HBHS first five-eighth Latrell Smiler-Ah Kiong shows a safe pair of hands but his boot is equally trusty after he converted four conversions yesterday. Photo/file
HBHS first five-eighth Latrell Smiler-Ah Kiong shows a safe pair of hands but his boot is equally trusty after he converted four conversions yesterday. Photo/file
If expectations were the yardstick then Hastings Boys' High School First XV have delivered with a bonus-point victory in their Super 8 rugby competition yesterday.
But Jason Bird, as most prudent coaches do, is wary of letting the 38-7 result over Gisborne Boys' High School camouflage facets of play that require polishing from the undefeated HBHS side.
"Our skills execution, at times, wasn't where we wanted it to be but we certainly picked it up in the second half to score some good tries," said a circumspect Bird after his boys led 12-0 at the break of the third-round clash at the HBHS ground.
He emphasised his charges didn't stray from the blueprint too much but were just not tidying after several promising phases to build pressure.
"Our work on for the second half was to be a bit more clinical down on their 22 to make sure we finished off all the opportunities we had so the boys pretty much did that in the second half."
Right winger Joeli Rauca crossed the try line twice while second five-eighths Jordan Thompson-Dunn, openside flanker Daemon Brough, reserve openside flanker Donovan Godinet, blindside flanker Connor Wadley all go on the referee's scorecard, too, for one each. Pivot Latrell Ah Kiong booted four conversions.
Bird is mindful they will need to lift their game in hosting undefeated Rotorua Boys' High School in their next outing.
"We know Rotorua are always tough as a school that is steeped in rugby tradition and they've had a good win against Hamilton Boys' High," he said after Rotorua's 18-13 victory yesterday.
"Any time you go to beat them in Hamilton is a good result so we're under no illusions if we don't prepare properly it's going to be a tough day but we're confident that we can match it with them."
NBHS First XV players, performing their pre-match haka here last weekend, have one the best secondary schools' scrums in the country, says coach Brendon Ratcliffe. Photo/file
Napier Boys' High School, after succumbing 24-21 to HBHS in the Bay derby in the previous round, came away with 26-all draw on the road against Tauranga Boys' College.
"We were subdued in the first half, struggling to contain a powerful Tauranga Boys," NBHS mentor Brendon Ratcliffe said after the hosts went up 5-0 before Angus Kilmister cancelled that out with a try that Ethyn Martin added value to between the sticks.
That only stung Tauranga into action as they struck twice with tries, the last one coming on the halftime whistle from an NBHS blunder as the visitors trailed 19-7.
"I'm very proud of the way the team took up the challenge in the second half, dominating large periods of play," Ratcliffe said after the ref lost patience to award NBHS a penalty try when the hosts collapsed the rolling maul three times to narrow the deficit to 19-14.
If NBHS had any doubts it was going to be schoolyard scrap, Tauranga asked them to "step it out" with a converted try to snatch back the lead, 26-14.
On the platform of what Ratcliffe proclaims as "one of the best scrums in New Zealand secondary schools' rugger", Kilmister bullied his way over to narrow it to 26-21, which Martin converted before providing some cohesiveness between the forwards and backs to level terms, 26-all, although he missed the ensuing demanding sideline conversion.
NBHS and Tauranga shared three points each, including a four-try bonus point. The Sky Blues host Hamilton Boys this Saturday.
