Rugby: Sky TV punts on First XV matches

One of the bastions of New Zealand sport is about to hit the big-time with 21 First XV rugby matches to be televised live this winter.

With interest sparked by stories of traditional inter-school rivalry in the Herald's weekly College Sport columns, Sky Rugby Channel boss Martin Crowe approached NZ Secondary Schools Sports Council executive director Garry Carnachan.

"We had great co-operation around the country as we worked on a schedule for the first season," said Crowe yesterday.

"I feel we have come up with a pretty impressive fixture list for this winter. Our aim is to rotate games over the next two or three years.

"I have to admit there is a slight bias towards Auckland and North Harbour for the first season but that is governed by costs."

The first match, on May 1, will be a replay of last year's final between Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland Grammar at AGS.

That will be followed a week later by another traditional fixture when St Peter's School host Cambridge High. The third match will be the North Harbour derby between Westlake BHS and Rosmini College.

"I'm just now getting my head around how good and how much interest there is in First XV rugby," said Crowe.

"We could see something in it and had a good look at what we could do before coming up with the schedule we have. Rugby fans are embracing grassroots, including college, rugby and we saw the Rugby Channel as the preferred forum for this."

Other traditional fixtures, including Otago BHS and Southland BHS (normally played midweek but switched to May 22 to accommodate television) and the Wellington derby between St Pats (Silverstream) and Wellington College will also be highlighted.

So will the Kings College v AGS match on June 12 - a week before Sacred Heart College's home game with Kings is shown.

The annual national top four play-off in Rotorua will be televised live on September 4-5.

The inaugural season ends on October 6 with the transtasman schools test in Dunedin.

Sky is sinking $500,000 into the venture.

Commentaries will be shared by Keith Quinn and Ken Laban. Mark Watson will be sideline and will provide weekly previews.

The production, headed by former All Black Bull Allen, who will provide expert analysis, will be close to NPC standard with full graphics and daily replays.

The Rugby Channel has between 55,000 to 60,000 subscribers.

"We hope to build on that," said Crowe. "We feel that showing something local exclusively will create interest."