Auckland schoolboy rugby team 'devastated' after sanction strips them of semifinal spot

Members of the Takapuna Grammar School first XV have been described as feeling "devastated" after a decision by College Sport Auckland to dock them of eight competition points. Photo / Getty.

Members of the Takapuna Grammar School first XV rugby team have been described as feeling "devastated" after a decision by College Sport Auckland to dock them of eight competition points for allegedly fielding a non-eligible player left them outside the top four and unable to compete for the North Harbour 1A championship this year.

The sanction by College Sport Auckland, responsible for overseeing secondary school sport in the city, has also left North Harbour Rugby chairman Gerard van Tilborg "bitterly disappointed" and "absolutely gobsmacked" at a process and outcome which has left a group of young players as what one of their parents called "collateral damage".

The issue centres on a halfback who was over the age cut-off by six days. According to College Sport Auckland's first XV bylaws as they apply this year, all players must be under-18 as at January 1, 2021.

The player turned 18 just before the new year, but, having returned with his family from England for his final year at school, was keen to play first XV rugby, and Takapuna Grammar successfully gained a dispensation from North Harbour Rugby, who have given them previously.

The age cut-off is an attempt to level the playing field and ensures students don't return for an extra year purely to play first XV rugby. There are also safety issues of large, older, boys playing against smaller, younger, boys.

The player in question has been described to the Herald as "barely 70kg" and an excellent student.

After gaining the dispensation, the player was used as a replacement in Takapuna Grammar's 23-22 victory over Whangarei Boys' High School in May and again off the reserves bench in their 24-7 win over Manurewa High School last month.

It's understood College Sport Auckland decided North Harbour Rugby didn't have jurisdiction to provide a dispensation and demanded it be cancelled and the player stood down, which the school and rugby union reluctantly agreed to, believing that that would be the end of the matter subject to an end-of-season review regarding issues of jurisdiction.

"We were then somewhat gobsmacked to have a couple of schools complain against that and College Sport Auckland demanded a deduction of points from Takapuna Grammar," van Tilborg told the Herald. "We fought that pretty hard because, one, we didn't agree the dispensation was unreasonable and, two, once the boy had been pulled out of the team our understanding was that there would be no further sanction."

Takapuna Grammar School were deducted eight competition points and five competition points were awarded to both Whangarei Boys' High School and Manurewa High School.

It's understood Takapuna Grammar appealed the sanction, a process which costs $5,000, but to no avail.

The team were told of the sanction days before their final regular season match against Massey High School last Saturday, which they won 22-12 with a bonus point. The result meant that if they hadn't been deducted the eight points, they would have qualified for the cup semifinals at the expense of Massey High.

A parent told the Herald the boys were "devastated" at the news but were determined to finish the season on a high.

Van Tilborg said: "At that stage no one expected Takapuna Grammar to make the semis but it's a great thing motivation, isn't it? And that's probably the good story – they showed great character to step up and both beat Massey High School and in theory qualify without that points deduction.

"We still contend that the dispensation was fair and reasonable. We did agree though that the boy would step out and I'm adamant that we'd reached verbal agreement that there would be no further sanction so I'm bitterly disappointed that Takapuna Grammar have been sanctioned by College Sport Auckland.

"We're absolutely gutted Takapuna Grammar have been put in the middle of something they had nothing to do with. It was basically a jurisdictional issue between College Sport and Harbour Secondary Schools Rugby."

Asked for comment, College Sport Auckland chief executive Mark Barlow replied by email saying: "College Sport Auckland applies its eligibility rules fairly and consistently across all competitions and all codes. This ensures an equitable competition for all students across all member schools. The eligibility criteria, along with other bylaws are regularly reviewed by member schools who have to date supported strong secondary school competition across Auckland within an equitable and clearly articulated operating framework for all."

In his email, Barlow attached the bylaws that College Sport Auckland administer by. One, bylaw 19.2, requires sanctions to be "proportionate to the seriousness of the misconduct or breach, taking into account any relevant factors".

Asked whether he was confident this had transpired given the school appeared to act in good faith by asking for and receiving a dispensation from North Harbour Rugby, he replied: "College Sport Auckland does not comment publicly on individual cases."

Takapuna Grammar School principal Mary Nixon told the Herald today the school was considering further legal options and she therefore wasn't in a position to comment yet.