Giant killers St Peter’s College of Auckland who were only ranked fourth in the Auckland 1A league and had to dispose of favourites St Kentigern (ranked no.1 overall in NZ) along the way, how conquered all in the playoffs to be crown 2018 national champions, their 3rd title in history. During their five playoff games, the St Peter’s boys biggest winning margin was the three point win in the final.
St Peter’s Cambridge from the Chiefs region claimed a back-to-back Co-ed Cup title.
The National First XV Championship is ultimately broken down via the Top 4,
which is made up of the winners of the four regions:
1. Blues
2. Chiefs
3. Hurricanes
4. South Island
Each region operates its own different qualification system.
Blues:
The North Harbour A1 championship winners meet the Auckland A1 championship winners.
NORTH HARBOUR 1A
North Harbour 1A final league table standings:
| NORTH HARBOUR 1A | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westlake BHS | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 485 | 170 | 315 | 9 | 63 |
| 2 | Takapuna Grammar | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 363 | 183 | 180 | 9 | 60 |
| 3 | Rosmini College | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 339 | 202 | 137 | 6 | 38 |
| 4 | Orewa College | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 250 | 322 | -72 | 4 | 29 |
| 5 | Massey HS | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 264 | 274 | -10 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | Whangarei BHS | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 320 | 269 | 51 | 5 | 27 |
| 7 | Rangitoto College | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 230 | 281 | -51 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Birkenhead College | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 64 | 614 | -550 | 2 | 2 |
AUCKLAND 1A
Auckland 1A final league table standings:
| AUCKLAND 1A | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Kentigern | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 394 | 109 | 285 | 10 | 54 |
| 2 | King’s College | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 522 | 97 | 425 | 7 | 45 |
| 3 | Sacred Heart College | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 404 | 126 | 278 | 7 | 45 |
| 4 | St Peter’s College (Epsom) | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 364 | 178 | 186 | 8 | 40 |
| 5 | Auckland Grammar | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 334 | 193 | 141 | 7 | 31 |
| 6 | De La Salle College | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 288 | 168 | 120 | 7 | 31 |
| 7 | Kelston BHS | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 235 | 277 | -42 | 5 | 29 |
| 8 | Dilworth School | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 122 | 251 | -129 | 2 | 18 |
| 9 | Mt Albert GS | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 202 | 217 | -15 | 4 | 16 |
| 10 | Aorere College | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 90 | 446 | -356 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Liston College | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 70 | 464 | -394 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | One Tree Hill College | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 45 | 544 | -499 | 0 | 0 |
Chiefs:
The Central North Island League determines the Chiefs region representatives
Central North Island final league table standings:
| CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND | P | W | D | L | TF | TA | PF | PA | PD | BP | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Paul’s CS | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 15 | 421 | 153 | 268 | 10 | 46 |
| 2 | Feilding HS | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 12 | 418 | 84 | 334 | 7 | 43 |
| 3 | St Peter’s | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 12 | 411 | 124 | 287 | 7 | 39 |
| 4 | Wesley College | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 14 | 393 | 169 | 224 | 4 | 32 |
| 5 | Francis Douglas MC | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 40 | 20 | 313 | 170 | 143 | 5 | 31 |
| 6 | Rathkeale College | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 40 | 168 | 252 | -84 | 5 | 21 |
| 7 | Wanganui CS | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 30 | 21 | 237 | 211 | 26 | 6 | 20 |
| 8 | Lindisfarne College | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 33 | 28 | 273 | 245 | 28 | 3 | 19 |
| 9 | St John’s College, Hastings | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 52 | 124 | 387 | -263 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | St John’s College, Hamilton | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 123 | 427 | -304 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | Te Aute College | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 101 | 36 | 695 | -659 | 0 | 0 |
Hurricanes:
The winner and runner-up of the Wellington Premiership and the top-two region schools that play in the Super 8 competition play in a seeded knockout.
