HBHS winger Zach Coffey.
In his weekly wrap, Bruce Holloway looks at all the big talking points across schoolboy rugby in New Zealand.
It might only be early July, but the Hamilton Boys' High School rugby trophy cabinet is already swelling thanks to eye-catching recent outings from its first XV.
Hamilton Boys' have chalked up three impressive wins in 13 days to not only stride 12 points clear in the highly competitive central North Island Super 8 first XV rugby competition, but also take possession of the Moascar Cup – New Zealand's schoolboy equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield.
Further, they've also reclaimed "The Boot" - a treasured trophy comprising footwear originally belonging to All Black legend Don Clarke - which they regretfully surrendered last year in their annual exchange with Tauranga Boys' College.
In the latest of Hamilton Boys' outings on Thursday they tucked away Tauranga 30-5 in what is their highest-scoring and most comprehensive win of the season.
This ensured retention of the Moascar Cup which they had claimed through their 28-19 away win over a strong Rotorua Boys' High team on June 25 and then successfully defended against Napier Boys' High (winning 22-8, after trailing 5-8 at the break) last weekend.
The Moascar Cup dates back to the end of WWI, where British, Australian and New Zealand troops cleared a patch of desert in Egypt to play a rugby tournament. The New Zealand Mounted Rifle Unit won and the trophy was constructed, using a cup and a German fighter plane propellor as a base. So it's a bit special.
Hamilton Boys last earned possession in 2013, when they took it off Auckland Grammar, only to lose it back to them the following year. They will next defend it against Gisborne Boys' High on August 30.
Meanwhile Hamilton's dominance this year in the Super 8 (as defending champions) is underlined by the fact they have already beaten their three closest challengers on the table, Rotorua, Napier and Palmerston North in round-robin play.
But beating Tauranga was the cherry on top.
"It was a very special day to be playing with the whole school watching," said delighted HBHS coach Nigel Hotham. "This is a talented team.
"The thing about Super 8 is every single game is usually so close, and if you don't get up on the day you will get beaten."
Stand-out players for Hamilton Boys in matches against Rotorua and Napier were the team's two co-captains. Oli Mathis, a Year 12 is a mercurial No 7, while Aki Tuivailala, now in his third year in the first XV, regularly dominates at centre.
Against Tauranga it was the loose forward trio of Mathis, Liam Sturm and Liam Anderson that caught the eye, and Hotham described their joint work rate as "phenomenal" in facing big opponents.
Payton Spencer, son of former all Black Carlos, scored a try in each half, while Caelys Putoko dotted down in the first spell and lively halfback Mac Russ burst over in the second half.
"He's the cheekiest No 9 you've ever met, but we love him," Hotham said of Russ.
Meanwhile "The Boot" now has pride of place in the school foyer, next to the Moascar cup.
"We had managed to keep 'The Boot' from 2009 until we lost it last year and it was only then we realised how much we missed it. So there has been a big 'welcome home' party."
Two of Auckland's smaller, less fancied schools – rugby-wise at least – are presenting a study in contrasts in 1A competition.
Last week Dilworth – school roll of 500 - held on in a nerve-jangling finish to secure a historic win by beating high-flying Sacred Heart for the very first time to give themselves at least a mathematical chance of making the top four.
But the 1A competition is proving a bleak and austere landscape for Papatoetoe co-educational school Aorere College, which sits bottom of the table without a point with an ugly points differential, and more modest ambitions of just trying to stay in the fight a bit longer in its remaining matches.
Dilworth led Sacred Heart 13-3 at half time, then built a 17-point lead but ultimately required stout and desperate defence to survive a grandstand finish and win 27-22 in the upset of the round.
Sacred Heart had every chance of nabbing the win themselves with two late penalties and then a maul driving over the line right at the death only for the ball to be held up.
"The reaction on fulltime said it all," Dilworth coach Gareth Pickering said of his team's delight. "Sometimes in sport you don't always get what you work hard for, so this was a great result for everyone involved in the process.
"Defence is the barometer of a team's performance, and It's something we have worked hard on as a group.
