Comfortable wins for Oriental-Rongotai and Upper Hutt and the attraction of Tri Nations All Blacks Chris Masoe and Piri Weepu were the defining aspects of the fourth round of Hardham Cup play. Ories and Upper Hutt both enjoyed half-century wins over Poneke and Marist St. Pat's opposition respectively, while Maose and Weepu both inspired Wainuiomata and Johnsonville to victories over Northern United and Avalon in the round's second two fixtures. In trying conditions across the region, Ories beat Poneke 50-0 at the Polo Ground, while Upper Hutt defeated MSP 60-5 at Evans Bay Park...More

Oriental-Rongotai should become the first team to qualify for the Hardham Cup semi-finals if they defeat Poneke at the Polo Ground this weekend, where victory will give them four wins from four in the second round. With the inclusion of their last round Swindale Shield 28-24 win over Tawa, June proved a successful month for Ories, with further wins over Avalon, MSP and Wainuiomata putting them on top of the Hardham Cup standings. If they can defeat Poneke this week it will surely ease the relief of their supporters following last season's madcap second round, the pall of relegation only being lifted after the final round...More

It's crunch time in this weekend's Jubilee Cup fourth round for last year's finalists Northern United and Poneke. For Poneke, the stakes are high, last season's top qualifiers needing to beat Old Boys-University in this week's Club Weekly feature match at the Basin Reserve or their eighth visit to the Jubilee Cup final in ten years will be as spectators only. With just a solitary bonus point from their first three matches, they have to win their remaining four round-robin matches starting with OBU...More

Hardham Cup pacesetters Oriental-Rongotai made it three wins from three in their 27-10 second round win over Wainuiomata at the Polo Ground. With the services of their champion playmaker Ma'a Nonu at centre, Ories were too strong for Wainui, Nonu forming a dangerous midfield liaison with his brother Samson. Fullback Fa'avae Tuma'ai continued his great form of late, scoring two of Ories' five tries to notch up seven in his previous nine games and nine for the season. Also making headlines in the third round were Johnsonville who registered a timely 26-20 victory over defending champions Upper Hutt, digging deep at Helston Park to record their first Hardham Cup win...More

The full complement of Wellington's rich midfield talent came out to play in week three of the second round of Wellington club rugby, as wet weather again played a part across all Jubilee Cup venues. As marginal conditions once more closed in around the grounds, some of the game's big names were making their presence felt in several backlines. This included Conrad Smith on the comeback trail at Nairnville Park for Old Boys-University, scoring a try and playing 60 minutes in his side's 33-7 win over the Wests Roosters, as well as Tana Umaga, Ma'a Nonu, Tamati Ellison, Willie Lafaele and newcomer Robert Fruen...More

A third straight win this weekend for Hutt Old Boys Marist against Tawa at the Hutt Recreation ground will send them firmly on the path towards the Jubilee Cup playoffs and beyond. HOBM are gathering steam for their first tilt at the title at Westpac Stadium following two contrasting Jubilee Cup wins, beating Poneke 19-9 in the wet and cold in round one and trouncing the Wests Roosters 64-0 under blue skies in round two. Both victories were away from home, the Eagles returning home for the first of two straight matches at the Hutt Recreation Ground...More

A Welcome return to form by Avalon and a second loss for Johnsonville marked the second round of Hardham Cup play. While Avalon bounced back from a first-up loss to Oriental-Rongotai to beat neighbours Upper Hutt 34-17 Johnsonville were defeated 14-6 at home by Wainuiomata. With the services of champion No. 8 Thomas Waldrom back from a two month injury layoff, Avalon recovered from an early 70 metre intercept try to Upper Hutt left wing Shannon Nightingale to overcome Upper Hutt five tries to three at Maidstone Park...More

Hutt Old Boys Marist stamped their mark on the 2007 Jubilee Cup with an empathic 64-0 round two win over the Wests Roosters. Following up their triumphant first round win last week against mud larks Poneke, HOBM cut loose in the Ian Galloway sunshine, overpowering the Roosters eight tries to nil. First five-eighth Jon Bentley added the extras, kicking every conversion. HOBM are joined at the top of the table by Tawa and Marist St. Pats, who both enjoyed second round wins over Petone and Old Boys-University respectively...More

If the opening round of the Jubilee Cup is an indicator, Wellington rugby fans can look forward to an exciting and evenly contested next two months of second round rugby. Last week saw the first weekend of truly wintry weather and with it some hard fought games and close results. Adding spice to this week's second round matches, all four first-up results were the reverse of what happened in the Swindale Shield round. Reversing their outcomes from earlier in the season, Petone defeated Old Boys-University 21-3 (OBU winning 25-3 in the first round), Hutt Old Boys Marist beat Poneke 19-9 (first round Poneke 39-25), Tawa beat Wests Roosters 27-7 (Wests 13-10) and Marist St...More

Wellington Premier club rugby returns to Helston Park this weekend for the first time this season, with Johnsonville hosting Wainuiomata in a game that could have big ramifications for Johnsonville's chances of promotion next season. Poneke sent ripples through the Hardham Cup last weekend when they tipped over the previously unbeaten Johnsonville 23-13 at home at Kilbirnie Park. With five premier teams chasing four spots, any slip up by one of them against a non-premier team is enough to create pressure for the following week...More