Above: Buxton Popoalii on his way to the tryline in his last game for Northern United - the 2010 Jubilee Cup Final at Westpac Stadium With a Rolls Royce back division, comprising no fewer than five current or former Wellington players, plus a sixth, Tamati Ellison, who is sidelined after having shoulder surgery but still very much part of the set-up, it’s little wonder that big things are predicted for the Highlanders this Super Rugby season. Their contracted players from Wellington that they can call on over the next five months are Old Boys-University first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga, Oriental-Rongotai second five-eighth Ma’a Nonu, Tawa midfielder Shaun Treeby, Hutt Old Boys Marist wing Hosea Gear and Northern United wing/fullback Buton Popoalii...More

From New Zealand Secondary Schools captain 18 months ago to Hurricanes hotshot on the cusp of making his Super Rugby debut, Ardie Savea has the rugby world at his feet. Sky Sport Rugby Channel Online Editor Adam Julian tracks his meteoric rise from schoolboy and club star to one of the hottest young tickets in this year’s Super Rugby competition. ?Nationwide telecasts of First XV rugby have seen a plethora of young talent burst on to the national spotlight. Names like Konard Hurrell, Michael Collins, Jason Emery (now with the Highlanders), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Michael Fatalofa have all appeared on First XV rugby television in the last three years,soaring to heights few attain while still fitting their school uniforms...More

Above: Solomona Sakalia packing down with his club teammates last year in a match against Tawa. Clockwise from top left: Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Bernie Upton, Lua Lokotui, Solomona Sakalia and Liu Taituave It’s fair to say that Solomona Sakalia has largely flown under the radar in his professional rugby career so far. But all that could change in 2013. In just under three years the impressive loosehead prop has gone from making his Wellington club rugby Premier debut with Marist St Pat’s to training? hard with the Chiefs who this week have been preparing to face the Hurricanes in the Battle of the Brewery at Mangatainoka in the final Super Rugby pre-season match for both sides...More

Above: Action between Upper Hutt (maroon) and Wainuiomata at Porirua Park in October in the Wellington American Ambassador’s Series. Upper Hutt are joining other clubs from around the country in this weekend’s National Club Sevens Championship.?Sixteen clubs from around New Zealand will assemble at Burnham Army Camp near Christchurch for the National Club Sevens Championship this Saturday 16 February.The Burnham Bulls, as holders of the Middlesex County Wavell Wakefield Cup, are joined by clubs from Wellington, Auckland, Tasman, West Coast and Otago, as well as several from Canterbury...More

Above: Dane Coles in action for the Hurricanes against the Chiefs last year in their last match of the season. His injury time try gave the Hurricanes a 28-25 win over the eventual competition winners and ended their season on a high. After the year Dane Coles had in 2012 he was entitled to a decent break. Back home from touring with the All Blacks in Europe he was given the whole of January off. A stickler for hard work, he instead reported for duty with the rest of the squad on the first Monday after the Christmas break...More

Above: Action from a recent Greytown Sevens tournament. Photo supplied. Over 20 teams from all over the Lower North Island will descend on the Greytown Rugby Club on Saturday for the club’s annual Sevens tournament. The tournament has been going for over 40 years and is an important part of the Greytown rugby club. “It’s quite hard work getting organised, but it’s a great fundraiser for the club,” explained Club Chairman Neil Morrison. “It used to be different, because it was solely Wairarapa Bush teams and it was a pre-season hit-out for all the clubs...More

Above: Hutt Old Boys Marist wing Tupeni Kamakorewa steaming in for one of his two tries in his side’s 43-21 Anzac Day McBain Shield win over Petone last year. Possessing searing pace and benefiting from HOBM’s positive style of play, Kamakorewa was the top try scorer in the 2012 Swindale Shield. A decade in review part 4: Part 4 of 4 looking back at some of the highlights of Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup rugby over the past decade (2003-2012). Selected matches and performances below are revisited through the perspective of the Club Weekly...More

Above: New Hurricane Eric Sione takes on representative props Whetu Henry (left) and Donal McNamara in last year’s Jubilee Cup whilst playing for Norths against Ories. There is much to look forward to for Eric Sione with a bright career ahead of him. He spoke of great pride about his rugby when we caught up with him this week at the Hurricanes’ open training session at the Hutt Recreation Ground.Northern United prop Eric Sione is finding his feet within the current ranks as one of the young debutants for the Hurricanes 2013 season...More

Above: Former Northern United tearaway Buxton Popoalii, now with Otago and the Highlanders, scoring one of his two tries in his side’s 2008 Jubilee Cup semi-final win over Petone.A decade in review part 3: Part 3 of 4 looking back at some of the highlights of Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup rugby over the past decade (2003-2012). Note, these selected matches and performances are revisited through the perspective of the Club Weekly.? 1 August 2008: Popoalii streaks in for two tries in semi-finalNorthern United fullback Buxton Popoalii burst on to the Premier rugby scene 2008, lighting up the fields of Wellington for three years before his shift south to Otago...More

Above: Former Marist St Pat’s No. 8 Alex Tulou running hard against Petone in 2007. MSP lost this match 34-39, before going on to pip Petone 24-23 in the following week’s Jubilee Cup semi-final. Tulou was directly involved in two stunning wins for MSP over arch-rivals Northern United in 2007 and 2008, as summarised below.A decade in review part 2: Part 2 of 4 looking back at some of the highlights of Wellington Premier Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup rugby over the past decade (2003-2012), -? as witnessed first-hand by the Club Weekly...More