Norths stunned by Tawa in first round boilover

Swindale Shield form was turned on its head in the first week of Jubilee Cup play on Saturday, with first round co-champions Northern United and Petone both losing their opening matches.

In a first round boilover, previously rampant Norths lost to eighth ranked Tawa 15-24 at Porirua Park and Petone met a 10-13 defeat to Poneke at Kilbirnie Park.

Tawa stunned Norths with a well-deserved victory, Norths' first loss since the second week of the season, while third ranked Poneke inflicted just Petone's second loss this year in three months of rugby as they held on grimly in the mud and steady drizzle for an important opening round victory.

Elsewhere, Upper Hutt defeated Hutt Old Boys Marist 14-11 in a thriller at Maidstone Park, centre Brett Pigott kicking a match-winning penalty with four minutes left on the clock, and Marist St. Pat's got their Jubilee Cup defence off to an encouraging start in beating Oriental-Rongotai 30-13 at Evans Bay Park.

The opening Jubilee Cup afternoon belonged to Tawa who traveled up the road to play a buoyant Norths team, fresh from winning nine matches on the trot and scoring 75 tries and 500 points in 11 outings in sharing the Swindale Shield with Petone.

Expectations of another straightforward outing were turned upside down almost from the opening whistle when Tawa right wing Ezra Fermanis finished off a sweeping movement in the corner to put his side 5-0.

In typical fashion, Norths hit back with a try blindside flanker Telea Seumanutafa after he ran on to a chip kick over the top of the defensive line by dynamic lock Chris Middleton.

Tawa maintained their composure and kept up the pressure, going ahead again to 13-5 with a penalty and then a try to fullback and Hurricanes flier David Smith. Smith's try came from a sloppy quick throw-in to a lineout by the Norths backs which was intercepted by Tawa. Once Smith had his hands on the ball in open space there was no stopping him.

It got better for Tawa early in the second half when first five Gene Johnston kicked a penalty and then openside flanker Tivaini Fomai scorched 40 metres for Tawa's third try in the right hand corner to put his side in front 21-5.

Norths introduced super-subs Api Naikatini, Anthony Perenise and Tim Faleafaga into the fray and responded with two more unconverted tries to close the gap to 21-15 heading into a nervous final 15 minutes for Tawa's fans.

But Johnston kicked a boomer of a penalty from near halfway to extend the advantage to 24-15, asking Norths to score twice in the last 10 minutes to win. They couldn't, and Tawa held on for a famous victory to help set this year's Jubilee Cup alight.

It was also a tense affair at Upper Hutt, where the home side broke an 11-11 deadlock late in the piece through the boot of Pigott, whose third penalty of the match clinched victory with only 13 Upper Hutt players left on the field following a yellow card offence by No. 8 Matt Luamanu and a red card to prop Apa Heemi in the closing stages.

HOBM had drawn level midway through the second half courtesy of an outstanding solo try up the touchline by right wing Brad Hines, beating several defenders to score and add to two earlier penalties by his teammates Daniel Kubrik and Shannon Bradbrook.

Upper Hutt, who suffered a shock loss to Hardham Cup-bound Old Boys-University, last week, had earlier broken open a hard-fought first half with a try to halfback Daniel Beckett after a run by Luamanu.??

By contrast, MSP made short work of their win in defeating fourth ranked Ories by almost 20 points, reversing the result on the side that had beaten them 30-24 in the Swindale Shield round.

First five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili got their scoring underway with two penalties, before loose forward Alex Tulou barged over for a try and a 13-0 lead after half an hour. Fili added another penalty and a dropped goal before halftime and Ories first five-eighth James Proctor kicked two penalties as MSP took a 19-6 into the interval.

After the break Fili potted a second dropped goal for MSP, right wing Mark Le scored a second try and Fili added a fourth penalty as the home side raced ahead 30-6. Ories then answered with a converted try to second five-eighth Paula Kinikinilau near the end.

It was much closer across the road at Kilbirnie Park, where Poneke reversed their 38-14 defeat to Petone in the first round and their 51-20 loss to them the last time they met at Kilbirnie in April 2008 on the occasion of Poneke's 125^th anniversary.

In a good old game of guts of determination, Poneke's defence held to the end against a late Petone rally deep into the clubrooms corner of play with the light fading fast and both sets of players caked in mud.

Led by the Moananu brothers, prop Misiluni and No. 8 Palauni, locks Daniel Ramsay and Cam Garvie and returning openside flanker Mase Leuleniu, Poneke had successfully held off a resurgent Petone. The visitors had clawed their way into the contest to be within three points of victory throughout much of the second half after Poneke led 13-0 at halftime.

A more committed Poneke had taken the game to Petone at the start, the Villagers struggling to adapt to the Kilbirnie Park mud.

Playing towards the Kilbirnie Pool end of the ground and with little or no wind to contend with, Poneke first-five eighth Adrian Grey kicked a penalty for the first points of the game five minutes. He then slotted another for a 6-0 lead midway through the first half as only desperate Petone defence in front of their posts kept out a strong series of drives after an attacking lineout in the corner. As it was, Petone second five-eighth Michael Lealava'a was sinbinned in the same movement for cynical play at the breakdown and Poneke exploited this in their converted try that followed.

More red and black pressure into Petone's territory led to an attacking srcum in perfect position to the right of the posts with plenty of open space to attack into. From the set-piece, right wing Marika Kau steamed into the backline, broke the line and offloaded to fullback Ben Huntly who scored an excellent try in the left hand corner. Grey converted from the sideline and Poneke held a deserved a 13-0 lead.

