The iconic and much revered New Zealand Secondary Schools could be about to play their last tests this month, with a proposal on the table to axe the team in its current format.
Dating back to the early 1980s, the New Zealand Secondary Schools (NZSS) team has provided the first taste of international rugby to hundreds of high-profile players, including World Cup winners Jerome Kaino, Rieko Ioane, Sam Cane, Sam Whitelock, Grant Fox, Kieran Read and Mils Muliaina, as well as great All Blacks such as Jerry Collins, Jonah Lomu and Walter Little.
Since its inception, only those enrolled at school have been eligible for selection, but New Zealand Rugby, which took over management of NZSS in 2013, wants to rebrand the team as New Zealand Under-18 and open it up to those who are no longer playing for their First XV and in full-time secondary education.
The move is being pushed to bring New Zealand into line with other leading rugby nations and to bridge a representative gap for those who leave school early and the New Zealand Under-20 team.
But a consortium of heavyweight schools, including Auckland Grammar, St Kentigern College, St Peter’s College and Sacred Heart, as well as Hamilton Boys’, Hastings’ Boys and Wellington College, have jointly submitted feedback that vehemently opposes the move on the basis it could have a negative impact on the academic futures of pupils, see staff and volunteers disconnected from the game and that it is contrary to NZR’s own conviction that teenagers need to take a balanced approach to sport.