Old Boys University have won the first major prize of the men's premier club rugby season in Wellington, the Swindale Shield.
Their final-round 95-nil thrashing of Norths last weekend saw them finish the competition four points clear of Petone for a fourth Swindale Shield crown in club history.
OBU now advance as the top qualifier to the Jubilee Cup, where they'll face fourth-placed Tawa on Saturday.
Adam Cooper caught up with OBU captain Louie Calvert.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right around the Wellington region.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The All Sport Breakfast with Rutherford and Bond, Toyota and
King Toyota, your home of hybrid u'sed Talks V sixteen
away from at You're on the All Sport Breakfast on
News Talk z EDB. Well Old Boys University have won
the first major prize of the Wellington Men's club rugby season,
the Swindale Shields. Their final round ninety five NILS thrashing
(00:23):
of North's last weekend saw them finish the competition four
points clear of for Tony for a fourth swin Dale
Shield crown and club history. So what that means is
OBU now advance as the top qualifier to the Jubilee Cup,
which starts today. They'll begin the championship format at home
against fourth seeded Tower at Rugby League Park this afternoon.
OBU captain Louis Culvert joins me now to talk about
(00:46):
the season so far and what lies ahead. Louis, thanks
to your time. Congratulations mates. I imagine for a lot
of smiles around after the big win and the crown
last weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, obviously a great effort from the I think for
us just having that consistency throughout the season. It's just
a bit of a reward in terms of being able
to show up for thirteen games in a row and
kind of get those wins with only dropping one game.
So obviously from that standpoint, the boys are absolutely stoked
with themselves and I'm pretty pretty stoked with them as well.
(01:20):
So but still we just building into that jubilli obviously
thinking back of our minds to jobs not first, but
then also giving ourselves deliver him to celebrate as well.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Was it nice having that little bit of pressure knowing
that if things went all Pa Tony's way, both in
terms of your result and their result, that there was
still a result coming down to the final day to
determine the.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Ship well one hundred percent. Especially coming off that post
game with MSP, kind of put some perspective how important
that getting that win in the last minute was for
us in terms of coming up on top. So especially, yeah,
going into that last game knowing we still had to
come away with the WM definitely made us plush for
the final kind of eighty minute.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You talked about consistency, Louis and I, obviously, as with
most clubs, you get a whole bunch of new players
and the season. I know you guys got a bit
of an injection of new guys in the forward pack,
So how did you sort of make sure that things
could be as consistent as possible when from the get
go this year from last year.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I think just having the connections start early on, so
just within that preseason period, just making sure that everyone's
getting to know each other and kind of getting that
full connection throughout the whole club as well, so not
separating too early in terms of that Premiere group and
the Premiere twos and colts group, kind of have everyone
more involved, so then when it does come down to
(02:36):
picking a twenty three each week or twenty two each week,
they're kind of all on that same page, so we
can all just flowing from each other.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And yourself in the front row. You're happy with your
work through the season so.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Far, Yeah, of course, I mean obviously there's always going
to be improvements, as there would be for most people,
but yeah, going well, going well.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It talks about that lost how much did that sort
of trigger conversations about making sure that you could stay
at that top end of the tables as you know
that the season got closer and closer to handing out
the Swindelfhill.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, obviously, that was definitely one of our probably the
toughest game we've played all season, and I thought considering
we played pretty well regardless of that of that win.
So we kind of still took a decent amount of
confidence out of that game and we kind of didn't
let it shake us up too much. So we're still
(03:28):
kind of knew that we had it in us even
after that loss. So it was just about keeping that
that confidence going through the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
And yourself taking on the captaincy this year, how have
you found it? I guess for the results are always
the way you can test someone's leadership credentials, right, But yeah,
how's that track for you this year?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
No, it's good, it's good. Obviously I was near to
the team last year, so kind of having the privilege
I've been a captain the boys this year, it's been
it's been good, and definitely as the season's gone on,
I've got it more and more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So now going well, I'm going to put you on
the spot here, Louis, but can you tell us a
couple of the guys on the team, or single out
one or two of them that that that have really
impressed this year or all guys that are already been credited
with some of your success.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, of course, obviously we've got Kellum Harkin who's also
just recently signed with the Lions. He's he's obviously our
first wives, but he does a lot of the work
throughout that back line, kind of taking charge of everything
that happens post post their piece, so he's got a
good boot on him as well, So he's been he's
(04:30):
been pretty crucial for us this year. And then we've
got our Kyle half back Kyle Preston, who's who's obviously
played with the Lions last year and we'll be with
them this year as well, so he's been an integral
part as well. And then we've got a couple of
good young ones coming up as well. We've got Harry
and we've got Boston, so yeah, we've got we've got
a few good names coming up as well. So that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Nice and I say you've you've had a little bit
of game time for the Lions wider squad as well.
