Hamilton Boys’ High can lay claim to being the best schoolboy rugby team on the planet after winning the World Schools Festival Cup in Thailand, beating South Africa’s Grey College 22-10 in the final on Saturday.
It is Hamilton Boys’ High’s fourth global schoolboy trophy, having previously won the Sanix World Rugby youth tournament three times in 2010, 2011 and 2014. (The Sanix tournament was last played in 2019 before the COVID pandemic.)
Elite schools from New Zealand, England, South Africa, Ireland, Wales and Fiji contested the World Schools Festival at The Pattana Sports Resort in Thailand.
Hamilton Boys, the reigning New Zealand schoolboy champions, had earlier ruthlessly disposed of England’s Millfield 14-0 in the semifinals.
Grey College, from Bloemfontein, are widely considered to be one of the world’s powerhouses of schoolboy rugby and advanced to the final by claiming a last-gasp victory over back-to-back Welsh champions Cardiff and Vale College on Thursday.