Primary school rugby stars taste Eden Park glory

Pt England Primary's Sione Lopamaua gets over the line. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Sione Lopamaua, 10, had never played on Eden Park's hallowed green before. It may never happen again, but he'll remember the day it did.

Sione helped his Pt England Primary under-45kg team to a win in the Auckland primary schools rugby championship yesterday. The team, unbeaten all season, trounced Otahuhu's Fairburn School 19-5.

Sione reckoned the manicured Mt Eden turf had a lot to do with his two tries: "It's slippery and it's easy to run on."

He had tried to play, he said, like his hero Joe Rokocoko - speedily.

A total of 160 teams from 60 schools started in the competition in May. Eighteen made the final, playing 12-a-side, 40-minute games.

The girls and boys played to a backdrop of shrieking peers, teachers and a few parents, enjoyed a sausage sizzle, and basked in the knowledge that they were running, barefoot, in the steps of superstars.

"Hopefully they will remember this day for a long time," said organiser Keith Gayford, the principal of Mangere's Viscount School, which had teams in six of the nine finals.