Kelston BHS players with the trophy celebrate winning the Auckland 1st XV Final. Photosport
Kelston BHS players with the trophy celebrate winning the Auckland 1st XV Final. Photosport
A high school rugby commentator says the decision to no longer live broadcast Auckland’s 1A 1st XV season is ‘incomprehensible’.
The decision was revealed yesterday by the principals of the schools involved in the 1A rugby division.
In a statement, they said there needed to be a “strong and necessary emphasis on the wellbeing of students at a time when secondary schools rugby players are being exposed to an unhealthy level of scrutiny in both traditional and social media”.
Sky TV commentator Ken Laban disagrees with the call.
“More woke. More of the cancel culture. The decision is incomprehensible,” Laban told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast.
“So what are you going to do now if you have a son or I’ve got a grandson…I want to watch him play, do we send one of the family members with a phone down to record the kid playing. What are they going to do? They are going to get security now to have our family member thrown out of the ground.
“Wellington Samoa celebrated 50 years of rugby in the weekend. Under-12, 14, 16 and 18 boys and girls played. Every game was live streamed plus the seniors played afterwards. A number of family members who were not able to get to the ground get the opportunity to watch.”
Ken Laban. Photo / Supplied
The schools include: St Peter’s College, Kelston Boys’ High School, Sacred Heart College, DeLa Salle College, Saint Kentigern College, King’s College, Mt Albert Grammar School, Dilworth School, Auckland Grammar School, Liston College, Tangaroa College, Aorere College and in 2023, potentially St Paul’s College and/or Macleans College.
They also agreed that matches will not be live-streamed on social media and that no media interviews will be given before or during the season by coaches or players.
Select school matches were broadcast live, weekly on Sky Sport during the season.
The principals argued the “prestige” of the sport did not require further exposure or commercialisation.
They also insisted it would not disadvantage players who wanted to play professionally and said “those in charge of the professional game should have the necessary resources to evaluate these young men in a live setting”.
“In many cases, we are dealing with players as young as 14 or 15, and we do not believe they have the requisite mechanisms to cope with the, at times, unwanted and unregulated attention that has been allowed to develop in this space,” De La Salle College principal Myles Hogarty said.
“Too often we have seen the negative impacts of unnecessary hype. Many of our students already feel enormous pressure when they take the field.
“It is our job as principals to create safer environments for all of our students and we believe this course of action is entirely appropriate given what appears to be a greater emphasis than ever on commercialising school sports and the potential exploitation of those who choose to play it.”
Laban said current All Blacks have benefitted from high school games airing on TV and the players will be feeling the outside pressures regardless.
“Rieko Ioane went straight from the Albert Grammar to the New Zealand sevens team and then he was in the All Blacks before he played Super Rugby. Damian McKenzie, I remember when he was in year 11 at Christ’s College and he went straight from Christ’s College to a professional union contract at Waikato after being seen player Wellington College in their traditional quadrangular. I think it’s a decision under no circumstance or no reason makes any sense.”
“What more pressure are they going to be on a year out of school then a year before? 24-hour scrutiny, social media that is the reality of the world that we live in. 10 years ago you couldn’t pull out your phone and record a game but life’s changed. I think it’s a terrible decision and I don’t think it’s a decision those principals can make independent of any form of communication with the likes of the game of rugby itself or the parents,” he added.