Grey was unable to kick his side further ahead before the break, pulling his fourth penalty attempt across the bar, but it was Petone who had all the work to do as halftime sounded.

The visitors hit back only minutes into the second half through reserve prop Eric Nanai, driven over from a lineout in the corner following on from a penalty for a late tackle by Kau on left wing Willie Moala as he counterattacked up the left hand touchline. Kau was sent to the sinbin for 10 minutes and Petone were right back in the contest when Lealava'a atoned for his earlier indiscretions by nailing the sideline conversion.

Petone's tight five dug deep and momentum temporarily swung their way, battling hard to win territory and probe for more points. Lealava'a was successful with a penalty and the score was closed up to 13-10 with over 15 minutes remaining.

Poneke almost hit back straightaway when left wing Ambrose Plaister ran back a Petone kick from near halfway, sliced through the first line of defence in broken play and linked up with Kau on his outside. But Kau was caught in an outstanding cover tackle near the corner and knocked the ball on as he attempted a last pass to Huntly on his inside.

Centre Charlie Ngatai then missed with a long-range penalty, as Petone swung on to attack for much of the final 10 minutes but the red and blacks held on for an important opening weekend win.

Hardham Cup

Two upsets in the opening weekend's play of the 2009 Hardham Cup were talking points of Wellington club rugby on Saturday.

Two of the more fancied Swindale Shield sides, Wainuiomata and the Wests Roosters, were rocked by Harper Lock Shield Senior One contenders Rimutaka and Johnsonville respectively.

In a slugfest at Maoribank Park, Rimutaka beat Wainuiomata 3-0, while Johnsonville stunned the inconsistent Wests Roosters 17-5 at home in the battle of the Northern Suburbs at Helston Park.

At Kilbirnie Park, Poneke were desperately unlucky not to cause a third upset of the afternoon, losing in the dying stages to Avalon 20-22.

At the Basin Reserve, Old Boys-University were pushed hard by the previously unbeaten Marist St. Pat's, before prevailing 17-5.

First five-eighth Ray MacDonald's first half penalty gave his side Rimutaka a first-up win over Wainuiomata, the lowest score of the season so far in any of the top grades.

Goalkicking also proved vital in the Hardham games at Helston Park and the Basin Reserve, Johnsonville halfback Denis Sim and OBU halfback Sam Hall both sending over four penalties to add to the one try scored by each team.

OBU's win over MSP was in the balance until well into the second half, but ultimately the students were more committed and more disciplined than the Senior One champions.

MSP winger Ianone Alefasio scored the try of the match however, darting up the right hand touchline towards Adelaide Road for an excellent solo score.

At Kilbirnie Park, the home side Poneke should have beaten Avalon. The Swindale Shield side only won in the 78^th minute with a fortuitous runaway converted try, with them trailing 20-15 at the time and Poneke seemingly controlling possession in centre field.

Instead of booting the ball deep into Avalon's half of the field and asking them to run it back through the quagmire, Poneke chose instead to run the ball from a ruck on halfway.? A mis-timed short pass missed its intended recipient and instead went straight into the clutches of Avalon lock Hare Pukpuke who in a flash offloaded to left winger Malili Tofiga to scorch 40 metres to score a try.

Tofiga danced a jig in the in-goal before planting the ball down and first five-eighth Stephen Cross kicked possibly his most important conversion of the season for his side to win the game.

Earlier Poneke had rocked Avalon by going to a 17-7 lead after 35 minutes, veteran left wing Evan Belford scoring a first half hat trick. All Belford's tries were the result of some slick counterattacking and equally weak cover defence by Avalon, two tries coming from broken field raids started near halfway and also involving fullback Matt Poutoa.?

Avalon had started the game in perfect fashion, centre Junior Keys skipping through from close range and then converting his own try after barely two minutes of play for a 7-0 lead.

But Poneke were the hungrier of the two sides and were more prepared to commit themselves in the boggy underfoot conditions that Kilbirnie Park No. 2 quickly became and deserved their three tries to one lead at the break.

Avalon came back strongly in the second half, No. 8 Jonathan Tupuse having another strong game with ball in hand and the tight five matching Poneke's as a unit. Their second try finally came in the 60^th minute with Tupuse driven over from a lineout in the corner. Cross couldn't add the conversion from wide out, but duly kicked a penalty from in front to close the deficit to 17-15.

Poneke then missed a chance to score another try which might have sealed it for them, some strong phase play and then an attacking lineout from a penalty in the corner just kept out by Avalon. Avalon did however concede a penalty in front of their sticks and Poneke first five-eighth Chris Thompson obliged, extending their lead to 20-15. But it wasn't enough.

In other grades, there were bonus point wins to Oriental-Rongotai and Tawa to start the Senior One second round Ed Chaney Cup. Ories beat the newly promoted Marist St. Pat's 24-3 at Cobham Park and Tawa overcame Senior Two first round National Mutual Cup winners Norths 22-20 at Porirua Park.

There were also first week wins for Stokes Valley over Paramata-Plimmerton (26-6), Hutt Old Boys Marist over Upper Hutt (12-0) and Petone over Old Boys-University (10-3).

Wainuiomata, Paramata-Plimmerton, the Wests Roosters, OBU and Poneke were all opening weekend winners of the second round Senior Two HD Morgan Memorial Shield in a round of close results that saw Wainuiomata's 10-point margin of victory over HOBM the biggest win of the round.

Favourites Northern United beat Ories 25-10 in the first round of the Premier women's Victoria Tavern Trophy, while Johnsonville were defeated by Eketahuna 8-6 and Stokes Valley beat Old Boys-University 14-5.

?

?

??

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?