Village Viewpoint - Fri 4 April 2025

Welcome to The Village Viewpoint sponsored by Gavin and Cassie Murphy and the team at Gee and Hickton Ltd Funeral Directors, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Porirua.

The rugby gods want to see some wet weather rugby early doors! The ‘Atmospheric River’ has hit the nation and its going to be moist on the recreation ground. Grab your best waterproof jacket and we will see you at the Rec tomorrow for a full slate of games!

The Ponies kick things off at 11:30am when they take on Paremata-Plimmerton. No longer the plucky under-dogs our defending champion women's Premier side will have everyone gunning for them this season. They have had a solid pre season and their build up to round 1 was capped off with a couple of gruelling sessions with non other than old boy and fitness guru Alex Telea.

Pivot and recent Hurricanes Poua debutant Keira Su'a-Smith along with livewire fullback Litia Bulicakau will need to control possession and territory in the trying conditions. Mirei by way of Japan has her first Ponies start at Hooker, don't let her size fool you, she can mix it with the biggest. Brooke, Emerald, Nia and Mila also get their first women's premier caps in the starting lineup. We will all be eagerly awaiting Faith Schwenke's impact of the bench in her Pones debut, a special moment for the Schwenke sisters and wider whānau.

The Prem Reserves or ‘B’s' have an exciting mix of old heads and energized youth. Led by the evergreen Josh Styche they will be looking to start their season off in style. Kurtis Imrie has looked devastating in the preseason, keep an eye on the olympian tomorrow especially if someone tries to cut back into his 12 channel. New to the club, and quickly becoming a crowd favourite, Sanaila Rokonai starts at hooker, given the keys to the reliable Prem 2 lineout. Harry Wrigleys quick ball could help evasive carriers like Tom Fleming and Piri Bradshaw find space on the edges.

The prems are primed and ready after a successful pre season campaign, they spent last weekend connecting on Waitarere beach with wresting and sprints, then fine tuning their game at Playford Park in Levin.

A huge day for a couple of Local HVHS old boys, Marcus Alexopoulos starts at 6 in his premier debut and young prop Faenza Snowdon makes his potential debut off the bench, well done lads. Marcus Roil is in great shape having had the best preseason of his career, and Ben Kershaw finally void of injury will be targeting the axemen at scrum time. Rory Woollett, another player who has has a strong pre season gets the nod at 10 and Lachie Forbes will want to open his try scoring account tomorrow after a scintillating 2024. Jermaine Pepe and Max Hoskings silky skills will be needed at the back in the trying conditions. Logan Wakefield makes his debut, another great addition to the club, he pairs with hard working Jono Bailey at lock. It's a star studded young bench, Sam Thompson, Thompson Tukapua and Adam Jansen-Van Vuuren will be chomping at the bit to take the field in their premier debuts.