Nice to have that taste of att rugby continuing through
the season.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, of course, it's just good to kind of get
exposed to that earlier on as well, just a different
training environment slightly more intense as well. So no, it's
been good.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
In the club overall. You mentioned sort of those divisions down,
but obviously the depth is pretty strong when you see
over you taking home the half a lock shield and
Division two as well. So the club clearly has a
good playing group at the moment across a lot of
grades by the looks.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, and again it's something that we've tried to do
as best as we can, is to kind of keep
the relationships between the senior teams as close as we can,
just to make sure that if there are situations where
we're trying to swap between players or we get injuries,
et cetera, then we do have the players that are
up the stands to just fill into those positions.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
There's obviously some clubs that have struggled this year, and
I when we saw the scoreline with your North just
last weekend, they've obviously had some good years recently, but
also so some not so strong years. How do you
feel like that the overall competitiveness of the competition has
been so far this year in Division one?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's pretty good, I think.
I mean, unfortunately there are there's also always going to
be teams that are going to have to be at
the bottom of the leaderboard. But I think that you
could pick up any two teams from that kind of
top ten range and any any of them could win
on the day. So it's good to have that upper
range still so competitive. They're not kind of just whoever
(06:23):
wins on the day plays beyond the day is going
to end up with the result.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah. Nice, And obviously that continues this weekend with the
start of the Jubilee Cup and not quite knockout format format,
but almost does the mindset change much now going into
this second shorter phase of the.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Season, not really, to be honest. Obviously there's a little
bit more on the line each game as you as
you go into it, but nothing's different in terms of preparation.
Everything else will stay the same.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
And you've got Tawa first up in Jubilee Cup. How
do you go against them during the season.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, we won and we won by two fourteen points
two tries, but yeah, they'll they'll be tough again. This
week definitely wasn't an easy one by any means, so yeah,
expecting nothing different.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And I said, I imagine the wider club as you know,
the members, all the supporters, friends and family. I imagine
it's a pretty good buzz around at the moment based
on the season so far.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, definitely, it's nice to be back at a rugby
league park as well. It kind of feels like our
fortress at the moment. So the fortunate enough to have
that again this week, so hopefully there's a good crowd out.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And what's your pick for the All Blacks England?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Mate? Before you go, do you want a score?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Go on, off the top of my head, let's go
thirty two fourteen ABS.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
All right, noted down mate. Hey well, louis great to
catch up. Really appreciate you joining us and your congratulations
on the season so far and all the best stuff
for the next month or so ahead.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And Jim bleek up awesome. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
For more from News Talks ed B.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
with you wherever you go with our podcast on IR Radio.
Right around the Wellington region.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The All Sport Breakfast with Rutherford and Bond, Toyota and
King Toyota, your home of hybrid u'sed Talks V sixteen
away from at You're on the All Sport Breakfast on
News Talk z EDB. Well Old Boys University have won
the first major prize of the Wellington Men's club rugby season,
the Swindale Shields. Their final round ninety five NILS thrashing
(00:23):
of North's last weekend saw them finish the competition four
points clear of for Tony for a fourth swin Dale
Shield crown and club history. So what that means is
OBU now advance as the top qualifier to the Jubilee Cup,
which starts today. They'll begin the championship format at home
against fourth seeded Tower at Rugby League Park this afternoon.
OBU captain Louis Culvert joins me now to talk about
(00:46):
the season so far and what lies ahead. Louis, thanks
to your time. Congratulations mates. I imagine for a lot
of smiles around after the big win and the crown
last weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, obviously a great effort from the I think for
us just having that consistency throughout the season. It's just
a bit of a reward in terms of being able
to show up for thirteen games in a row and
kind of get those wins with only dropping one game.
So obviously from that standpoint, the boys are absolutely stoked
with themselves and I'm pretty pretty stoked with them as well.
(01:20):
So but still we just building into that jubilli obviously
thinking back of our minds to jobs not first, but
then also giving ourselves deliver him to celebrate as well.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Was it nice having that little bit of pressure knowing
that if things went all Pa Tony's way, both in
terms of your result and their result, that there was
still a result coming down to the final day to
determine the.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Ship well one hundred percent. Especially coming off that post
game with MSP, kind of put some perspective how important
that getting that win in the last minute was for
us in terms of coming up on top. So especially, yeah,
going into that last game knowing we still had to
come away with the WM definitely made us plush for
the final kind of eighty minute.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You talked about consistency, Louis and I, obviously, as with
most clubs, you get a whole bunch of new players
and the season. I know you guys got a bit
of an injection of new guys in the forward pack,
So how did you sort of make sure that things
could be as consistent as possible when from the get
go this year from last year.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I think just having the connections start early on, so
just within that preseason period, just making sure that everyone's
getting to know each other and kind of getting that
full connection throughout the whole club as well, so not
separating too early in terms of that Premiere group and
the Premiere twos and colts group, kind of have everyone
more involved, so then when it does come down to
(02:36):
picking a twenty three each week or twenty two each week,
they're kind of all on that same page, so we
can all just flowing from each other.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And yourself in the front row. You're happy with your
work through the season so.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Far, Yeah, of course, I mean obviously there's always going
to be improvements, as there would be for most people,
but yeah, going well, going well.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It talks about that lost how much did that sort
of trigger conversations about making sure that you could stay
at that top end of the tables as you know
that the season got closer and closer to handing out
the Swindelfhill.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, obviously, that was definitely one of our probably the
toughest game we've played all season, and I thought considering
we played pretty well regardless of that of that win.
