Rugby: Pompallier old boys revive contact sport

Peter Nock and Andrew Golightly give instruction to the Pompallier Catholic College sevens team before they head off for the AIMS Games this weekend. Photo / John Stone

Contact sport at Pompallier Catholic College looks set for a revival thanks to the input of a few of the school's old boys.

The Pompallier rugby sevens team heads to the AIMS Games this weekend, having come a long way since Term 2 when the team travelled to Moerewa for a tournament with an underdone side.

Helping turn back the clock for Pompallier are old boys Gary Wolfgram, Andrew Golightly, and Matt Harrison along with the support of the Northland Rugby Union in the form of Peter Nock and Bruce Robertson.

Assistant coach Golightly said sevens has given young players an opportunity to represent their school.

"We say to them it doesn't matter what school you go to you can still be successful, and you've got to back yourself to do that," Golightly said, adding that during the years Pompallier would come a handful of players short for a regular 1st XV.

"It's nice to be able to put something back as an old boy, and [the AIMS Games] is all about excellence and that's the message we've been giving to the boys.

"We struggled when we went to Moerewa, we had 10 kids and then following that we had 18. A lot of these guys came from soccer which is great in the sense it gave us that speed we needed.

"We've built around probably six guys play Saturday rugby, and the other guys have fitted around them."

The AIMS Games is a Year 7 and 8 tournament which attracts a variety of schools across New Zealand, with Golightly adding the trip was a fitting reward and test for the young sevens side.

"This is the big challenge. Three of them [the players] were in the Taniwha Cup, so there has always been a bit of talent up there.

"Being the only Northland school doing rugby, I think it is good for the district," Golightly added, saying it was a positive sign to see a smaller "rugby" school competing in the sport.

"We're intending to take this team through to Year 13, and sevens is a sport which can cater for us. I think sevens is the way forward for rugby in the school."