Hamilton Boys' High School might need a bigger silverware cabinet after its First XV clinched the Sanix world youth crown, an unofficial global schools championship, in Japan on Monday night.
The 15-11 victory in the final over Paarl Boys' High School was a last-gasp one after a very late try in the corner to lock Viliami Tuipulotu. It means that Hamilton BHS now holds the Moascar Cup, a third Sanix title in five years, the Chiefs Cup, Super 8 and the Barbarians Cup for the national top four title, while the Third XV is the winner of the Waikato championship and Ian Foster Shield.
In the 2013 top four final against St Kentigern College of Auckland, Hamilton BHS knocked the champs off their perch with a narrow 12-10 result, so they can now call itself New Zealand and world champions, with a winning streak of 24 to its credit.
Monday's win was the culmination of a gruelling week in Fukuoka, where the team played six games in eight days, having to make full use of the 28-man squad. Sixteen teams compete at the tournament, eight from Japan and the other half from abroad.
After casting aside Japanese schools Toin Gakuen HS 46-0 and Josho Gakuen HS 47-5 in pool play, Hamilton BHS was pushed hard, 15-3 by French school Lycee Louis de Foix, of Bayonne, before punishing Higashi Fukuoka HS (62-10) and Tokai University Gyosai School (43-0) in the quarters and semis.
