Above:?it was a struggle at Maidstone Park on Saturday, as Norths openside flanker Dean Brunsdon crashes through Upper Hutt's defence. UPDATED: A super-impressive Tawa made no contest of their round three top-of-the-table Swindale Shield clash with Petone at Lyndurst Park this afternoon, comfortably beating the Villagers 44-17 and taking the outright lead in the competition with their third consecutive bonus point win.Although down to 14 minutes for 20 minutes of the first half owing to yellow cards, Tawa dined out on Petone to outscore their visitors five tries to three, after leading 27-7 at halftime...More

Wellington Premier referee Gordon Noble-Campbell kicking off his 100th Premier Wellington club rugby match last weekend. Photo courtesy of www.facebook.com/wgtnrraThe rules of rugby are fine, it’s when players try to interpret them differently that they become a problem, says Wellington’s most-capped referee Gordon Noble-Campbell. And having just refereed his 100th premier game he’s eminently qualified to make that claim.At just 47 years of age Gordon has achieved a rugby refereeing milestone that few others have achieved and he’s done it in ten short years...More

It's crunch time for Northern United this weekend in the Swindale Shield who are one of five winless teams after the opening two rounds. The replay of last year's Jubilee Cup Final between Marist St. Pat's and Oriental-Rongotai and the match at Lyndhurst Park between early frontrunners Tawa and Petone are the two feature battles of the third round of the Swindale Shield this Saturday. But they're not the most important clashes of the afternoon. MSP and Ories have both had a win and a loss in opening up their 2013 seasons...More

Above: Matt Proctor bursting away on Sunday in Levin, playing for the Hurricanes Development XV against Junior Japan. The young and talented Matt Proctor out of the Oriental-Rongotai club has always been one to watch, particularly during his college days at St Patrick's Town. His rise to professional rugby was imminent as soon as he left the doors of his former school. Matt was a prominent figure in last season's ITM Cup for Wellington in his debut season. We saw glimpses of his extreme talent that left one thinking there is far more to come from this young winger...More

Above: Wests Roosters halfback Matthew Goosen gets a pass away in his team's round two match at Nairnville Park against Poneke. Wests wore the colours of the old Onslow club who amalgamated with Athletic to form Western Suburbs, now the Wests Roosters, in 1983. UPDATED: Petone and Tawa are out in front in the Swindale Shield after two rounds with two bonus point wins under their engines after respective round two wins on Saturday over two of last year's Jubilee Cup semi-finalists, Northern United and Wainuiomata...More

Above: Players from Petone and the Wests Roosters contest lineout possession in Monday's Swindale Shield season opener at the Petone Recreation Ground.Will Old Boys-University push hard for some major Wellington club rugby title success this season? Their many supporters certainly hope so. But first they just want their team to finish inside the top eight of the Swindale Shield make the Jubilee Cup round.Two consecutive ninth placed finishers in the first round consigned them to the Hardham Cup for the second half of the season in 2011 and 2012...More

Above: Polonga Pedro with the Swindale Shield in June last year? Hutt Old Boys Marist's Polonga Pedro joins a select group of club rugby players on Saturday when he runs out on to the Polo Ground against Oriental-Rongotai to play his 200th Premier match. Pedro, who made his debut for HOBM in 2001, has also played numerous games for Wellington representative sides highlighted by selection in the Wellington Lions in 2009, playing ITM Cup matches against Manawatu and Northland. On Saturday Pedro will become the third HOBM player after Doug Power (over 200 games for Hutt Old Boys and HOBM combined) and Martin Wallis (over 200 for HOBM) to be inducted as an "Eagles Legend" in a presentation at the Hutt Recreation Ground clubrooms from 6...More

Above: Tawa's Player of the Match against Upper Hutt Joketani Koroi with ball in hand, surrounded by opposition players Two boilovers, three comfortable wins and a close-run victory for the first round defending champions. The opening round of the 2013 Wellington Premier club season had it all and there's much more to come in the next 10 rounds of the Swindale Shield. Heading into the new season, there was much talk about who would hit the ground running on opening day and, as predicted by many, 2012 form was turned on its head...More

The first round draw (including details of ground changes) and the starting XVs for the first round on Monday can be viewed on? the Draws & Results page above.Read Saturday’s Dominion Post for their season preview, including details of player gains and losses for 2013.The 2013 season may be well underway but the real rugby in Wellington starts on Easter Monday with the opening round of the Premier Swindale Shield, Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup competitions. Wellington rugby fans can look forward to watching or following 198 Premier, Senior 1 and Senior 2 matches over the coming months - and that’s just in the first round...More

?The first player profiled in our new Elevate Player Spotlight series is Jackson Garden-Bachop, who joins Northern United this year from Scots College. The inside back made the New Zealand Secondary Schools team last year and was named the College Sport Wellington boys' rugby player of the year. The previous five winners of this award have been Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Lima Sopoaga, Julian Savea and Buxton Popoalii - all current Super Rugby players. He didn’t miss a single match in four seasons of playing in the Scots College first XV...More