St Kentigern. fans.
Why is first XV rugby is so popular when other competitions are in crisis?
By Bruce Holloway
Word to the wise: if you’re ever planning to watch a game of first XV rugby, get there an hour before kick-off.
Because chances are that thousands of others will have had exactly the same idea, and the jostle for car parks, a viewing perch, a programme, or even just a cup of coffee can be taxing.
But the upside of this latent popularity is there is a level of vibrancy, excitement, cacophonous sound and fan engagement with first XV rugby that you just don’t find elsewhere.
So why is it that first XV rugby is so popular at a time when other rugby competitions are almost facing existential crises? Why is schoolboy rugby such an attractive proposition when other more senior structures are under significant stress, as identified by New Zealand Rugby’s recent independent review?
We put those questions to a cross-section of hardy first XV fans and it drew some eloquent responses.
With Westlake Boys’ High having won the Blues region title, it is one of their hardcore supporters, Scott Cordes, who gets the first put-in.
Cordes identified multiple strands contributing to why this niche sector of the game was far more appealing than its bigger brothers at Super Rugby or National Provincial Championship (NPC) levels.
“Schoolboy rugby is essentially played how rugby should be played - how it was played in previous generations – both on the field and off the field,” said Cordes, a long-time supporter of North Harbour’s Westlake, which has enjoyed its two best years of schoolboy rugby in 2022 and 2023.
“For a start, the game is played with pace and flair – with boys given the freedom to express their individual skills and talents without having to play in a dictatorial over-coached structure where flair is literally coached out of players.
“Bottom line: it’s entertaining. I watch first XV rugby purely because it’s a far better package than anything in the Super Rugby or NPC comp.”
Cordes argues schoolboy rugby has evolved as a hybrid version of rugby league-style action played under rugby union rules.
“The breakdowns are cleared at pace, mauling is a much smaller importance within the game structure, players want to keep the ball in play.
“The speed of the game is at a much faster pace than the higher grades, and as a result the ball is in play for a lot longer. Isn’t that what you want as a rugby fan?
“Next up, you’re lucky if you see more than two or three scrums having to be reset per game at schoolboy level. Again, there’s the rugby league element to it, where clearance from the scrum is more important than ‘setting a platform’ from a static play.
“Yes, schoolboys have less power than fully grown men, so there’s far less need for them to push each other into a stagnant state of non-movement.
“In saying that, and I can only speak for Westlake, scrummaging skills are still coached to a high level, and I assume that dynamic would be the same for other schools, but the reliance on the scrum as an attacking option is far less than at the higher levels.”
Timing was also a factor, with games played on Saturday afternoons.
“I’ve got other things to do with my Friday and Saturday nights besides watch rugby, so an afternoon game works perfectly from a timing perspective.
“If you’re in Southland or Otago in the middle of winter, when would you rather be watching a game of code - lunchtime or mid-afternoon with the sun hopefully on your back, or 7.30 at night when the thermometer is shivering in single figures?”
Cordes said the on-field pace of play at schoolboy rugby was further enhanced by the ability of schoolboy game referees to make instant decisions on the field without having to refer to a TMO watching multiple angle replays on TVs and asking ‘is there any reason why I can’t award the try’.
“For God’s sake, you’re the ref, you were two metres away from where the ball was touched down, grow some testosterone and make the call.
“First XV referees have no such qualms about making a call. When a schoolboy 1st XV player goes over the try line, the ref’ call it within seconds, none of the dithering and procrastination as the TMO and the bunker analysts spend the next five minutes endlessly reviewing video footage from every angle.”
Further, Cordes said the exuberance and youthful enthusiasm personified through schoolboy supporters on the sidelines added to the whole colour and spectacle of the game.
“Just look at the St Kents boys who paint their torsos in blue for the big games. Or a haka between Kings and Auckland Grammar.
“It’s tribal. You simply don’t get that sort of passion at Super Rugby or NPC level. Again, it comes back to being part of the whole ‘entertainment’ package which elite rugby simply doesn’t have.
“It’s a sad indictment on high performance rugby in New Zealand, and this is totally true, that when me and some buddies went to watch the Blues vs Waratahs Super Rugby game at Eden Park earlier this year, the only highlight of the night was watching quiz genius Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace from The Chase taking on the crowd in a pre-game quiz night.
“Aside from that, the standard of actual rugby on the pitch was enough to send you into a coma with boredom.”
