Bonus point away wins for Poneke and Petone and other results going their way have seen these two clubs emerge as the significant winners of a sodden fifth round set of Jubilee Cup matches played around Wellington on Saturday.In steady rain, Poneke swamped Upper Hutt 31-3 at Maidstone Park to go to the top of the table and put themselves in a strong position heading into the semi-finals after the next two rounds, and Petone overran Old Boys-University 20-3 at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve to keep their playoff chances alive...More

The best of grassroots and professional rugby?is on show?in Wellington on Saturday. A mouth-watering fifth round set of Jubilee and Hardham Cup club matches in the afternoon is followed by the second Tri-Nations Test at night between the All Blacks and South Africa at Westpac Stadium. After last week's emphatic 20-point win at Auckland, the All Blacks, featuring four Wellington players in their backline, will be hoping to shut the gates on their Springbok counterparts.But first there's a full round of fifth round Jubilee and Hardham Cup matches kicking off at the earlier times of 12...More

Another hotly contested round of Jubilee Cup matches, including a 23-23 draw between Northern United and Hutt Old Boys Marist, has created a logjam at the top of the points table after a month of round-robin rugby.With just three weeks to play until the 2010 semi-finals, and with Vodafone Wellington Lions squad members unavailable for the last round, the race to the playoffs is all on.The drawn result from an epic match at Porirua Park between home side Norths and HOBM, Poneke's determined 22-10 win over Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Ground and Marist St...More

With the business end of the 2010 Wellington club rugby season fast approaching, both the Hardham and Jubilee Cups look set to go down to the wire over the final month of round-robin play.Both competitions are finely balanced, with five of the eight Jubilee Cup teams all grouped together on the points table with two wins each from the opening three weeks and the leading teams all showing good form in theHardham Cup.But for several teams across both competitions, this weekend's fourth round looms as a crunch one for their semi-final chances...More

Poneke grabbed one of the more sensational Wellington club rugby victories at Kilbirnie Park on Saturday, coming from behind late in the match to pip neighbours Marist St. Pat's 23-21. In a dramatic finish to their third round Jubilee Cup clash, Poneke came back from a 6-21 deficit after 75 minutes with two converted tries and a penalty at the death to complete a stunning turnaround. Unable to penetrate MSP's tenacious defence close to the forwards, all seemed lost when left wing Ambrose Plaister dropped a pass out wide with the line wide open to see a long period of sustained pressure come to nothing...More

The worst conditions of the season last week created some of the most gripping rugby to date, with the bands of hardy spectators ringing the sidelines of all the Jubilee and Hardham Cup venues treated to a series of pressure-cooker contests and tight results in trying conditions. The forecast may not be so frightful this Saturday but Wellington club rugby supporters can expect more of the same hard-nosed rugby this weekend as the round-robin phase reaches an important phase for all teams involved...More

Poneke's forwards ground themselves into the Kilbirnie Park mud for an epic 17-15 win over previously unbeaten Northern United, while Hutt Old Boys Marist's brothers Matt and Alexis Time each scored decisive second half tries as part of their centenary weekend 22-15 victory over archrivals Petone on Saturday. In appalling conditions, Poneke's pack played with guts and passion throughout the second half into the stiff southerly wind after scoring two converted tries and leading 14-12 at the break and thus handed Norths their first loss of the season, ending a 12-game winning streak...More

One hundred years of rugby at the Hutt Recreation Ground is celebrated this weekend, with over 500 past and present players and supporters of the Hutt Old Boys Marist club and its forerunners swooping in from near and far to mark the club's centenary. A full weekend of events is planned, marking 100 years since the first official Hutt Club was affiliated into the WRFU competitions following a merger at the end of July 1909 between the local Epuni and Kia Ora clubs. There's also much at stake for the HOBM Premiers this weekend, who play their round two Jubilee Cup fixture against riverside neighbours and traditional rivals Petone in what could prove to be a vital clash for their semi-final aspirations after losing their second round opener last week 22-27 to a resurgent Old Boys-University...More

An emphatic come from behind win for Northern United, a clinical team performance by Marist St. Pat's, two closely fought other Jubilee Cup games and a Hardham Cup humdinger highlighted an absorbing opening weekend of second round club rugby matches across Wellington.Fresh from scoring a record 18 tries to help his side through to an unbeaten Swindale Shield winning run, fullback Buxton Popoalii helped ignite Norths to a sizzling 45-23 win over Oriental Rongotai at Porirua Park when it looked to many that they might have been heading for their first defeat of the season...More

?Can unbeaten Northern United maintain their red hot form? Will it be a three-peat for Marist St. Pat’s? Can Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist grab the glory in their anniversary seasons? Will 2010 be the year of the underdog? These questions and many more will be answered in the coming weeks when Wellington sport’s greatest prize unfolds across the region’s Premier rugby fields.?Recently crowned Swindale Shield champions Norths head into this year’s 82nd edition of the Jubilee Cup as clear favourites based on their record breaking first round run and the galaxy of proven game breakers in their ranks...More