A season of being boys playing young men meant the Wanganui High School First XV felt no intimidation as they defeated town rivals Wanganui Collegiate 13-8 in the main event of the school exchange at Cooks Gardens on Wednesday evening.
Facing the haka from the Collegiate team and several hundred of their schoolmates, WHS were not overawed by the occasion, having had a great season by playing their way into this weekend's final of the Manawatu Colts competition.
The match settled into a pattern where Collegiate were strong in the set piece, especially the scrum, but WHS scrambled well in broken play, with their loose forwards turning over a lot of priceless possession.
Collegiate scored the opening try, which was followed by a WHS penalty, before Collegiate added a three-pointer of their own for an 8-3 scoreline.
The decisive moments came midway through the second half when, despite losing a player for 10 minutes for a punch, WHS scored two quick tries and never looked back.