"The whole group dug deep and collectively produced a defensive effort we could be proud of."
Pickering declined to name a player of the day, or even acknowledge the slick work of his inside backs that led to a decisive second half try.
"For us as a small school to be successful and perform at our maximum capacity it's about the sum of our parts, not any individual. This was an impressive team performance with everyone contributing to the final result."
The result has major ramifications for Sacred Heart. They secured a bonus point from the loss but have now dropped to third, and have a tough run-in. They face fourth-placed Mt
Albert Grammar at home in a televised match on Saturday, then leaders St Peter's, fifth-placed St Kentigern and finally King's College.
For eighth-placed Dilworth, the win will fill them with confidence ahead of clashing with a Tangaroa College team which could not replicate its form of a week earlier in going down 44-0 to Mt Albert Grammar.
Meanwhile at a time of year when many 1A teams are eyeing the various permutations for making the top four against the trickiness of the remaining draw, bottom-placed Aorere would love to grab even a consolation bonus point.
Aorere have lost all seven of their matches, conceding 414 points and scoring just 27. Indeed, it's been three weeks since the Papatoetoe co-ed college has so much as registered a point. They were beaten 82-0 by St Kentigern last week, 78-0 by Sacred Heart the week before, and 66-3 by St Peter's prior to that.
But in a funny sort of way, that 63-point loss to leaders St Peter's has been inspirational for Aorere. Coach Shep Tokahere cites it as a rallying point in trying to build team confidence and self belief.
"We only had 14 players for that match, but the boys played their hearts out," Tokahere said. "It showed we can front up and put some phases together.
"We have to try and tap into that mindset but it is hard when we have our backs against the wall every week.
"We try and stay in the fight but have struggled with 16 Year 12s and four Year 11s in our squad and most of our players returning from last year injured in the very first round.
"Some games we hang in there for 15-20 minutes but once a try is scored, the floodgates open."
Aorere would love to grab a win before the season is over, but know it will be just as tough on Saturday against a King's College team which still has top four prospects.
Tokahere has been calling on his own coaching mentors for guidance on how to deal with his team's position and a lot of Aorere's training at the moment is centred around team building, confidence building, analysing footage and understanding the game.
"We need to ignite the confidence to carry onto the field for players who have come from U15s or second XV ranks and stepped up into what is a ruthless 1A grade.
"It is a test every week and we have so many challenges off the field but that's not to say we don't have hopes of winning. We try to draw inspiration from our community, our families and do our best."
But it's not all doom and gloom for Aorere. Tokahere has been particularly delighted with the efforts of his openside flanker and captain Charles Gemmel, and 16-year-old fullback Antonio Ulugia.
"It is like two lions leading the sheep," he said.
Since losing to St Peter's back on May 21, Kelston Boys' High have strung together an impressive series of five wins where they have scored 219 points and conceded just 26.
So Kelston present a real challenge for St Kentigern on Saturday. With that in mind, the Herald asked to interview St Kentigern coach Tasea Lavea.
But fifth-placed St Kentigern are taking no chances. Director of sport, Mike Anderson said the school preference was that communications went through him, so coaches and players "can simply focus on the week ahead".
Fair enough. So the Herald asked Anderson - in writing - for any thoughts on the value of St Kentigern's 82-0 win over Aorere College, good or bad, ahead of facing the defending champions.
And also the individual point-scorers of note against Aorere and comment on who has been playing well for St Kentigern recently.
"We have no comments on any of the questions," replied Anderson, possibly also focusing hard on the week ahead.
Saturday's 1A draw (home team first, all 2.30pm): De La Salle v Liston; St Kentigern v Kelston; Sacred Heart v Mt Albert Grammar; King's College v Aorere; Tangaroa v Dilworth; Auckland Grammar v St Peter's.
Points: St Peter's 32, Kelston 28, Sacred Heart 26, Mt Albert Grammar 23, St Kentigern 19, De La Salle 19, King's College 17, Dilworth 15, Auckland Grammar 15, Tangaroa 8, Liston 1, Aorere 0.
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