Staunch Sacred Heart old boy Simon Hayden summed up following his college’s champion Auckland 1A first XV in four words: pride, passion, support and devotion.
“Where the NPC has been in place formally since 1976 and has a celebrated history, I would equate the passion and commitment to first XV rugby more in-line with the Ranfurly Shield,” Hayden said
“At every first XV game in the country there is an anecdote about family who has had the privilege and honour of going to battle in their college colours. There are accounts of great wins & harrowing losses at every match.”
Hayden noted that Sacred Heart dates back to 1903 - and the Ranfurly Shield to 1904 - and had history passed through generations of players who went before, which inspired pride, passion and expectation.
“When Sacred men step on that field, irrespective of who they are playing, they will commit to doing all they can to perform at their potential for their College.
“We try to foster and mould this pressure through honour, respect and being the best they can be.”
Hayden suggested if you changed “first XV” to “Ranfurly Shield” and Sacred Heart College to any small town in New Zealand you might strike a similar scenario.
There was a core sense of belonging and ownership with Sacred Heart’s rugby crusades.
“This year we broke the ‘curse’ of not winning since 1965. Sacred does not have financial resources to fund winning, we fund it through commitment of a community; students, teachers and our Marist Brothers do all they can to enable this.”
Matt Grace, one of the driving forces of the highly organised Sacred Heart College Old Boys Rugby Club agreed.
“Rugby is in deep trouble,” Grace said. “Club rugby continues to flounder as a result of all of the talent being plucked out of the pool and elevated to academies or Super squads.
“With the finest young talent out, this feeds up to the NPC where it is rare our best talent (All Blacks) are on show either.
“In my experience, people love first XV rugby because it is pure unadulterated rugby played with passion, built on heritage and tradition and comprising the best players the Colleges can muster.
“There are no agendas, no pay gaps, just a bunch of young men who come together, train extraordinarily hard, become uncommonly close, and risk dreaming big dreams of glory and honour.”
Grace also highlighted how rugby at Sacred Heart helped connect the past, present and future.
“It allows a platform for our musicians and artists. Multi-generational families, teachers and most importantly the Marist Brothers help keep the passion for the game alive.
“Each year we share this passion with our greatest traditional rivals King’s College, Auckland Grammar and our Catholic cousins, St Peter’s College.
“We have lunch together and explore our many differences, we relive our rivalries and we celebrate our friendships.
“At last year’s lunch with King’s College, we had 600 people attend including the Patron of New Zealand Rugby and King’s College Old Boy Ian Kirkpatrick MBE, It was an incredible day.
“For these traditional fixtures, it is not uncommon to have crowds of four to five thousand people attend, the atmosphere is incredible, the noise deafening and there isn’t a free park around the neighbourhood.
“This grassroots part of our game must be fostered, treasured, and protected while we figure out what to do with the club rugby and the NPC.”
An illustration of the bonds that first XV rugby creates was evident the very day this article was submitted, with members of the Sacred Heart first XV taking Auckland’s 1A trophy to visit Ron Patterson.
At 97, Ron is Sacred Heart’s oldest living old boy, and can recall attending the final match of the 1939 season at Eden Park as a third former. Sacred Heart beat Auckland Grammar that day to win the title.
Further south, Christchurch Boys’ high stalwart Defyd Williams - who can recall playing in the school’s 1969 first XV match against Timaru boys’ High, and having Keith Quinn inquire on how to pronounce his name - summed up first XV rugby as “raw, innovative, and daring”.
“There is plenty of time to become a rugby superstar, at this stage just enjoy playing footy with your mates should be enough,” he said.
“Generations of old boys, and now old girls, follow the fortunes of their teams. Traditional clashes such as the School-College Christchurch clash give families, and players past, present, and future - a turangawaewae - a sense of being and belonging to a school and place, beyond the game itself.
“Friends, whose affinity wasn’t necessarily rugby at school, meet up, especially at the midweek traditional games, such as the School-College Christchurch match, closing in on its sesquicentennial.
“It also forms an important part of our whakapapa - tall tales and true from the legendary past.”
Wesley fan Rod Gabb said strong school identities, combined with college sport being such a big part of children’s upbringing gave school rugby huge appeal and it also provided an opportunity to meet other passionate school sport followers.
“Then there is the tribal aspect and atmosphere of college rugby which does not generally exist at club or provincial level.
