2023 School Rugby

[Tim]

Westlake, who are also proud Auckland First XI football and cricket champions

School Rugby, Sport, Rugby, Bay of Plenty Times, Sport

First XV wrap: Best of schoolboy rugby overshadows the worst

A pulsating Westlake-Sacred Heart contest was metaphorical ointment for Scots scab.

Hulking centre James Cameron introduced Murray-Macgregor to the scoresheet. A bullying bust at halfway saw the Crusaders-bound Murray-Macgregor galloping alongside Cameron to eventually take a regulation pass.

Absolutely vile.

[JK]

@Tim I'd heard the fullback was heading there too

[Bovidae]

Have a look at the Crusaders U18 squad (I think there were two listed). If NH could keep their best school boy players they would be better for it. Now, they lose young talent to both Canterbury and Auckland.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae It happens everywhere, unfortunately. For us in HB, the Highlanders are the worst, but Blues scouts have been at our school games as well this year and we've lost a few players to the Crusaders region in recent years, too. Several of our recent school leavers have been playing club rugby in Otago this year, and at least 3 of them are now in the Otago U19 squad. There's at least one in the Canterbury U19 squad. I haven't looked at other U19 and development squads, but I might find a few more. It's frustrating, but I lay some of the blame with the Hurricanes, too. Players know very well that the Hurricanes always look at Wellington players first & they may think they have a better chance at making it down South because of that.

[Stargazer]

TOP 4

SEMI-FINALS
Friday, Sep 2023 - CET Arena, Palmerston North

Hine Pounamu Trophy – Girls 1st XV

Friday, 1 Sep 2023 - 10.30am:
Mount Albert Grammar School v Hamilton GHS

Friday, 1 Sep 2023 - 12.30pm:
MANUKURA v Christchurch GHS

Barbarians Cup - Boys 1st XV

Friday, 1 Sep 2023 - 1.10pm:
Westlake BHS v Tauranga BC

Friday, 1 Sep 2023 - 2.45pm:
Palmerston North BHS v Southland BHS

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Whakaata Māori only seem to be streaming two of the four semi-finals, unless they still have to post the other two:

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[Bovidae]

I did read that they might not be showing all SFs live. I don't know if that is due to moving to CET Arena this year, and obviously games 2 and 3 overlap. A pity, if true, as the other SFs would be more interesting.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae I assume they're only streaming the games from one of the fields the games are played on. I'm happy with the boys' game they're streaming, but would have preferred the other girls' game.

[JK]

Hopefully there is some coverage somewhere of the Westlake semi

[JK]

Westlake game will be available to watch live at

[Stargazer]

Manukura v Chch Girls' too.

[Stargazer]

First semi-final result:

Mount Albert Grammar School 5 - 28 Hamilton GHS

[Bovidae]

Manukura 36 -12 Christchurch GHS in the 2nd SF.

[Stargazer]

First boys' semi-final result:

Westlake BHS 43 - 40 Tauranga BC

[Bovidae]

I only watched a few minutes but that field meant you were playing with the wind or into the wind.

[JK]

Up the lake!!! Very even game

[Stargazer]

Another very close game:

Palmerston North BHS 19 - 20 Southland BHS

[Stargazer]

So a Blues v South Island final in the boys' Top 4 and a Chiefs v Hurricanes final in the girls' Top 4.

Not too surprised, because Tauranga BC and Palmy BHS were the 3rd and 4th Super 8 team.

[Bovidae]

PNBHS losing to a SI team, at home. The shame.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae Haha, yeah. I actually thought Palmy were the better team, but a few times they were just too impatient and then finished a great passage of play with a terrible pass that went either straight to an opposition player or into touch. I didn't watch the game closely, but I think Palmy Boys' also scored more tries than SBHS and SBHS basically won it thanks to the boot of their kicker (incl penalty kicks).

[Bovidae]

@Stargazer Was it their yr 11 player?

Definitely an upset.