Sevens: Players in sevens heaven

Rotorua Girls' High School after their win.

Both Rotorua Boys' and Rotorua Girls' high schools under-15 teams went through the recent North Island Secondary Schools Sevens Tournament at Mount Maunganui unbeaten to claim the respective age group titles.

Rotorua Boys' High School director of rugby and team coach Ngarimu Simpkins said the school was increasingly promoting sevens as a pathway for players.

"It's big on our programme at school, and we want to give our boys every opportunity to go to a higher level. We've got a nice sevens programme, but we've got to compete with all the other sporting codes in the school."

Former student Isaac Te Aute is part of the All Blacks Sevens system.

Rotorua Boys' High School under-15 sevens teams celebrate their wins at the North Island Secondary Schools Sevens tournament at Mount Maunganui.

"He's a role model for us, and our boys look up to him. He spent a little bit of time in our camp, so we can show them it's a definite pathway for our boys," said Simpkins.

Preparation for the North Island tournament was limited.

"We have a pretty heavy rugby programme at the school at the moment, so we didn't have access to the boys as much as we wanted, but we did commit to a few trainings and the boys were fast learners and trained really well.

"People were really impressed with their performances and we were really happy to get the win."

Three members of the squad made the tournament team: Tama Te Aute, Stuart Leach and Tuki Simpkins.

They opened with a game against Hamilton, winning 24-12 before a narrow 17-12 win over Manukura in the second pool game. Pool play wrapped up with a win over New Plymouth, 24-5, and Tauranga Boys' College were beaten in the semifinal 33-0. Boys' High faced New Plymouth again in the final, winning 22-10.

"They just got better and better with every game - it was just a great experience for our boys to play under pressure and play against some quality opposition," said Simpkins.

The Girls' High team was made up of Kahlia Kiel, Te Aomihi Williams Paul, Alannah Tapara, Siobahn Taute-Collier, Baylee Earle, Anaya Waiomio-Anapu, Tayla Stone Talei Kaitana, Kishona Thapa Chettri, Humaria Higgins, Daisy Moke and Kaylah Clarke.

They were undefeated in the seven games they played, but were pushed physically in the semifinal against Long Bay from Auckland. They then beat off arch rivals Tauranga Girls' College in the final 22-5.

Manager Carolyn Katu said the girls, who were in Years 9, 10 and 11, played with so much heart and determination.

"Their tackles were bone-crunching and they didn't back down once - so as a consequence, they are pretty battle-scarred," said Katu.

Three of the team, Kahlia Kiel, Te Aomihi Williams Paul and Alanna Tapara made the tournament team and Te Aomihi, who is only 13, was also selected for the Bay of Plenty U18 sevens team.

Year 13 student Judaea Newton-Te Riini, who played in Girls' High's U19 team, was selected to attend a development camp for the New Zealand Secondary School sevens team.