Auckland Grammar principal calls out Sport NZ over 'Year 14' athletes
The issue of "Year 14" athletes has raised its head again, with Marlborough Boys' College admitting it had five such players in its First XV, which scored a historic – and controversial – win over Nelson College last month.
That 28-26 result came after Marlborough were awarded a first-half penalty and, instead of aiming for the posts, the goalkicker struck for the corner, where one of his teammates chased it down for a try that was eventually awarded.
O'Connor told RNZ that bringing students back for an extra year for sporting purposes was a distortion of their roles as educators and openly wondered where the national sporting administrators were in this debate.
"Really, our role as principals and our role as schools is to educate young people," he said. "Sport NZ talks about balance is better, but where are they in this discussion?
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"They haven't come out to say, 'why are we allowing this to occur'?
"I'd love to see them being more proactive and having the courage to speak up on this.
"Perhaps there are organisations that want to turn a blind eye to what is the pathway for young men and rugby in this country frankly. We need to get beyond that."
RNZ has approached Sport NZ for reaction to O'Connor's comments.
Auckland's 1A competition has put is members on notice that Year 14 players will not be permitted from next season. O'Connor admits two of the 12 teams currently have two such players each on their rosters.
"We discussed that at the beginning of the year and felt the fair thing to do was give everyone 12 months' notice, and then we wouldn't be allowing that to occur again."
Earlier this year, the issue led to a ban on extra-year rowers at the prestigious Maadi Cup regatta at Lake Karapiro.
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School Sport NZ is now considering a total ban on the Year 14 athletes.
"There is no doubt there is a distinct advantage – muscle co-ordination and technical ability – in a sixth-year student," O'Connor said. "They're taking away positions from students who are coming through their natural schooling years.
"For example, Rieko Ioane could have returned – we could have encouraged him to return, because he would have met all the other criteria, and he could have returned to play rugby for another year, which would have been a huge advantage to our school.
"Our view was Rieko should actually carry on with his life and move to the next stage, and we'd fully support him in doing so."
Now an 81-test All Black, Ioane debuted for Auckland and the NZ sevens team the year after leaving Auckland Grammar, and made his test debut aged 19.
O'Connor insisted his school would not take the field against Marlborough with their Year 14 players.
"I don't know why there would be a reason to play them," he told RNZ. "I'd rather play in a competition where we know there is a level playing field and we're treating each other with respect.
"In the 1A competition, mid-season, we have about six teams who could still win it – that's a great competition, that keeps it alive across multiple schools."
rnz.co.nz
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Francis Afolaufou, Jonty Leary, Vili Finau, Sione Manu Telefoni, Sam Dunnett, Frano Chaplin and Delahoia Te Pakeke-Kakoi all contributed to the scoreboard. Wingers Harnoux Wessels and Cam Jones combined to successfully convert five tries, putting Christchurch comfortably ahead 24-0 at the break. By the second half, it was impossible to identify most of the mud-splattered players, but such was their dominance, Christchurch even scored twice when down to 14 men for 10 minutes after a yellow card to bustling midfielder Francis Afolaufou. And they still completed a shut-out, despite losing replacement forward Vili Finau to a late red card. Christchurch's season record was 10 wins and one draw. They scored a total of 530 points and only conceded 233. By contrast, inconsistent Christ's finished with a record of six wins and six losses, scoring 374 points but conceding 407. However, this was not the largest victory that Christchurch have ever achieved over Christ's. That was an astounding 80-0 in 2015, when future All Black Will Jordan scored four tries and Josh McKay – later to play 50 games for Canterbury and win a United Rugby Championship with Glasgow Warriors – contributed 35 points. The only other occasion when Christchurch Boys' achieved a half-century in a final was in 2005 at Lancaster Park, where they decisively defeated Nelson College 51-17. The winners' tries were scored by Tim Jones (2), Matt Todd, Michael Coom, Ryan McLeod, Andrew Horrell and Colin Slade, who added four conversions and two penalties. Christchurch finished that season as national champions with an imposing 24-0 record. Todd and Slade later became All Blacks, while Horrell won two Super Rugby titles with the Chiefs and now coaches the Lindisfarne College First XV. In other matches, Marlborough Boys' College beat Nelson College 31-21 to claim third. St Bede's College beat Rangiora High School 50-7 and Shirley Boys' High School edged out Selwyn Combined 26-24. Disagree with anything here? We welcome alternative viewpoints. Email us at nzschoolboyrugby@
