All go for Good Friday Wellington Premier club rugby opener

The first of 22 rounds s over the next four-and-a-half months gets underway tomorrow with the opening round of both the Premier Swindale Shield and Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield.

Both competitions are restored to a full round-robin this season,  so supporters are in for an action packed 13 rounds of Swindale Shield and Harper Lock Shield rugby.

As always, tomorrow will see a host of new faces and old faces in different places, not just on the field but especially on the sideline where several clubs have new coaches in place for 2016.

Premier Swindale Shield

Like last year’s Gala Day at Trentham, six of the seven matches pitch sides that played in the Hardham Cup against those who contested the Jubilee Cup last year, and those matches saw two draws and a one-point last gasp win on a busy day of action. Unlike last year’s opener though, all matches return to the club venues.

The two sides who ultimately claimed those pieces of silverware clash at Maidstone Park lock horns, with the Old Boys-University Goats making the trip up State Highway 2 to meet the Upper Hutt Rams. Both sides are much changed from those that emerged victorious last August; OBU have lost several from their title winning side in the likes of Zeke Sopoaga, Luke Campbell, and Te Wehi Wright; while the Rams will likewise be without influential members of their squad in Murphy Taramai and Jordon Simpson-Hefft, and others. In their only meeting last year OBU – who are on a nine game winning streak - won at the Basin Reserve 38-22.

Defending Swindale Shield holders Hutt Old Boys Marist start their campaign by visiting Johnsonville. The home side Hawks are a much changed outfit in 2016, with Logan Ili taking on the coaching duties from Mason Lawrence and Roy Kinikinilau, and there will be interest in how the side comes together. The Eagles will want to atone for their disapointing Jubilee Cup defence and have brought several of last year’s champion Colts side into the Premier fold; while 200-game halfback Nick Risdon has retired. HOBM won last year’s encounter between the two sides 54-22 at the Hutt Rec.

Two matches tomorrow have interclub trophies at stake. At William Jones Park Wainuiomata host Poneke for the Hakaraia Trophy which honours both Paul Hakaraia, who was associated with both clubs, and his son Peter who died in a diving accident in 2007. Wainuiomata have recruited well including getting some players back from injury, and at times could feature three of the youngsters who have starred for Scots College over the past couple of seasons in TJ Va’a, Peter Umaga-Jensen, and Jarimar Schuster as they again search for the clubs first pieces of Premier silverware. Poneke have brought in several youngsters from the college ranks with their biggest acquisition (literally) being the allocation of WRFU-contracted player Isaia Walker-Leawere, but any side that competes as well and as aggressively at the breakdown as they do is always a tough opponent. Poneke are the holders of the Hakaraia Trophy after winning this encounter 26-20 at home last year, while Wainuiomata prevailed 27-15 in 2014 at William Jones.

The other match is the only one between two of last year’s Jubilee Cup sides where Tawa host Wellington at Lyndhurst Park, for the Murray & Alan Mexted Cup, two names synonymous with both clubs. Of particular interest will be how James So’oialo, now with Wellington, fares in his return to his last club, while the Axemen will also be without both Vaea Fifita and Hoani Matenga who are on Super Rugby duty. Aside from So’oialo, Tawa are also without several of last year’s squad while the availability of the outstanding Telea Seumanutafa will be dependent on his commitments with the Samoan sevens side. Tawa holds the Mexted Cup having won 14-10 at Hataitai Park last year, while they also won the return match 38-27 in the Jubilee Cup round.

Marist St Pat’s were runners-up for both pieces of silverware last year, and would be targeting going one better in each this season. They return a fairly settled squad again captained by flanker Isaac O’Connor and directed around the park by the evergreen Fa’atonu Fili. Their first opposition is Paremata-Plimmerton, with last year’s competition minnows looking for improvements in 2016. They’ve picked up a handful of players looking to prove themselves at Premier-level while several of their stalwarts look to build on the lessons learned in last year’s debut campaign. MSP won last year’s match between these two, which was played at Ian Galloway Park, by 61-6.

Avalon also went winless last Swindale Shield before improved showings in the Hardham Cup; tomorrow they welcome Oriental-Rongotai on to Fraser Park. The Wolves are another with a new coach in Aaron Falloon with Scott Waldrom concentrating on other aspects of the club as well as a rumoured return to the field. NZ Schools hooker Asafo Aumua is amongst a clutch of young arrivals, but amongst their losses is ballplaying flanker Ata Langilangi who has moved to Christchurch. Ories also have a new coaching duo, with Roy Kinikinilau returning to the club and assisted by Mason Lawrence with the two swapping the roles they had at Johnsonville last year. Amongst the playing stocks several of their former charges have joined them, while hulking prop Alex Fidow joins the club from a standout college career at Scots. Ories won last year’s meeting 42-20 at the Polo Ground, while the last time these clubs met at Fraser Park at Premier level was way back in 2008, when Ories won by 36-10.

Without any disrespect to those games, the biggest occasion tomorrow though however is at Porirua Park where the main ground and grandstand will be officially renamed as Jerry Collins Stadium in honour of the late All Black hard man and the club’s greatest son, and a large crowd is expected to be in attendance for the ceremony starting tomorrow morning.

On the field at the JCS the province’s most successful club – Petone – will be the visitors, and will feature the sort of young and exciting backline that Norths were known for not too many years ago with the former Silverstream trio of Jarrod Adams, Lester Maulolo, and Losi Filipo all likely to be prominent parts of it over the season. Former player and Parramatta Shute Shield coach Gerard Faasavalu takes the reins at Northern United and while there aren’t any standout new faces, several players have returned to the club from as near as Tawa and as far afield as Australia and will bolster the squad. Not only does the club have Collins’ memory to play for, for also that of the talented Nene Va’alepu who passed away from cancer in January as motivation. The sides met just the once in 2015, with Petone taking the spoils 26-11 at home on the Rec.

All Premier matches on Friday kick off at 2.45pm

Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield

As they will be for the first round the Premier Reserve matchups all mirror the corresponding Premier clashes. Defending Harper Lock winners Tawa take on Wellington in the early game at Lyndhurst, while Petone – the other side that qualified for the Hardham Cup – travel to face Norths at Porirua Park. Ed Chaney Cup winners Old Boys-University are away to the Upper Hutt Rams, while the other matches have MSP hosting Paremata-Plimmerton, Poneke travel to Wainuiomata, and Johnsonville and Avalon entertain HOBM and Oriental-Rongotai respectively.