Above: Claire Rowat running into a gap for Old Boys University in their first round Fleurs Trophy match against Eketahuna last month. On Saturday Old Boys University, Wellington Pride and 2009 Black Ferns hooker Claire ‘Shorty' Rowat played her 100th Premier Women's club game for OBU in her side's 17-12 Victoria Tavern Trophy win over Wainuiomata on OBU's number one home ground the Hawkins Basin Reserve. This is a fantastic achievement given that women play far fewer club games than men...More

Above: It was an arm-wrestle at William Jones Park between home side Wainuiomata and visitors Tawa, with two evenly matched packs going full throttle against each other all afternoonJubilee Cup Round 2 results (home team first): Northern United 31 v Marist St Pat's 10; Oriental Rongotai 45 v Upper Hutt 3; Hutt Old Boys Marist 23 v Petone 23; Wainuiomata 10 v Tawa 5 Hardham Cup Round 2 results (home team first): Poneke 46 v Johnsonville 0; Rimutaka 8 v Old Boys University 24; Wainuiomata B 0 v Wests Roosters 34; Norths B 20 v MSP B 33 Northern United captain Henry Smith was a happy hooker on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick of tries in his side's 31-10 win over Marist St Pat's at Porirua Park in round 2 of the Jubilee Cup...More

It might be midwinter in Wellington but the Jubilee and Hardham Cups are set to heat up further this weekend as the 16 teams battle for all-important competition points at the start of the second round.The worst conditions of the year last week created some of the most absorbing rugby of the season to date, the hardy spectators ringing the sidelines of all the Jubilee and Hardham Cup grounds witness to a series of hard-fought matches in trying conditions.The Jubilee Cup is all about momentum. If a team can win its early matches, then it's just a short sprint to the championship end of the season...More

Above: Wellington's top side celebrating with the first round Senior 2 National Mutual Cup after beating the Wests Roosters in the last round at Ian Galloway Park.They're dusting out the trophy cabinet at Hataitai Park. After many seasons in the doldrums, the Wellington Football Club could be about to have not one but two WRFU trophies in its clubrooms. Having already won the Senior 2 first round National Mutual Cup, Wellington's U21 side just needs to win this weekend against the Petone Blues and they'll win the first round Paris Memorial Trophy as well...More

Above: Round one Jubilee Cup and Hardham Cup matches kicked off in atrocious conditions on Saturday, as seen here with Upper Hutt and Norths players locked in a desperate struggle and eventually drawing 10-10. Jubilee Cup first round results (home team first): MSP 28 - HOBM 11; Wainuiomata 6 - Ories 11;? Upper Hutt 10 - Norths 10; Tawa 37 - Petone 3 Hardham Cup first round results (home team first): Wests Roosters 0 - OBU 29; Johnsonville 28 - Norths B 8; MSP B 13 - Rimutaka 17; Wainuiomata B 0 - Poneke 45 Marist St...More

Above: Defending Jubilee Cup champions Oriental-Rongotai and newly crowned Swindale Shield champions Hutt Old Boys Marist players battle it out in last year's semi-final. Who will win emerge from the pack and win this year's Wellington club championship title? Eight teams will line up on the Jubilee Cup starter's blocks this Saturday from 3.00pm but just two will be left alive on finals day at the Hutt Recreation Ground on Sunday 12 August. In a repeat of ?last year's finals day, the Jubilee Cup final will be broadcast live on Sky Network Television and the Premier 1 college First XV final will be the curtain raiser...More

Above: The Hardham Cup sits in Tawa's clubrooms overlooking Lyndhurst Park at the start of the season. With 2011 champions Tawa playing in the Jubilee Cup this year, a new Premier 2 champion will be crowned in August. How will the club with one of the best Jubilee Cup records of all over the past decade adjust to life in the Hardham Cup? After a lacklustre Swindale Shield campaign that saw them win just two of 11 matches, Poneke will be eager to claim the consolation prize of the Premier 2 title...More

Above: HOBM lock Polonga Pedro soars high to win a lineout off his opposite Shahn Eru against Wainuiomata on Saturday. Watching on the left are Wainuiomata flanker Glen Angus and HOBM prop Simon Malaeulu, with Nick Risdon at the right. Hutt Old Boys Marist captain and halfback Nick Risdon expressed his club's delight at winning the first round Swindale Shield competition on Saturday. "The boys are stoked to tick off that goal," Risdon enthused. "I think it was some reward for playing consistent footy and playing as a team...More

Above members of the HOBM Premiers celebrating with the Swindale Shield on Saturday after they earned their 10th win from 11 games to take out the first round Premier title, six points clear at the top of the standings to second placed Marist St Pat's. Hutt Old Boys Marist are the 2012 Wellington Swindale Shield champions, holding off a stern challenge at home in the last round from Wainuiomata to win 24-11 and capturing their second first round title and their third overall Premier title after previously winning the Swindale Shield in 1997 and the Jubilee Cup in 2007...More

The anticipation is building for a mammoth last week of first round rugby throughout the Premier Swindale Shield, Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup grades. Winners will be crowned this Saturday in each of these grades, with several other teams fighting it out down the tables in the Premier and Senior 1 competitions for promotion and relegation for the second round. Players have felt a chill in the air at trainings this week, but the action heats up on Saturday afternoon...More