Division one spot up for grabs in schools competition
St Kevin's College will meet Mount Aspiring College for a shot at being elevated to division one in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship.
The Oamaru and Wānaka schools had strong wins to wrap up as the top seeds in the championship's maroon and blue pools today.
They will now face each other in a playoff game in Ranfurly on Saturday, in the only game for the schools competition next weekend.
St Kevin's finished as the top seed of the blue pool with a 26-14 win against Central Southland College in chilly conditions in Oamaru today.
Coach Justin Fowler was rapt with his team.
"Very, very happy with that," Fowler said.
"Certainly was a goal of ours to have a crack at that top six at some stage.
"Very proud of the boys. We've sort of won tough in the last couple of weeks, which has been good"
Playing at home in wet and slippery conditions, St Kevin's controlled the second half to secure the win.
"When we managed to play some good territory we looked good with the ball in hand, especially in that second half.
"Our set piece was a little bit shaky, but our ruck ball was good and our counter attack was very good.
"We scored probably three long range tries in that second half."
It was a team performance, but first five Lachlan Neal controlled the game nicely, centre Kenton Tokai was big defensively and blindside Liasiate Hausia was good with ball and strong defensively.
In the other blue pool results, Waitaki Boys' had a monster 59-10 victory against Maruawai/Menzies in Gore, and South Otago ran away 63-0 against John McGlashan College 2nds.
Mount Aspiring had a big 50-10 win against Taieri College in the maroon pool.
Wakatipu beat King's High School 2nds 50-12 and Otago Boys' High School 2nds got home 30-15 against Cromwell College.
In division one, John McGlashan 1sts beat Dunstan 32-17 today and King's High School 1sts had a 47-19 victory against Southland Boys' 2nds on Thursday.
Southland Boys' 1sts will play Otago Boys' on Wednesday.
After next weekend's playoff game, the competition will be split into division one, two and three for the second round.
Southland Boys' 1sts and 2nds, Otago Boys' 1sts, King's 1sts, John McGlashan 1sts and the playoff winner will make up division one.
Dunstan has been relegated from division one and will compete in division two with Waitaki Boys', Wakatipu, South Otago, Otago Boys' 2nds and the playoff loser.
South Otago, King's 2nds, John McGlashan 2nds, Cromwell, Maruawai/Menzies and Taieri will compete in division three.
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Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Division one spot up for grabs in schools competition
St Kevin's College will meet Mount Aspiring College for a shot at being elevated to division one in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship. The Oamaru and Wānaka schools had strong wins to wrap up as the top seeds in the championship's maroon and blue pools today. They will now face each other in a playoff game in Ranfurly on Saturday, in the only game for the schools competition next weekend. St Kevin's finished as the top seed of the blue pool with a 26-14 win against Central Southland College in chilly conditions in Oamaru today. Coach Justin Fowler was rapt with his team. "Very, very happy with that," Fowler said. "Certainly was a goal of ours to have a crack at that top six at some stage. "Very proud of the boys. We've sort of won tough in the last couple of weeks, which has been good" Playing at home in wet and slippery conditions, St Kevin's controlled the second half to secure the win. "When we managed to play some good territory we looked good with the ball in hand, especially in that second half. "Our set piece was a little bit shaky, but our ruck ball was good and our counter attack was very good. "We scored probably three long range tries in that second half." It was a team performance, but first five Lachlan Neal controlled the game nicely, centre Kenton Tokai was big defensively and blindside Liasiate Hausia was good with ball and strong defensively. In the other blue pool results, Waitaki Boys' had a monster 59-10 victory against Maruawai/Menzies in Gore, and South Otago ran away 63-0 against John McGlashan College 2nds. Mount Aspiring had a big 50-10 win against Taieri College in the maroon pool. Wakatipu beat King's High School 2nds 50-12 and Otago Boys' High School 2nds got home 30-15 against Cromwell College. In division one, John McGlashan 1sts beat Dunstan 32-17 today and King's High School 1sts had a 47-19 victory against Southland Boys' 2nds on Thursday. Southland Boys' 1sts will play Otago Boys' on Wednesday. After next weekend's playoff game, the competition will be split into division one, two and three for the second round. Southland Boys' 1sts and 2nds, Otago Boys' 1sts, King's 1sts, John McGlashan 1sts and the playoff winner will make up division one. Dunstan has been relegated from division one and will compete in division two with Waitaki Boys', Wakatipu, South Otago, Otago Boys' 2nds and the playoff loser. South Otago, King's 2nds, John McGlashan 2nds, Cromwell, Maruawai/Menzies and Taieri will compete in division three.
Otago Daily Times
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Taieri 2nd XV claim first win of season
Taieri College upset King's 2nds to record their first win for the season in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship. It is a coup for the co-educational school, who have found themselves on the wrong side of some lopsided scores throughout the years. But not on Saturday. They battled into a strong breeze at King's to trail 14-12 at the break. They owned the second half, running in three tries and adding 17 unanswered points to record a 29-14 win. New coach Zane McTainsh was thrilled with the result. He started the year as an assistant but found himself elevated to the top role when veteran coach Murray Roulston pulled the pin after a couple of weeks. Beating a 2nd XV at one of the big schools is a huge deal for Taieri. "It gives us a bit of belief that we can compete, at least, against a few of these big teams," McTainsh said. Powerhouse loosehead Charlie Such was phenomenal. "His post-contact metres were enormous for us." No 8, Kupa Richmond, did some heavy lifting and tighthead Connor Jopson rolled up his sleeves as well. Halfback Liam Lord was tidy. And centre Sam Robertson looked energetic and scored a cracking try in the second half. In the other matches in the maroon pool, Mount Aspiring edged Cromwell 29-24 in Cromwell and Wakatipu beat Otago Boys 2nds 20-17 at Littlebourne. Southland Boys' remain unbeaten in division 1. They rolled King's 38-12 in Invercargill and the school's 2nd XV edged Dunstan 8-7. Otago Boys' rollercoaster season took another dip. They were defeated 29-26 by John McGlashan at John McGlashan College. In the blue pool, Māruawai/Menzies held on to beat John McGlashan 2nds 12-10 in Wyndham, St Kevin's travelled across town and beat rival Waitaki Boys' 15-12 and Central Southland recorded a 15-7 win in Winton.