“The atmosphere is generally always vibrant, loud, and passionate. Schoolkids supporting the game also creates a great environment with their cheering, traditional hakas and cultural dance.”
Meanwhile “Nanny”, who has grandsons playing rugby at both St Kentigern and Mt Albert Grammar, and did not wish to be identified for that reason, said she had previously enjoyed watching first XV rugby weekly on Sky TV.
By contrast, trying to follow NPC rugby was a nightmare. “Too far to travel to games, $25 a ticket, water tipped out, no food to take in, expensive day-night out,” she said.
“I have a handicap car pass. Join the line, wait for ever to enter and have bag searches, and when we leave, wait again because of traffic management. Give it a go like the old days and then see the interest.”
But she pointed out first XV rugby still had problems to sort out and was particularly alarmed at the actions of Scots College in their recent legal stoush with Feilding High School.
“The secondary schools board that overturned the Feilding decision needs to be looked at and give a reason to the public,” she said.
Meanwhile Herald coverage of schoolboy rugby this season has been upgraded with the collaboration of freelancer Adam Julian, who has provided insightful commentary from on-the-spot reporting of matches in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Palmerston North.
Julian, a former reporter and statistician on Land Rover First XV Rugby for Sky TV for nine seasons, explained how his own love of schoolboy rugby stretched back to his own school days.
“I was very fortunate that St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, had a strong rugby culture and successful First XV that captured my imagination,” he said. “I was never close to playing for the First XV, but I was enchanted by the history, spectacle, talent, friendship, and passion of it all.
“When you got the afternoon of school, with a license to go crazy, and your mates won against a rival as equally determined as you the surge of pride was intoxicating, and the irrelevance of period five mathematics reinforced.”
Later, for Sky TV, Julian travelled the length of New Zealand researching the history of first XV’s and closely followed the scene.
“The character of each school was obviously different, but that love of history, spectacle, talent, and friendship was shared by people as far north as Kaitaia and as far south as Invercargill.
“I was lucky to make a lot of friends of varying ages, cultures, religions, and backgrounds, and generally witness how uplifting rugby can be for young men.
“First XV rugby matters. It just does. Aesthetically, it’s often, better to watch with the freer approach to play. If it’s boring, it finishes ten minutes earlier (35 minutes each way).”
Thanks to Tauranga Boys’ College historian Neil Howard for correcting the record on the school’s tenure of the Moascar Cup.
Tauranga has now held the Moascar Cup on seven occasions: 1981, 1983, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2022 and again this year. They also made the Top Four in 1983, when it was on an invitation basis, taken on season-long results.
Tauranga Boys’ College has produced 16 All Blacks: Peter Burke, Mick Bremner, Owen Stephens, Greg Kane, Stu Conn, Greg Rowlands, Wayne Graham, Paul Simonsson, Adrian Cashmore, Royce Willis, Daniel Braid, Tanerau Latimer, Jarrad Hoeata, Sam Cane, Nathan Harris.
Incidently Howard noted that in other sports in 2022, Tauranga won the secondary school football, was second in cricket’s Gillette Cup, fifth in hockey’s Rankin Cup, fourth at the volleyball nationals and are current transtasman water polo champions - with all of these teams coached by teachers at the college.
New Zealand Schools, New Zealand Barbarians U18 and New Zealand Māori U18 teams have been named, with a return to international rugby for the New Zealand Schools team for the first time since 2019.
The New Zealand Schools team is headed by Kane Jury (Highlanders), with James Hantz (Auckland Grammar School) and Ngatai Walker (Te Kura o Puketapu ki Taranaki) completing the coaching team.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Barbarians team will be led by Dave Dillon (Highlanders) with Matt MacDougall (St Patricks Silverstream/Crusaders U18) and Rocky Khan (Mount Albert Grammar School) as assistants.
Kahu Carey (Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō) will head the Māori Under 18 team coaching group, with Willie Brown (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou), Jackson Willison (Ngāti Mahuta, Waikato) and Scott Palmer (Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Paoa) assisting.
Upcoming fixtures
Saturday September 23, St Paul’s Collegiate, Hamilton:
12 noon: NZ Māori Under 18 v Northland U19 Selection.
2pm: NZ Schools v NZ Barbarian U18.
Thursday September 28: NZ Barbarian Under 18 v NZ Māori Under 18, 12 Noon, St Pauls Collegiate, Hamilton. Australia Under 18 v NZ Schools, 2pm local time, 4pm NZ time, Viking Park, Canberra.
