Secondary School Rugby

2011 Secondary School 7's Report

As a lead into term 2 and the upcoming rugby season North Harbour Rugby hosted their annual secondary schools 7’s tournament at the end of April. To further add weight to the tournament this year North Harbour rugby is please announce that the winner of the Open boys grade will represent the North Harbour province at the BNZ Condor 7’s tournament which is now the national championship for the secondary school sevens.

After general pool play the semi finals for the Open Boys grade were Kaipara College vs Massey High School and Rosmini College vs Orewa College.

Massey has been North Harbour champions several times and was once again the form side leading into the semi finals. Kaipara College were strong throughout pool play with a core of senior players having been together for a couple years they posed a real challenge to Massey’s title aspirations.

Unfortunately for Kaipara College, Massey were in an unstoppable mood and ran away with the semi final 32 – 5 to book a place in the final. 

In the other semi Rosmini College had been consistent through their pool matches with strong performance against their opponents.  In a similar circumstance was Orewa College, with a young team and a new coach, Orewa had dominated their opponents and now found themselves in unfamiliar territory but rated their chances against Rosmini.

Rosmini maintained their momentum in the semi final by taking out this match by 45 – 0 to set up a final with Massey.

The final to the open boys look like it maybe a one team race with Massey having come through the harder pool and looking so dominate during their matches. Meanwhile Rosmini had been strong in pool play and showed they had a habit of scoring tries but lacked the fire power that Massey had on show.

The final was a very tight affair with defence being the key. Massey struggled to get any momentum and rhythm as Rosmini harassed and stalled any attack Massey launched. From a turn over Rosmini broke the line and held off the defence to score a 5 pointer under the post for an easy conversion. Massey made several raids into the Rosmini 22 but failed to convert these opportunities into points. Finally a Ieti Tago break down the touch line posted points for Massey but they failed to convert leaving the score at 7-5 going into the break.

The second half proved to be very similar to the first with Rosmini harassing and disrupting Massey’s possession. Massey struggled once again to build any rhythm and any breaks they made were quickly snuffed out by Rosmini. This theme continued throughout the rest of the game and Rosmini managed to hold on for the win 7 – 5.

Congratulations to Rosmini College the new North Harbour Rugby Secondary School and good luck when you represent North Harbour at the BNZ Condor Seven’s. 

In the U15 boys final the Rangitoto College played Massey High School. Both schools dominated their respective pools and semi finals. The final was a seesawing match with the lead changing several times. It looked as though Rangitoto would bring home the title but were denied in the last minute by an outstanding Massey effort. Congratulations to Massey U15 Boys for their success in winning the U15 title.

The Open girl’s grade saw the surprise of the girls division Kaipara College contesting the final against a strong and seasoned Long Bay College side that is no stranger to finals and has a strong tradition in girl’s rugby. The final score didn’t reflect the match as Kaipara College ended up eventual winner 12-0. Congratulations to Kaipara College on their success well deserved.

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