Neighbouring clubs Northern United and Tawa emerged as the two bonus point winners from an exciting opening weekend of 2010 Swindale Shield rugby, with co-defending first round champions Northern United overpowering Jubilee Cup winners Marist St. Pat's 54-26 and Tawa running past Wainuiomata 39-23. Elsewhere, there were narrow first-up wins for Poneke over Oriental-Rongotai (20-18), Hutt Old Boys Marist over Upper Hutt (34-26), the Wests Roosters over Johnsonville (19-12) and a 20-20 draw between Norths' co-defending champions Petone and Old Boys-University...More

A much anticipated 2010 Wellington club rugby season kicks off in the top grades this Saturday, with the first round of Swindale Shield, Harper Lock Shield, National Mutual Cup and Fleurs Trophy Women's competition matches set to hit the local playing fields and ignite the passion of rugby fans Wellington-wide.Some of the best sporting stories in Wellington are found on the Wellington club rugby playing arena, features of which this year include major celebrations for the Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist clubs, Johnsonville's re-introduction to the Premier grade and, as always, the promise of fresh faces making their marks...More

Marist St. Pat's are the 2009 Jubilee Cup champions, beating Northern United 21-16 in the final at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon.???????????????????????????????? MSP won their 13th Jubilee Cup title on the back of seven penalties to centre Chris Slade and a much more disciplined and composed performance under pressure than their Norths counterparts.Slade's seven penalties carried his side to a decisive come-from-behind victory over Norths, who scored the game's only two tries but let themselves down through ill-discipline and a spate of handling errors that undid much of their momentum...More

A second half try scoring extravaganza sealed the 2009 Hardham Cup title for Old Boys-University in the Premier 2 final against the Wests Roosters 42-8 at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.All Blacks centre and super-sub Conrad Smith played a leading role as OBU sank the Wests Roosters with a quickfire burst of try scoring soon after the halftime interval that allowed top qualifiers and unbeaten OBU to saunter away with the Hardham Cup title.Smith was brought on as a replacement at halftime and was immediately involved, scoring the first of four converted second half tries as OBU extended their 11-3 halftime advantage for an emphatic win...More

Update 9am Friday: Teams are now published. To view the four starting XV's for Sunday please see Games & Results across the top of this page.Jubilee Cup: Northern United v Marist St. Pat's?If the 2008 Jubilee Cup final between Marist. St Pat's and Northern United is anything to go by Wellington club rugby fans will be on the edge of their seats throughout?Sunday's re-run. Last year's season finale was so tight that they battled to a 10-10 draw and the Cup was shared for the first time since the playoff format was introduced in 1993...More

Marist St. Pat's and Northern United will square off in next Sunday's Jubilee Cup final at Westpac Stadium in a repeat of last year after both winning their semi-finals away from home against Petone and Poneke respectively. At the Petone Recreation Ground, MSP toppled their great rivals Petone 15-8, while Norths slayed top qualifiers Poneke 30-10 at Kilbirnie Park to set up a re-run of last year's final that was drawn and shared between the two clubs.The Hardham Cup final curtain raiser will be between Old Boys-University, who saw off the spirited challenge of Johnsonville 18-13 at the Basin Reserve, and the Wests Roosters, who overcame Wainuiomata 25-19 in the other semi-final on their home patch at Ian Galloway Park...More

Jubilee and Hardham Cup semi-finals previewsPoneke v Northern UnitedTwo of the most consistent teams over the past several seasons square off in today's Jubilee Cup semi-final at Kilbirnie Park, where top qualifier and Andy Leslie Trophy winner Poneke hosts fourth placed Northern United. Both are no strangers to semi-finals rugby, one or both of them having progressed to play in the final at Westpac Stadium in five of the past six years. Norths are playing in their seventh consecutive Jubilee Cup semi-final and if they win they will reach their fifth final since their first in 2004...More

Top qualifier Poneke will host Northern United in one semi-final at Kilbirnie Park and Petone will entertain Marist St. Pat's in the other after Poneke overtook Petone to finish top of the round-robin and win the Andy Leslie Trophy in the final weekend of regular season Jubilee matches on Saturday. In glorious sunshine, Poneke beat Oriental-Rongotai 18-5 in their last round match at the Polo Ground while Petone lost to Northern United 29-20 at Porirua to see Poneke end the seven-week round-robin series with six wins from seven and two points clear of previous frontrunners Petone...More

Three into two won't go. That's the equation facing Marist St. Pat's, Northern United and Oriental Rongotai as they prepare for this weekend's seventh and last round set of Jubilee Cup matches, hoping to join Petone and Poneke in the semi-finals. With frontrunners Petone already qualified for the semi-finals and Poneke all but assured baring an improbable set of results, the battle is on in round seven for the three chasing teams to grab the next two spots, and for either Marist St...More

Jubilee and Hardham Cups round six round-up: Fullback James So'oialo scored all the points including two intercept tries to lead defending champions Northern United to a shaky 23-17 win over Hutt Old Boys Marist to keep his side in the mix in the sixth and penultimate round of the Jubilee Cup on Saturday. So'oialo's personal points scoring haul, including the match winning try in the dying stages, was probably enough to propel Norths into the semi-finals in a fortnight's time, while at the same time burying HOBM's playoff hopes with a round still to play...More