Wins for OBU, Tawa and Wests teams in club rugby finals

Old Boys University, Tawa and Wests Roosters teams won the four club rugby lower grade finals played today in Wellington club rugby, on the wettest day of the season.

In persistent rain, Old Boys University won both their home finals at Te Whaea, their Colts side beating Tawa 24-5 to claim the Division 1 John E Kelly Cup and their First Grade team defeating the Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians 20-8 to win the Johnsonville Centennium Cup.

In the U85kg grade, the Tawa Titans retained the Paul Potiki Shield Division 1 title with a 16-5 win over the Johnsonville Terrahawks at Lyndhurst Park and the Wests Roosters annexed the Division 2 title by beating the HOBM Howlers 14-3 at Ian Galloway Park.

Meanwhile, the sides were found for next week's finals in the Premier Reserve Division 1 and Division 2 competitions.

In the Premier Reserve Division 1 Ed Chaney Cup semi-finals, fourth placed qualifier Poneke knocked over top qualifier the Upper Hutt Rams 10-9 at Maoribank Park, while Hutt Old Boys Marist beat Petone 29-8 at the Hutt Rec. Both games were transferred from Maidstone and the Petone Rec respectively.

Poneke scored the only try of the match late in the first half after a consistent period of pressure, taking a 10-6 into halftime. The Rams had a player sinbinned early in the second half, while they had further penalty chances.

Next week's final will see HOBM host Poneke.

In the Premier Reserve Division 2 semi-finals, top qualifier Wainuiomata defeated Paremata-Plimmerton 46-7 and Oriental-Rongotai beat the Avalon Wolves 29-21. Next weekend's HD Morgan Memorial final will see Wainuiomata host Ories.

The Poneke Ruffnuts and Johnsonville will clash in next week's Reserve Grade John Davies Cup final after some closely fought semi-final action today.

Johnsonville earned their place in the decider with a 13-11 victory over Stokes Valley, while the Poneke Ruffnuts had to call on double extra time to overcome Marist St Pat's in the other semi-final.

Poneke and MSP were tied at full time, then after two periods of extra time. The two teams also scored an equal number of tries. Poneke progress to the final to face Johnsonville virtue to their previous 29-22 round-robin win over MSP.

Meanwhile, the Wellington Barbarians - Wellington Samoans Festival Series opener was also transferred from Petone to the Hutt Rec. Played in heavy rain throughout, the Barbarians won 12-5. They scored two tries through Luke Taualupe and James Coburn, while Piri Paraone kicked a conversion.

The rugby continues tomorrow with the Wellington First XV Weltec Premiership final between Wellington College and St Pat's Town at Jerry Collins Stadium kicking off at 2.30pm.

Round-ups of the Colts and First Grade Finals are below.

Recording their ninth straight win in competition, Old Boys University have cruised past Tawa 24-5 to win the John E Kelly Cup in treacherous conditions.

The win at Te Whaea secured OBU's fourth Colts championship title in the past five years and both first and second round Colts titles for 2016, with their stranglehold over the competition evident in today's victory.

The 6-5 scoreline at halftime didn't reflect OBU's dominance in territory and possession, with Tawa's try coming from a long-range run from second five-eighth Tamati Hauraki-Tyrell.

The OBU pack tore into Tawa from the get-go, putting their opposites under pressure early. OBU fullback Sam Reid kicked two penalties to give them a 6-0 lead. Tawa's try-line defence was staunch in their semi-final win last week against Marist St Pat's, and it again held up well in the opening salvoes in the final.

Not long after Tawa were reduced to 14 players after having been shown a yellow card, Hauraki-Tyrell picked up the loose ball after OBU fullback Reid failed to cleanly take a clearing kick. Hauraki-Tyrell tore off up-field and fended off the last OBU defender to score Tawa's first and only try of the game.

In the second 40 OBU began to get the rub of the green, smartly keeping the ball in close, letting their forwards do the damage.

And do the damage they did, with No 8 Jarrod 'Big Red' Gwynne and prop Sam Dawson both crossing the chalk to give OBU an unassailable 18- 5 lead and one hand on the John E Kelly Cup.

Equally as important as OBU's forward play, though, was first five-eighth Ben Hyatt-Brown. The pivot's open-field kicking was crucial to the Goats' gameplan, refusing to let Tawa out of their own half often.

Sam Reid and replacement back Jono Ihaka also stood out, with Reid's goal-kicking proving to be a valuable piece to what was a very complete OBU performance. He slotted two late penalties to secure the win, also finishing with 230 points for the season.

Like their Colts, Old Boys-University's First Grade team completed the season double claiming the Johnsonville Centennium Cup over Hutt Old Boys Marist 20-7 in today's final at Te Whaea to go with their first round Thompson Memorial triumph.

OBU dominated territory and possession in the first half, forcing HOBM into conceding penalties which they were happy to convert into points. HOBM were frustrated by the lack of ball and stymied by their own ill-discipline, but did have the satisfaction of scoring the game's opening try; a sweeping move downfield finished off in the right hand corner, and came close to crossing on two other occasions. A fourth OBU penalty saw them lead 12-7 at halftime.

The second half turned into a real arm-wrestle as neither side could achieve real ascendency. A fifth OBU penalty pushed the score out to 15-7, but the result remained in the balance until the dying minutes. HOBM won a tighthead close to OBU's line and a series of pushes near the posts were rebuffed. Going wide the pass was picked off by OBU's winger who ran 90m to put the result beyond doubt.