Swindale Shield Round 2 Review It was a day of high scoring in round two of the Swindale Shield. It was also largely one-way traffic for the round?s winners, the exception being Johnsonville, who only just pipped Hutt Old Boys Marist. Northern United, Avalon, Marist St. Pats and Poneke all sauntered to easy wins, while Upper Hutt?s victory over Western Suburbs was more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests. It was a passionate encounter in this week?s feature match between Upper Hutt and Wests at Maidstone Park...More

Round 3 Preview The big clash of this weekend?s round three Swindale Shield will undoubtedly be the Northern United ? Marist St. Pats encounter at Rugby League Park. On the evidence of the first two rounds both these teams will be serious contenders at the business end of the season, and this promises to be a fervent encounter. Norths and MSP are the early joint leaders, both having secured the maximum 10 competition points from their first two games, and winning their opening two games in style...More

Round 3 Review Northern United, Upper Hutt and Johnsonville are the unbeaten teams after three rounds of the Swindale Shield. The three leaders are separated by just two bonus points at the top of the table. Norths and Upper Hutt overpowered Marist St. Pats and Poneke respectively, while Johnsonville scraped past Old Boys-University. Petone beat Oriental-Rongotai in a must-win encounter for the Villagers, while Avalon were too strong for Hutt Old Boys Marist and a fast-finishing Wests toppled Tawa...More

Round 4 Preview Old Boys-University will be desperate to kick-start their 2005 season when they travel to Fraser Park to play Avalon in this weekend?s fourth round of the Swindale Shield. Although it is still early in the competition, a fourth straight loss for OBU would make it a tough road ahead for them. OBU come off losses to Oriental-Rongotai (29-9), Northern United (56-3) and to Johnsonville (14-10). In contrast Avalon have had two wins since narrowly losing to Western Suburbs (22-24) in the first round...More

This week’s feature game sees Western Suburbs travel to Maidstone Park to play Upper Hutt. Wests and Upper Hutt both enjoyed first up Swindale Shield wins over two of last year’s Jubilee Cup semi-finalists, Avalon and Petone. Wests held off a late Avalon revival to win 24-22, while Upper Hutt pipped Petone 30-27 in a ding-dong battle, and earned a try-scoring bonus point in the process. Both these sides will be eager to kick-start their seasons with two wins from their first two games as they will be desperate to challenge for the Jubilee Cup later in the year...More

It was a keenly contested first round of the 2005 Swindale Shield on Saturday. Three of the six games went down to the wire, while the other three were all enthusing encounters. Week one results were enough to suggest that Wellington club rugby fans are in for a ripper of a season. Northern United, Marist St. Pats, Upper Hutt and Oriental-Rongotai all opened with bonus point wins. Norths staged an ardent comeback to beat Hutt Old Boys Marist, MSP overpowered Poneke, Upper Hutt just pipped defending Swindale Shield champions Petone, while Ories were too strong for Old Boys-University...More

On April 2nd, the Wellington Club Rugby scene will come alive for another season, with all grades kicking off. In previous years, the majority of grades have started after the Premier and Senior grades were under way. In 2005 however, club rugby fans will have an abundance of matches to choose from. In many instances each week will serve as a mini Club Day. The first such case is this weekend with several teams from Marist St Pats and Poneke coming head to head throughout the grades, whilst other clashes include Petone v Upper Hutt, Hutt Old Boys Marist v North?s and West?s v Avalon...More

The 2005 Wellington Club Rugby season kicks off this Saturday April 2nd. Twelve clubs will again vie for the Swindale Shield, before the top eight finishing teams battle for the sought after Jubilee Cup, culminating in the final at Westpac Stadium on Sunday 14 August. Following a hotly contested 2004 season, expect another thrilling competition this year. Several teams were still in contention to win the Swindale Shield right up until the last three rounds last year, with Petone just pipping Poneke in the last round to take the title...More

2004 FINAL Northern United fended off a tough challenge from defending champions Poneke to lift their first Jubilee Cup at Westpac Stadium on Sunday. Norths won 20-18 after a pulsating second half that could have gone either way.But the talking point of the final happened before kick-off, when Poneke coach Ross Bond named a rookie at first five. Brad Cooper, son of Hurricanes coach Colin was thrust into his debut premier rugby game as a late replacement for regular first five Steve McColl, who was still injured from last week?s semi-final win over Avalon...More

The Wellington Club Weekly has become an institution. It first appeared as a program outlining the weekend's games. Then in 2004 a website appeared. And now, in partnership with the Dominion Post, a summary of the Club Weekly will appear in the Sports Tabloid on Fridays. The summary will contain a preview of the weekend's games, as well as the team lists for a feature match.Be sure to check it out!More