Monday October 2: Australia Under 18 v NZ Schools, 11am local time (Viking Park, Canberra).
New Zealand Schools team: Tonga Helu (Sacred Heart), Manumaua Letiu (Christchurch Boys’), Logan Wallace (Palmerston North Boys’), Josh Tengblad (Sacred Heart), Jake Frost (Christchurch Boys’), Micah Fale (St John’s Hamilton), Oli Mathis (Hamilton Boys’), Mosese Bason (Feilding High), Dylan Pledger (King’s High), Rico Simpson (Sacred Heart),
Frank Vaenuku (De La Salle), Tayne Harvey (Palmerston North Boys’), James Cameron (Westlake Boys’), Tevita Naufahu (St Kentigern), Isaac Murray-McGregor (Westlake),
Shaun Kempton (Rolleston), Rangiwai Lunjevich (Hamilton Boys’), Raharuhi Palmer (Hamilton Boys’), Sione Mafi (Nelson College), Robson Faleafa (St Peter’s Auckland),
Aisake Vakasiuola (Tauranga Boys’), Marshall Blakely (Christchurch Boys’), Charlie Sinton (Tauranga Boys’), Kiseki Fifita (Southland Boys’), Quinten Holland (King’s High), Caelys Putoko (Hamilton Boys’),
New Zealand Barbarian U18 team: Brooke Mitchell (Whakarewarewa Rugby), Cohen Norrie (Sacred Heart), Cooper Roberts (University of Canterbury), Eli Oudenryn (Palmerston North Boys’), Faama Kupita (Tauranga Boys’), Harry Irving (Scots College), Hugh Robinson (Marlborough Boys’), Jack Ruske (St Paul’s Collegiate), Jai Tamati (Rotorua Boys’),JJ Fisher (Southland Boys’), Joel Russell (Napier Boys’), Joey Taumateine (Wesley), Josh Augustine (Napier Boys’), Kaleb Tapara St Peter’s Cambridge), Kyan Rangitutia (Dunedin Rugby Club), Lenz Itunu-Morunga (Manurewa Rugby), Liam O’Connor (Palmerston North Boys’), Nathan Salmon (Old Boys Marist, Whangarei), Olly Guerin (Hamilton Boys’), Radford Powell (St Andrew’s), Riley Lucas (Green Island), Samiuela Moimoi (Nelson College), Saumaki Saumaki (Nelson College), Shaun McNaughten (Hastings Boys’), Tamiano Ahloo (Sacred Heart).
New Zealand U18 Maori Nga Whatukura Boys team:
Amaziah Mitchell (Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Southland Boys’), Blake Lidgard (Ngāti Porou, Westlake), Christian MacEwan (Ngāti Awa, Hamilton Boys’), Dylan Eti (Ngāti Porou, St Peter’s School, Cambridge), Hiraka Waitai-Haenga (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Hamilton Boys’),
Hoani Nikora-Wilson (Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Southland Boys’), Hohepa Chandler (Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu (Tauranga Boys’), Hone Mathison (Ngāti Porou Te Kuiti High), Jack McCarthy (Ngāti Tūwharetoa Whanganui Collegiate), Jimmy Pender (Whakatōhea, Te Arawa - Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Greerton Marist), Joe Parkinson (Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Otago Boys’), Kurtis Hana (Ngāti Ruahine, Hamilton Boys’), Liam Anderson (Ngāpuhi, Fraser Tech), Liam Sturm (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Hamilton Boys’), Lucas Te Rangi (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa St Andrew’s), Mac Russ (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Hamilton Boys’), Maiti Leef (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahungunu, Hastings Boys’), Oscar Ritchie (Ngāti Porou, Hastings Boys’), Phoenix Tapatu (Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu Otago Boys’),
Quinn Sturmey (Ngā Rauru, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Palmerston North Boys’), Reimana Saunderson-Rurawhe (Ngāti Apa Westlake), Ryan Dunn (Ngāti Awa, Tauranga Boys’), Stanley Solomon (Ngāi Tahu / Kāi Tahu, Petone Rugby Club), Taiora Cameron (Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Āwa, Francis Douglas Memorial), Will Cole (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Rathkeale College).
Next week: The 1A first XV media ban: good, bad, or incidental?
Reader comments and feedback welcome at nzschoolboyrugby@gmail.com .
Kiwi schools have now won the tournament three years in a row.