First XV Rugby: All you need to know about the weekend's best matches and players

Isaac Sailo from Scots College.

Want to know who the next Beauden Barrett or Kieran Read will be? In his weekly column for the Herald, schoolboy rugby expert Herschel Fruean singles out the best First XV matches of the weekend, and some rising stars to watch. Fruean will travel New Zealand looking for the best talent the country has to offer, preview the big games every Friday, provide a wrap of all the results on Sunday, and rank the top 15 First XV teams (based on their performances throughout the season) every Monday.

There were massive battles this week with a few big games coming right down to the wire and also two teams meeting up for the first time.

The Saints go marching in

Loamanu Havea from St Peters.

The week's games started Wednesday when St Peter's College from Auckland took a trip to Christchurch to play St Bede's College. The Peter Watt/Brian Dunne Challenge Cup was a very close game. St Peter's went right to work and dominated for the first part of the first half, leading 10-0 early. The boys in red and black started to pick up the pace and string some phases together and, cleaning the rucks, moved the ball quickly up the field. Just before the break halfback Logan Roberts crossed over for St Bede's, cutting the deficit to 10-5 at halftime.

The game was tight the whole way through and St Bede's only managed to pull out the win with constant grinding in the forwards, which put fullback Justin Evans over the line. He converted his own try, giving St Bede's a 12-10 lead with five minutes remaining, and while St Peter's attempted a last-gasp drop goal, it went wide, as St Bede's held on.

Battle for the Barnes Cup

Jack Parker from New Plymouth BHS.

New Plymouth Boys High School went to Palmerston North on Thursday and played for the Barnes Cup against Palmerston North Boys High School.

Palmerston North Boys had a lot of the ball in the first half and really pushed New Plymouth Boys to play defence and test the referee by doing all they could get away with to stop the momentum.

New Plymouth Boys weren't tricking anyone, however, getting regularly called for penalties, but Palmerston North Boys were turning down points to continue the pressure and it worked, scoring their first try through Tamati Ruawai.

New Plymouth Boys turned things around though, forcing Palmerston North Boys to take risks, and found their opportunity once in the Palmy 22, to tie the scores.

The second half was much of the same and as it went back and forth. Palmerston North built their lead out to 17-7, and while New Plymouth hit back, the Barnes Cup remains in Palmerston North for another year - Palmerston taking it out 17-14.

Saturday Showdowns

The big games around the country Saturday did not disappoint with so much talent on show that you were always going to see something special.

In the 1A, St Kentigern College finally had their full team onboard and they really unleashed on Liston College, running up the scoreboard and winning 71-0.

Auckland Grammar School and De La Salle College had a much more competitive battle. Both teams were out there fighting with everything they had, and while De La Salle College scored a massive runaway try through Fangupo Lavaka, and had some sharp kicking from Sofai Maka, they couldn't get the win, going down 24-19.

King's College suffered another loss at home to Sacred Heart College, who made it two wins in a row - impressive wins too, beating Auckland Grammar School and now King's.

Big games from prop Peter Neli and captain Brian Lealiifano at fullback played a major role in Sacred Heart's triumph.

Peter Neli of Sacred Heart.

It was an uneasy game in terms of who would take control, because both teams were giving up easy points, making simple mistakes and not being as consistent as they would have wanted.

Sacred Heart would build phases and secure ball up the field, but when within range of scoring, knock it on or throw a forward pass. King's would go side to side getting nowhere but then clean up a Sacred Heart mistake take it down the field in five phases and score.

In the end, King's had a chance to win with two minutes to go, and they kicked for the lineout off a penalty. The lineout was set five metres out from the Sacred line, but they overthrew the ball, and Sacred Heart held on to a 32-29 win.

Points Aplenty

Scots College went to Wellington College and put on a scoring show, winning 59-20. Scots are starting to stamp their name on the Wellington competition this year, with Roderick Solo, Ethan Webster-Nonu and Sam Halalilo all playing well and being selected for the Hurricanes Under 18 Squad.

Nelson College continue to win in the UC Championship, with their second trip to Canterbury in as many weeks giving them a win over Timaru Boys High School in a very tough battle - holding on 24-22 as they put faith in their bench who finished the game well.

At the top of the table, St Andrews College made it eight wins in a row with their 62-6 win over the Mid Canterbury Combined team. St Andrews College remain at the top of the table in the UC Championship, as the only unbeaten team, six points clear of St Bede's.