Wellington Premiership final league table standings:
| WELLINGTON PREMIERSHIP | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silverstream | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 502 | 61 | 441 | 8 | 44 |
| 2 | Scots College | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 368 | 124 | 244 | 9 | 37 |
| 3 | St Patrick’s | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 409 | 163 | 246 | 7 | 35 |
| 4 | Wellington College | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 184 | 173 | 11 | 7 | 31 |
| 5 | Wairarapa | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 248 | 205 | 43 | 5 | 25 |
| 6 | Rongotai | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 157 | 241 | -84 | 3 | 19 |
| 7 | St Bernard’s | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 146 | 285 | -139 | 3 | 19 |
| 8 | Kapiti | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 133 | 368 | -235 | 3 | 11 |
| 9 | Hutt Intl | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 144 | 279 | -135 | 3 | 11 |
| 10 | Porirua | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 37 | 429 | -392 | 0 | 0 |
Super 8
Super 8 final league table standings:
| SUPER 8 – Hurricanes | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton BHS | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 212 | 91 | 121 | 7 | 35 |
| 2 | Napier BHS | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 226 | 116 | 110 | 6 | 30 |
| 3 | Hastings BHS | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 117 | 11 | 1 | 23 |
| 4 | Rotorua BHS | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 191 | 172 | 19 | 6 | 18 |
| 5 | Palmerston North BHS | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 161 | 175 | -14 | 5 | 17 |
| 6 | Gisborne BH | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 137 | 178 | -41 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 | New Plymouth BHS | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 156 | 235 | -79 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Tauranga BC | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 77 | 211 | -134 | 2 | 2 |
South Island:
The winner of the match between the Crusaders winner and the Highlanders winner. The Crusaders winner is the top side from the region-wide UC Championship, while since the Highlanders-region competition was discontinued after 2015 a provincial-based knockout format has been used – here it seems like the winners of the Otago Premiership will meet the best school from the Southland region.
UC Championship (Crusaders)
UC Championship final league table standings:
| UC CHAMPIONSHIP | P | W | D | L | BP | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christchurch BHS | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 549 | 186 | 363 | 59 |
| 2 | Christ’s College | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 524 | 189 | 335 | 55 |
| 3 | St Bedes College | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 354 | 194 | 160 | 45 |
| 4 | Rangiora HS | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 407 | 301 | 106 | 43 |
| 5 | Nelson College | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 450 | 175 | 275 | 42 |
| 6 | Shirley BHS | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 348 | 267 | 81 | 40 |
| 7 | Lincoln HS | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 232 | 265 | -33 | 37 |
| 8 | Marlborough BC | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 365 | 303 | 62 | 36 |
| 9 | St Andrew’s College | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 338 | 283 | 55 | 34 |
| 10 | St Thomas of Canterbury College | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 327 | 395 | -68 | 31 |
| 11 | Timaru BHS | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 269 | 297 | -28 | 29 |
| 12 | Waimea College | 13 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 228 | 507 | -279 | 11 |
| 13 | Roncalli College | 13 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 155 | 649 | -494 | 6 |
| 14 | Ashburton College | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 129 | 664 | -535 | 2 |
Otago Premiership (Highlanders)
Otago BHS will presumably meet Southland BHS to determine the Highlanders region winner that will face the Crusaders winner.
Otago Premiership final league table standings:
| OTAGO PREMIERSHIP | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otago BHS | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 252 | 30 | 222 | 4 | 24 |
| 2 | John McGlashan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 57 | 69 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | Kings | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 88 | 64 | 24 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | Dunstan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 102 | 168 | -66 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Waitaki | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 68 | 163 | -95 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Mt Aspiring | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 173 | -154 | 0 | 4 |
Playoffs
These four representative teams from the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes and South Island then have two semi finals with the winners advancing to the National Final.
The semifinal matchups change each year; for example, the Blues winner plays the Hurricanes winner one year, the Chiefs winner the next, and finally the South Island winner in rotation.
So, St Peter’s College Auckland is the top rugby school of New Zealand. If memory serves, didn’t the HJS 2nd team easily beat St Peter’s College 1st team just one year ago?
@BoishaaiPa: Dalk help dit hulle later in hul loopbane wanneer hulle speel vir bekers in Super Rugby reekse en Wereld bekers??
@BoishaaiPa: ja nee, die beker rugby darem…
@SV6: Yip ..en hulle semi-final spanne het 4 uit 4 verloor teen SA Spanne…3 van daai SA spanne is die wat nie beker rugby speel nie.
Great! NZ Skole speel beker rugby.
@dammetjie: one word, superugby, i hate that competition with everything inside me…
I’d like to see the CC revamped as well, but how do you do it ? This seems to be a general problem in the southern hemisphere. I watched the NZ provincial competition on Saturday. The Bulls-Lions match had more spectators. On Sunday I watched the Aussie competition. There were more spectators at an under 13B match. What have we done wrong ?
