The Scout: The best of the weekend's First XV rugby

Jeremiah Asi of St Peter's College. Photo / supplied

Want to know who the next Beauden Barrett or Kieran Read will be? In his weekly column for the Herald, schoolboy rugby expert Herschel Fruean singles out the best First XV matches of the weekend, and some rising stars to watch. Fruean will travel New Zealand looking for the best talent the country has to offer, preview the big games every Friday, provide a wrap of all the results on Sunday, and rank the top 15 First XV teams (based on their performances throughout the season) every Monday morning.

One of the biggest games on the Wellington college rugby calendar went the way of St Patrick's College Silverstream. Their 33-24 win over St Patrick's College Town was an important one in their hunt to close the gap at the top, with the Town side sitting pretty at the top of the table.

Silverstream were strong in the front row making Town work to get their team up the field, where they'd quickly be shut down.

However, they didn't throw that same energy back at Town on the attacking end. Rocco Berry, who recently signed with the Warriors, played a strong game at centre for Silverstream.

Town owned all the possession and dominated the territory battle in parts of the game, but weren't always sharp in their execution at the end of moves.

Halfback Fano Paese was good at keeping the pressure on Silverstream and they had clear chances to steal this game.

Auckland Grammar School v St Peter's College

In Auckland, this weekend's match between St Peter's College and Auckland Grammar SchooI is about more than bragging rights. Auckland Grammar are leading the competition and have some wiggle room for a shock loss. St Peter's have to win every game to stay in the hunt of a semifinal berth and will be eager to make this weekend count. Both sides have young players throughout who will have to control their nerves. Naryan Strickland, hooker and captain for St Peter's, will need to look for the other leaders in the team such as Misi Tapa, AJ Faleafaga and Malipolo Manukia to keep the game plan going. Auckland Grammar are also young but with a player like Sosaia Moala at No 8 and Rylee Samuela at fullback, captain Zac Patai doesn't have to worry so much about relying on the younger players.

St Kentigern College v Kelston Boys' High School

Kelston Boys' Sam Howling. Photo / Supplied

Kelston Boys' losing to De La Salle in the last game before the holidays dropped them from first place down to fifth and they are now fighting to stay in the top four. Kelston have the best talent player for player in the country, but the boys are so young. They need to find that comfortable place of mongrel and natural talent, and just live there for 70 minutes and they will win against St Kentigern College this weekend. St Kentigern College are looking strong in their set pieces and around the rucks and will look to use that to their advantage.

Rotorua Boys' High School v Palmerston North Boys' High School

Manu Paea of Rotorua Boys' High School. Photo / Supplied

As Rotorua are travelling to Palmerston North, they are going to need to be fully focused on not just winning but winning with some extra points. Rotorua sit third in the Super Eight, which is a competition that plays a straight final opposed to semifinals first. Halfback Manu Paea will need to have the biggest game so far in his 1st XV career because they need to be creating opportunities with every pass. Paea will be able to get Tuki Simpkins into open space as the big No 8 will throw himself into tacklers. Hooker Bernie Hati and Japanese prop Haruto Takahashi will need to be active in carrying the ball and getting those small metres for the backs such as Kalem Strickland and Cieza James to attack. Palmerston North are not in the running for a finals spot, but you never want to give up on a season. They are not out of this game.

Christchurch Boys' High School v St Andrew's College

St Andrew's' Dom Clarke. Photo / Supplied

Christchurch Boys' are usually the best team in the UC Championship, dominating and dictating in every game. This year they have had two big losses and have struggled at times. St Andrew's, on the other hand, have been the trendsetters at the top of the ladder. They beat Nelson College in their first game of the season by two points and never looked like losing at all after that game. Centre Dom Clarke has led the team through some tough games, with props Jack Sexton and Seb Calder dominating in the front row. Christchurch Boys' have their own stars in Ollie Lewis at first five-eighth and halfback Max Hughes. Christchurch Boys' can play a very fast open game and which will likely be their plan this time out. The need to win if they want a shot at the semifinals.