Tauranga Boys' College player Sloane Lankshear looks to beat a tackle during the Bay of Plenty Under-19 Sevens tournament. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga Boys' College player Sloane Lankshear looks to beat a tackle during the Bay of Plenty Under-19 Sevens tournament. Photo / George Novak
For years, Tauranga Boys' College have played little brother to their Rotorua Boys' High School counterparts. In 2019 they have come of age.
Earlier this year, in 15-a-side competition, Tauranga Boys' shocked their rivals when they kicked a penalty on fulltime to secure progression to the Top Four knockout stages.
Yesterday, they did it again when the two schools met in the Bay of Plenty Under-19 Boys' Sevens final at Gordon Spratt Reserve in Pāpāmoa.
Rotorua Boys' were dominant early and scored the first try to lead 7-0. However, that is as good as it got for them as Tauranga Boys' turned up the heat and ran in five unanswered tries to win 31-7 and claim the title.
Tauranga Boys' finished the tournament unbeaten. In pool play, they defeated Mount Maunganui College 36-0, Francis Douglas Memorial College 22-12 and Pāpāmoa 35-12.
In the semifinal, they beat John Paul College 36-0.
Tauranga Boys' coach Atirau Ohia said he was "really happy with the way the boys played".
"I thought it was an awesome display [in the final]. A lot of credit to Rotorua as well, they've only just come together. I know they'll take that and become an even better side at Condors.
Tauranga Boys' College player Sloane Lankshear looks to beat a tackle during the Bay of Plenty Under-19 Sevens tournament. Photo / George Novak
"For us, we're just really stoked with the whole day, the attitude they've taken into playing and preparing themselves."
Tauranga Boys' also had a B team playing in the same tournament. They made it through to the Plate final, where they went down 12-0 to Francis Douglas Memorial College.
"It's an awesome group, both teams played really well and they're really keen on sevens this term. I think it was a well deserved win today because they've put a lot into it," Ohia said.
"That positive attitude has obviously led on from a good 15s season for them, so a lot of credit has to go to the 1st XV coaches. There's a good rugby culture within the school at the moment and the boys are really keen to keep playing," Ohia said.
When asked what he thought of the way his team played throughout the tournament, Rotorua Boys' coach Ruki Tipuna said they were "okay".
"That's about the level we're at, at the moment."
When asked what positives he would take away from the day he said "that we got a tournament under our belts" and when asked if there were any standout players from his side he said "no".
When pushed further for positive takeaways from the tournament, Tipuna said "the only way to get good at sevens is to play sevens".
"And the only way to get good at tournaments is to play in tournaments so you learn how tired your body is, how you have to get up, come down and get up again each game. That's invaluable stuff so the more of these we can get, the better."
Tauranga Girls' College are the 2019 Baywide Under-19 Girls' champions. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile, Tauranga Girls' College produced an unbeaten run to claim the Under-19 Girls' title.
In pool play, they beat Te Puke High School 33-0, Taupō Nui-a-Tia College 28-0 and Cambridge High School 30-0.
In their semifinal they steamrolled John Paul College 44-0 before a convincing 34-12 win over Taupō Nui-a-Tia in the final.