@beet: it would help is saru were to put the currie cup back on the top of our priority list…. But i guess that ship has sailed a long time ago
I think we can all acknowledge that we have an excellent school system. We somehow get it wrong after school. Like I said on the u19 CC thread, too many people in positions of influence who have their priorities wrong but perhaps also a rugby culture that due to fear of failure are way to conservative in their training and game-planing methods… Problem is we are failing anyway.
We had a blogger from a few years back who was quite passionately involved in the school age group level club rugby scene in KZN (3rd term activity for many who attend schools that stop playing rugby at end of 2nd term and have no interest or skill to play soccer). Anyway he moved to Australia and when I bumped into him during his short visit to SA, he mentioned how he was still actively involved in school level rugby Down Under, but added that we squander talent in this country. Granted Aus has two other codes (League and Footie) that are way more popular than rugby union there, so the little that they have, they have to look after. Kind of like Ireland and Scotland. I’m not going to dismiss politics as it seems to undermine the main objective of a pro sports but maybe this lack of other codes competition is part of our downfall. IOW the lack of a decent alternative like League has allowed SA to become slack.
The rugby league thing always brings me back to my dissatisfaction with DSTV Supersport. Our main competitors are borrowing a lot of defensive plays and even a few attacking options from League and yet in SA you basically can’t watch League at all. So we limit our own opportunities to acquire new knowledge.
Watching the EPL soccer analysis provides amazing insight into the tactical aspect of the matches. Years ago when ESPN was still part of the pay TV package, there was similar incredible analysis of NFL. All informative and all very interesting. Apart from Nick Mallett, how often have you listened to some poor Saffa pose as an in studio expert and then fall short of telling you anything of any real value. They even get the basics wrong some of the time. The best you ever get out of the lot is some jokes to share with your friends to keep you from being bored out of your mind.
I say get rid of the slackers and the insecurities and start investing in people and projects that can help SA rugby instead of digging its grave.
@beet: I seriously doubt we could beat a NZ B team, they might just be the Nr 2 team in the world if they played international rugby.
@beet: I’ve always opined that if the team (and their parents) want to tour, it is their responsibility to make sure the finances allow the poorer kids to tour as well. It’s a team sport and if they can’t find those finances, they shouldn’t tour. If they do tour without the poorer kids, it’s a damn disgrace.
@beet: https://youtu.be/gBP-fsDA7Qw very interesting youtube video on this subject
@BoishaaiPa: Yet for his broadcast interview he placed enough emphasis on “excuses”
@beet: You know the rule..The team that runs onto the field is the best team you have for that game. I had a long chat with the Napier coach on the Saturday evening and I asked the Napier coach about his team make-up and he said that they left one injured player behind that could perhaps have made a difference, but other that that it was his no 1 choice team…they also had enough time to prepare according to him, so he did not make any excuses.
@beet: I recall Glenwood going on an overseas tour about 5-6 years back and also leaving a number of top players behind. Financing was the issue back then. It’s unfortunate but a reality.
@BoishaaiPa: When one sees the names coming up as stand out performers in these NZ schools, many of them look Polynesian. Perhaps one of the limiting factors of long distance tours, is the cost which rules out poorer kids and limits the overall effectiveness of the NZ touring teams.
I remember when Christ’s College were at KERF they only had one Polynesian player in their squad, which seemed like a surprise but perhaps the demographics also point to more people of Island descent preferring the slightly warmer North Island climate. It would be nice for someone with NZ intel to comment on this.
The NZ school season also seems to run a month longer than the SA one, so it might also attribute to their lack of preparedness for March rugby.
In any event whatever the “excuses” or valid reasons are, come u20 we have zero advantage over them due to our own “excuses”/ valid reasons and by senior rugby well we all know what happens then…we basically appear to only as good as their B-teams based on many performances especially at test level.
Well, whoever wins this comp we know that 2 of the Top 4 NZ schools could not win a game in SA and one got klapped by Grey. The other two who withdrew, was also in their regional finals with one going to the semi’s, So with Christchurch and Napier in the semi’s together with Hamilton and St Peters, we could have had three of the top 4 NZ schoolboy teams at the WSF. I recall some early comments that the two schools who did come over will not make the top 20 in NZ…Well, surprize surprize!
@Pinotage: Yes, I think it could work, but I’m not sure if many of the key schools would be interested.
@Vleis: Can a smilar system work in our country?
The two schools that attended the HJS 150th festival (Christchurch & Napier) have made it through to the final stages of the NZ school rugby championship. If memory serves, they both got hammered in SA.