The Marist St. Pat's and Northern United ‘B' teams playing in the Hardham Cup can't be promoted to next year's Swindale Shield but they can still make the Hardham Cup semi-finals and beyond at the expense of any of the four existing Premier clubs and 2009 Swindale Shield hopefuls Johnsonville and Rimutaka. MSP and Norths finished second equal behind Johnsonville in the first round Harper Lock Shield and both enter this week's third round set of matches with a win and a loss after two matches...More

Decisive second round wins to Marist St. Pat's, Northern United and Poneke have seen these three sides remain as the only unbeaten teams in the Jubilee Cup. The trio each scored important second round wins to make it two from two and create the early jump on the field that also includes three winless contenders in Old Boys-University, Oriental-Rongotai and Hutt Old Boys Marist, who now realistically find themselves in must win situations next weekend or their semi-final aspirations will quickly disappear...More

Tawa claimed a place on its own at the top of the Hardham Cup after two rounds, beating Marist St Pat's B 32-15 at Lyndhurst Park. Wests is second on the table thanks to a 15-all draw with neighbours Johnsonville, while Avalon and Wainuiomata each scored wins to claim a share of third place. Back at Lyndhurst, a rusty Tawa eventually ran out 32-15 bonus-point winners over MSP B after leading by just three with ten to play. Electing to play the first half into the wind and sun, and without the creative genius of the injured Willie Lafaele at centre, the home side struggled to assert their dominance...More

An epic encounter between Oriental Rongotai and Northern United at the Polo ground is predicted in round two of the Jubilee Cup, where both sides will be anxious to come away from this clash with four competition points or better. Norths are eager to earn their second consecutive win in the second round while Ories are hoping to reignite their season which was previously going so well. Ories' resurgence was a highlight of the Swindale Shield, the Miramar contenders winning five of six matches between rounds four and nine to comfortably qualify inside the top eight for the first time since 2003...More

Tawa's terrific start to the second round was the talk of the Hardham Cup last weekend, with a convincing 48-12 first-up win over defending champions Wainuiomata away at William Jones Park. In doing so, Tawa crossed the tryline eight times, with dangerous backs Shaun Treeby and Jon Masaga each scoring twice as they reversed their 12-21 loss to the Wainuomata in the just completed Swindale Shield.Tawa have a great chance to get their 2008 Hardham Cup season off to a flyer over the next fortnight when they return home this week to face Marist St...More

Jubilee Cup 14 June: Multiple Jubilee Cup finalists Poneke emerged as the significant winners at the conclusion of first round matches played on Saturday. Poneke caused a minor upset in beating Old Boys-University 25-8 in their local derby clash at Kilbirnie Park. The red and blacks, who recovered from a slow start in the Swindale Shield in which they lost four of their first five matches to finish sixth, scored three unanswered tries to pull away from OBU in the second half after trailing 8-0 late in the first half...More

Hardham Cup 14 June: The Wests Roosters and Tawa were the two biggest winners coming out of the first round of the Hardham Cup, each taking a determined step in their bid to retain Premier status. The Roosters won 25-5 away at Avalon, while Tawa crossed Wainuiomata's line eight times at William Jones Park for a 48-14 result. Johnsonville will be disappointed after a 31-12 loss to MSP B at the Basin, while Norths B dispatched Premier hopefuls Rimutaka 26-14. A wounded Johnsonville, desperate to regain premier status after two years in the senior first wilderness, were soundly beaten in the early game at the Basin...More

An enthralling Swindale Shield finished on Saturday, which saw Marist St. Pat's rise above the rest in a close race to take their tenth first round title and their first since 2000. MSP are back to their best as one of the leading clubs after a lean last couple of seasons by their own established high standards, Senior 1 (finishing second) and Senior 2 sides (winners) also dominant in their grades in the first round. Their Premiers finished only mid-table in each of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Jubilee Cups as other clubs such as new powerhouse Northern United hugged the limelight...More

The Hardham Cup promises to be an exciting competition this year, with the addition of two Senior One Clubs from the just completed Harper Lock Shield set to join the bottom four sides from the Swindale Shield in an expected close race for the title. These two extra teams - Johnsonville and Rimutaka - join defending champions Wainuiomata, the Wests Roosters, Tawa and Avalon and will both be pushing hard to finish ahead of any of these four current Premier teams and take their place in next year's Swindale Shield...More

Congratulations to Marist St. Pat's, 2008 Swindale Shield champions. MSP were all class in beating Upper Hutt 41-0 in their last round fixture at home at Evans Bay Park to comfortably capture their 10th Swindale Shield and their first since 2000.MSP won 10 consecutive games on route to the first round title, after dropping their season opener to Old Boys-University on Gala Day in Porirua, the team they beat in the 2002 Jubilee Cup final to win their previous major Premier title.On a blustery but fine afternoon, MSP produced a clinical performance of resolute defence and at times sublime attacking rugby to outplay the visiting Upper Hutt side across the park...More