Wellington Club Weekly / October 2025
November 2025 | September 2025-
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Countdown clock set for 2026 Swindale Shield with draw release
- Wellington Club Weekly
- It’s a little over six months until the start of the 2026 Wellington club rugby season, but with Friday’s Premier first round competition draw release by the WRFU its expectation and anticipation is hanging in the air. Mark down Saturday 4 April 2026 for the opening round of the Premier first round Swindale Shield. It...
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Aisle be Back: All Blacks v Ireland in Chicago
- Wellington Club Weekly
- Above: when the All Blacks played Ireland in Dublin in 1963. By Kevin McCarthy The country will seem a bit emptier for the next month – because 70 of the best rugby players are in the northern hemisphere. Plus, an unspecified number of coaching and support staff. So, a round 100 folks would seem a...
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Condor 7s chance for smaller rugby schools to shine
- Wellington Club Weekly
- Defending champions Hutt International Boys’ School return to the scene of their triumph when they line up alongside nine other Senior Boys school teams at the annual Wellington region Condor 7s tournament at Naenae College tomorrow. Last year HIBS beat then two-time defending champions Scots College 19-17 in a blockbuster final to win their first...
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Naenae, Lower Hutt, Lower Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Aisle be Back: The NPC Final
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Kevin McCarthy A week of turbulence, and red alerts for many of us – tragically so for some, and a reminder of the precariousness of life at the bottom of the world. But as I write this, the sun’s shining, there’s no wind, the cliché Wellington on a good day. The sort of day...
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Best & Fairest Teams of the Season 2025
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Scott MacLean A regular of our end of season coverage is to name teams based on the Men’s Billy Wallace and Women’s Erin Rush Best & Fairest standings, which represent the outstanding and consistent performers across the club season. Last week the WRFU announced the two winners – Men’s winner Esi Komaisavai from Paremata-Plimmerton...
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Plimmerton, Porirua, Porirua City, Wellington, 5026, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Sideline Conversions 20 October (some news and information to start the rugby week)
- Wellington Club Weekly
- From the Mike Lewis Pictures Favourite photos of the year galleries – more HERE If you are in the North Island it is season over as far as 15s rugby is concerned. If you are in the south there is one more week to go with Canterbury hosting Otago in the 2025 NPC decider in...
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Lifetime Contribution Award for Denys Latham at WRFU Awards
- Wellington Club Weekly
- Coach Denys Latham and the Porirua College First XV in 1973, after winning the Wellington secondary schools First Grade competition. By Steven White Denys Latham has been involved in rugby in Wellington as a player, coach and administrator almost continuously since he moved south from Taranaki to become a founding teacher of Porirua College in...
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Porirua, Wellington Region, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Aisle be Back: Gearing up for the end of season tour, the NPC and South Africa next year
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Kevin McCarthy There’s a distinctly retro feel to the end days of 2025. Well, not end days in the apocalyptic sense, but in the VHS sense. Think back to fuzzy, unsaturated colour pictures beamed in at 3 in the morning, or the days of Goldie at Carisbrook. Not an exact match but certainly the...
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Esi Komaisavai and Harmony Kautai win Best & Fairest competitions
- Wellington Club Weekly
- With some 50 tries between them in 2025, Esi Komaisavai and Harmony Kautai were worthy winners of the club rugby Best & Fairest competitions this year. By Scott MacLean & Steven White The winners of the two big individual club awards from Monday night’s Wellington Rugby awards were Paremata-Plimmerton’s Esi Komaisavai who took home the...
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Plimmerton, Porirua, Porirua City, Wellington, 5026, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Sideline Conversions 13 October (some news and information to start the new week in rugby)
- Wellington Club Weekly
- Club Rugby attended the annual Manawatu Pasifika 10s tournament at Bill Brown Park in Palmerston North on Saturday. This is a well-run tournament and has enthusiastic support. The 10s format is also a good one, as it still has the structure of 15s rugby while also the razzle-dazzle of sevens. Close sevens games are really...
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Heartland semi-finals and Manawatu Pacific 10s this Saturday
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Scott MacLean and Steven White All three lower North Island Heartland Championship teams are in action tomorrow in the Heartland Championship Meads and Lochore Cups semi-finals, including two playing against each other. Tomorrow also sees the annual Manawatu Pacific 10s tournament in Palmerston North. A short preview of this follows below. Heartland Championship Perhaps...
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Wellington Lions v Bay of Plenty facts and figures
- Wellington Club Weekly
- Stanley Solomon was Wellington’s top try scorer in 2025 with eight tries and finished the regular season in second-equal place on the try scorers list. Each week throughout the NPC, Hurricanes and Wellington statistician Peter Marriott provides the numbers and statistics, records and happenings that you need to know about the game that has just played. Next...
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Sideline Conversions 6 October (some rugby news and information to start the week)
- Wellington Club Weekly
- The Wellington Lions gather in one of their last huddles of the year on Saturday at Porirua Park. Photo: @Braydzmedia_ That is the end of the 15s season for 2025 for rugby in Wellington and most players. The exception being those who are still involved in the Heartland Championship. The Wellington Lions lost seven out...
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Porirua, Wellington Region, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Wairarapa-Bush big winners in Heartland and NPC action on Saturday
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Scott MacLean & Steven White Replacement halfback Sam Walton-Sexton was the hero for Wairarapa Bush, as his extra-time try lifted the home side to a 29-24 win over Poverty Bay at Memorial Park in Masterton this afternoon. Earlier a Jack Eschenbach penalty had put Wai-Bush ahead early on, but the visitors crossed twice to...
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Lions heading bringing their curtain down while Heartland teams part of bumper last round
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Scott MacLean Just two matches in the lower North Island this weekend. The Wellington Lions are at home for their final match, while Wairarapa-Bush are also at home for their final round-robin match but hoping it is not their last at home. Horowhenua-Kapiti are playing away. Representative As covered in Monday’s column, Northland’s draw...
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Aisle be Back: All Blacks v Australia #2 in Perth
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Kevin McCarthy I’ve only been to Perth once – and it coincided with New Zealand playing cricket there against Australia. I think there were five people watching in the giant cavern of the WACA. Day one was a towelling – I’ll reveal the happy ending later. So, Perth felt a bit otherworldly, and it...
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Lions heading bringing their curtain down while Heartland teams part of bumper last round
- Wellington Club Weekly
- By Scott MacLean Just two matches in the lower North Island this weekend. The Wellington Lions are at home for their final match, while Wairarapa-Bush are also at home for their final round-robin match but hoping it is not their last at home. Horowhenua-Kapiti are playing away. Representative As covered in Monday’s column, Northland’s draw...
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Irving and Leota-Johnson in line for debuts as Lions look to disrupt Steamers in their last game
- Wellington Club Weekly
- The Lions will be looking to up-end the Steamers when they host them in their final match of the season at Porirua Park on Saturday. Eleven months ago the Wellington Lions were on top of the domestic rugby world, having beaten Bay of Plenty 23-20 in a tightly contested final that went to extra-time. On...
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Porirua, Wellington Region, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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