surprises Poneke

Johnsonville created one of the upsets of the opening round of Wellington Rugby’s Swindale Shield competition when they defeated Poneke 31-24 at Kilbirnie Park on 1 April.

Playing in the Wellington premier competition, Johnsonville secured its most impressive away victory since beating Oriental Rongotai a few seasons ago. They also avenged two losses in their last two matches against Poneke.

With the breeze behind them in the first half, Johnsonville dominated possession and territory.

Mark Sutton opened their account with a penalty and added two more before Sam Howling won the race to the ball in the in goal area and touched it down for a try.

One of Johnsonville’s outstanding players of the day Jacob Walmsley then intercepted the ball and sprinted 70 metres to score.

A Tyler Hall indiscretion, which saw him sin binned, allowed Poneke back into the game, and they scored a try to see the half time score at 16-14 to Johnsonville.

In the second half Jacob Walmsley once again starred for Johnsonville, making a break that led