Hawkes Bay Schoolboy Rugby
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Reece Akuhata (15), emerging talent at Lindisfarne College?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503460&objectid=11798551
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Hastings Boys have taken another preseason scalp! They've just beaten Kings College 22 to 10.
This Saturday's game v MAGS (curtain raiser Blues v Hurricanes) is going to be interesting. Wish it was televised or streamed online or on the radio ...
Edited to add that Napier BHS went down to St Peter's (Cambridge) today: 7 - 19.
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Result from today:
Wellington College 10 - 50 Hastings Boys High School
Edited to add: interesting comment on twitter from the Clubrugby account:
"They [HBHS] rolled the subs, to keep the score down. Hastings clear Top 4 favourites this year, with their top team on park."
What would the reason be to keep the score down? Not wanting the Hastings boys to become overconfident, complacent etc?
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@Stargazer Bloody hell man, I thought Hastings had lost because you led with Wellington College!
A lot of people in the Bay were happy with the rather closer win over St Kents because of that school's rumoured 1st XV budget.
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@Nepia Haha, I led with Wellington College because it was played at Wellington College.
I must admit that I'm already waiting for the bubble to burst. I just can't believe these scores! They can't be that much better than the opposition, can they?
By the way, since the first few preseason games, I've heard and read a lot of people (parents, supporters) whining about Hasting having a lot of year 14 boys in their squad, as an excuse for losing to them. They seem to think that it necessarily means that a lot of these year 14 boys will turn 19 this year, which isn't the case. Most of these year 14 boys are still 17, but the facts don't seem to matter in these discussions. Funny enough, these complaints mostly come from the Auckland area ... Other excuses used are that "their" squad is so young, new, inexperienced etc etc. The most funny accusation I've heard is that "Hastings must have poached a lot of players from other areas by handing out scholarships". I almost laughed myself to death. What decile is HBHS again?
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I just read on FB that Kini Naholo scored a hat-trick in today's game. Earlier, he scored three tries in the 43-5 win against MAGS and four tries against Kelston BHS (53-0). Have the HBRU already added him to their stock? He wasn't among the players who signed Pro-Zone (academy) contracts with the HBRU 3 months ago. They'd better hurry up before another unions steals him.
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I was at the game today and really it was as big a slaughter as the score indicated. Hastings raced in scoring almost at will during the first 25 or so minutes with some very nice tries so dominant were they but the goalkicker did miss a few conversions as a number of the tries were scored out wide and there was a bit of a smallish wind effecting kicking, thus keeping the score lower than it could have been.
I did not have a team list with me but one of the parents did say that star Denny Toala (sp?) was not in the starting lineup. When he did come on at fullback during the second half you could see the wraps he has been getting are all true. The last try was superb when he handled a couple of times in the buildup and received the ball about the attacking 22 in front of the posts heading left and suddenly a glorious pass from him saw play switched back to the right and a try score in the corner. There was no call just his peripheral vision spotting the chance and acting on it in an instant, pure class and something you can’t teach.
It must be conceded that the Wellington College side did look very young (as did a number of the guys on the visitors bench) and not at the same fitness levels as the Hastings side but you can only play what is in front and that’s not the fault or concern of the Hastings team. Their scrum was completely and utterly dominant which did not help the home side, neither did losing Nato Ah Khoi the home team’s star lock and captain after about 20 minutes. Singling out other players for special mention would be difficult as there were a number of them but the visiting number 8 impressed me, don’t know his name but ran hard and successfully with a few nice breaks as well as being rather good defensively when called upon.
Even allowing for a fairly hectic travel and playing schedule they have endured recently it was all too easy for Hastings and in all honesty they could have rolled 70 to 80 points up had they kept up their opening intensity and not run on numerous subs during the second half. It would be a bit of a shock if this Hastings side was to lose a single game this season given what was witnessed today.
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This weekend (13 May):
Hastings BHS 1st XV 106 - 7 St Pat’s Town 1st XV
Hastings BHS 2ndXV 56 - 0 Gisborne BHS 2ndXV
Napier BHS 1st XV 15 - 0 Wellington College 1st XVEarlier this week:
St John’s College 1st XV 3 - 65 Hastings BHS 2nd XV
Lindisfarne College 1st XV 28 - 27 Manukura 1st XV
Lindisfarne College 2nd XV 22 - 39 Manukura 2nd XV -
I so hope that the HBRU will do the utmost to keep Kini in the Bay!
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Today, Kini makes the front page of the Dominion Post ...
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@Number-10 I'm glad Jason Bird emphasises that not all Kini's tries were of his own making. Media should stop focusing on one single player only because he's an All Black's brother. Not just because they have several very talented players in that team (arguably some of them may be more talented than Kini), but also because they shouldn't put so much pressure on such a young lad. Yes, he's promising and scores a lot of tries, but just let him play and get his education for now.
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A bad week for Bay teams in the first round of the Central North Island competition:
St John's College 1st XV (7) - (73) Feilding High 1st XV (played last Wednesday)
Rathkeale College 1st XV (39) - (0) Te Aute 1st XV (played last Saturday)
Lindisfarne 1st XV (12) - (39) St Peter's 1st XVI know the two best Bay teams are playing in Super 8 and that the weaker teams play in CNI, but still disappointing to see these results.
Lindisfarne used to do well in this comp a few years ago (the days of Emerson and Tiaan Falcon), but those days have gone, it seems. Has anyone ever seen the younger Falcon (Jayden) play? Wondering whether he has the same talent as his brother. -