So we kind of still took a decent amount of
confidence out of that game and we kind of didn't
let it shake us up too much. So we're still
(03:28):
kind of knew that we had it in us even
after that loss. So it was just about keeping that
that confidence going through the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
And yourself taking on the captaincy this year, how have
you found it? I guess for the results are always
the way you can test someone's leadership credentials, right, But yeah,
how's that track for you this year?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
No, it's good, it's good. Obviously I was near to
the team last year, so kind of having the privilege
I've been a captain the boys this year, it's been
it's been good, and definitely as the season's gone on,
I've got it more and more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So now going well, I'm going to put you on
the spot here, Louis, but can you tell us a
couple of the guys on the team, or single out
one or two of them that that that have really
impressed this year or all guys that are already been credited
with some of your success.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, of course, obviously we've got Kellum Harkin who's also
just recently signed with the Lions. He's he's obviously our
first wives, but he does a lot of the work
throughout that back line, kind of taking charge of everything
that happens post post their piece, so he's got a
good boot on him as well, So he's been he's
(04:30):
been pretty crucial for us this year. And then we've
got our Kyle half back Kyle Preston, who's who's obviously
played with the Lions last year and we'll be with
them this year as well, so he's been an integral
part as well. And then we've got a couple of
good young ones coming up as well. We've got Harry
and we've got Boston, so yeah, we've got we've got
a few good names coming up as well. So that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Nice and I say you've you've had a little bit
of game time for the Lions wider squad as well.
Nice to have that taste of att rugby continuing through
the season.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, of course, it's just good to kind of get
exposed to that earlier on as well, just a different
training environment slightly more intense as well. So no, it's
been good.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
In the club overall. You mentioned sort of those divisions down,
but obviously the depth is pretty strong when you see
over you taking home the half a lock shield and
Division two as well. So the club clearly has a
good playing group at the moment across a lot of
grades by the looks.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, and again it's something that we've tried to do
as best as we can, is to kind of keep
the relationships between the senior teams as close as we can,
just to make sure that if there are situations where
we're trying to swap between players or we get injuries,
et cetera, then we do have the players that are
up the stands to just fill into those positions.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
There's obviously some clubs that have struggled this year, and
I when we saw the scoreline with your North just
last weekend, they've obviously had some good years recently, but
also so some not so strong years. How do you
feel like that the overall competitiveness of the competition has
been so far this year in Division one?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's pretty good, I think.
I mean, unfortunately there are there's also always going to
be teams that are going to have to be at
the bottom of the leaderboard. But I think that you
could pick up any two teams from that kind of
top ten range and any any of them could win
on the day. So it's good to have that upper
range still so competitive. They're not kind of just whoever
(06:23):
wins on the day plays beyond the day is going
to end up with the result.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah. Nice, And obviously that continues this weekend with the
start of the Jubilee Cup and not quite knockout format format,
but almost does the mindset change much now going into
this second shorter phase of the.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Season, not really, to be honest. Obviously there's a little
bit more on the line each game as you as
you go into it, but nothing's different in terms of preparation.
Everything else will stay the same.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
And you've got Tawa first up in Jubilee Cup. How
do you go against them during the season.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, we won and we won by two fourteen points
two tries, but yeah, they'll they'll be tough again. This
week definitely wasn't an easy one by any means, so yeah,
expecting nothing different.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And I said, I imagine the wider club as you know,
the members, all the supporters, friends and family. I imagine
it's a pretty good buzz around at the moment based
on the season so far.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, definitely, it's nice to be back at a rugby
league park as well. It kind of feels like our
fortress at the moment. So the fortunate enough to have
that again this week, so hopefully there's a good crowd out.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And what's your pick for the All Blacks England?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Mate? Before you go, do you want a score?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Go on, off the top of my head, let's go
thirty two fourteen ABS.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
All right, noted down mate. Hey well, louis great to
catch up. Really appreciate you joining us and your congratulations
on the season so far and all the best stuff
for the next month or so ahead.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And Jim bleek up awesome. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
For more from News Talks ed B.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
with you wherever you go with our podcast on IR Radio.
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