki Domain at 12,30 pm (pre-season, followed by HOBM Academy v Horowhenua Kapiti U20) Wellington U18 Centurions v Taranaki U18 in New Plymouth at TBCWellington U16As v Combined Schools at Ngatitoa Domain at 12...More

Above: The Wellington U20s at the start of their match against Wellington Maori on Saturday. Updated: The Wellington Development side enjoyed the biggest win of the afternoon in today’s representative and College First XV matches involving Wellington teams.In Feilding, the Wellington Development side cantered to a 71-5 win over Manawatu Maori.At Porirua Park, the Wellington U20s defeated Wellington Maori 41-18, warming up for a busy stretch of matches against inter-provincial opposition by outscoring the Maori seven tries to three and turning an early deficit into a 34-8 lead early in the second half...More

UPDATED: The start of the Women’s NPC for the Wellington Pride and a national First XV semi-final for Wellington College are two features of representative matches involving Wellington teams on Saturday.The Wellington Pride open their season in the South Island with a trip to Dunedin to play Otago, while Wellington College are playing to extend their season for another week and to host the national First XV final the following Saturday.Wellington College will go into their Top Four clash in Rotorua against Hamilton Boys’ High School as underdogs but with nothing to lose against the crack Waikato school who won this tournament in 2008 and 2009 and are regular participants...More

The Pōneke Football Club’s vision to grow the first All Black and Black Fern from migrant communities who is not from the South Pacific, Europe or South Africa has drawn incredible support from the multicultural communities of the Greater Wellington region.A vibrant, noisy, colourful celebration of rugby as a way of binding communities in New Zealand together is being held at Pōneke Football Club, Kilbirnie Park, on the afternoon of Sunday 8 September (15 September a reserve day)...More

This weekend the Wellington Pride join seven other provinces from around the country at the starting gates for an expanded Women’s NPC competition.This year eight teams will be playing in the Women’s NPC, with Hawke’s Bay dropping out but Taranaki and Counties Manukau joining the fray as new contenders.Seven weeks of round robin play will culminate in the top two teams playing in the final on Saturday 26 October. The final is the curtain-raiser to the Men’s ITM Cup Premiership final...More

?Above: the victorious Petone Brotherhood team after winning the Senior 3 Johnsonville Centennium Cup, beating the Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians 16-5. Updated: Finals wins for Marist St. Pat’s, Petone and Upper Hutt and Wellington College and some more hotly contested representative matches in and around Wellington a bit further afield in club, college and representative rugby today.Wellington College defeated Napier Boys’ High School 22-15? in the final of the Hurricanes region First XV competition at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North...More

Above: Wellington College and Napier Boys’ High School at the start of their pre-season Hurricanes Festival and Amner Cup clash at Porirua Park in May. Napier won this match 32-30. Win and go to the National Top Four, lose and the season is over. This Saturday at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North that prospect faces Wellington College and Napier Boys’ High School (NBHS) who meet in the final of the Hurricanes regional qualifying tournament.Both are eager for a seat at the Top Four in Rotorua the following Saturday, against the winners of the Blues, Chiefs and combined South Island finals which are all also taking place this weekend...More