Latest news with #SouthernSchoolsRugbyChampionship
Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Big win confirms SBHS title status
Southland Boys' remain favourites to retain their Southern Schools Rugby Championship title. They comfortably dispatched St Kevin's 62-7 in Invercargill last Saturday to complete the round-robin phase unbeaten. Southland Boys' have secured pole position for the playoffs and will host John McGlashan in the semifinals. They have set the benchmark all season and are chasing a third consecutive banner. King's beat John McGlashan 38-12 last Saturday and will host Otago Boys' in the other division 1 final. Otago Boys' crushed Southland Boys' 2nds 65-12 in Invercargill in their final round-robin. But two weeks ago, they were beaten 31-17 by King's, who built their win around scrum dominance. The safe money is on a Southland Boys'-King's final. — Allied Media
Otago Daily Times
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Scrum pressure key for King's
All hail Henry Hunter. The King's tighthead reigned supreme in the traditional battle with Otago Boys' at Littlebourne on Saturday. The burly prop dominated his opponents and created the platform for King's to build a 31-17 win in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship game. The fierce local rivalry was best demonstrated by some tough defence in the opening 10 minutes. But Otago Boys' forced a couple of turnovers to get into a position to strike first, and lock Tom Wilson burst free from a ruck to score under the posts. King's missed a penalty to close the gap but continued to press. Hunter made some strong carries and blindside Justin Talalima-Wineti got close to the chalk with a powerful charge. Otago Boys' winger Te-Ava-A-Kuta Nicholas picked up a yellow card for getting himself offside, and King's finally breached the defence. Hooker Kavahn Saville-Tonih drove over and Lafa Tofiga nailed the sideline conversion to level the score. Otago Boys' responded immediately when openside Charlie Ottrey ran through a gap off the back of a lineout and sprinted 30m to the line. He had to step around a cover defender to get there. It was quite something. Otago Boys' spent the remainder of the half hard on defence and eventually loosehead prop Semisi Fakataha dived over just before the break. There had been a long build-up and the home team had defended admirably. The conversion missed, so Otago Boys' nursed a 14-12 lead at the break. Otago Boys' extended their lead with a penalty early in the second half but King's kept chipping away. They had the dominant scrum and won another scrum penalty. They kicked for touch and mauled their way over. Saville-Tonih flopped over for his second and the conversion helped the visitors take a 19-17 lead. Hunter was putting so much pressure on his opposite in the scrum. Mark him down as a prop with a very bright future. He helped shunt the Otago Boys' pack back and that created the opportunity for King's to score again. Replacement Tautai Taiala put in a grubber and centre Henry Smale collected it and scored. Talalima-Wineti sealed the win with a try out wide following some nice work in the lead-up. In the other division 1 games, Southland Boys' 2nds beat St Kevin's 27-14 in Oamaru, and Southland Boys' dispatched John McGlashan 61-0 in Invercargill. Dunstan consolidated their lead at the top of the second division standings with a 32-5 win over Wakatipu in Alexandra, Waitaki Boys' cruised to a 64-14 win over Otago Boys' 2nds in Oamaru, and South Otago beat Mt Aspiring 17-0 in Wānaka. Central Southland remained unbeaten in division 3. They beat John McGlashan 2nds 36-0 in Mataura. Māruawai-Menzies edged Cromwell 34-31 at home and King's 2nds secured a 19-15 win over a much-improved Taieri side.
Otago Daily Times
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Draw after dramatic ending
Waitaki Boys' players celebrate after retaining the Leo O'Malley Trophy with a 19-19 draw in the Blood Match on Saturday. PHOTO: NIC DUFF Complete and utter pandemonium. That is the only way to describe the frantic and, for a moment, confusing ending to Saturday's Blood Match between Waitaki Boys' and St Kevin's. St Kevin's led 19-12 with time up on the clock, but Waitaki Boys' had a lineout 5m from the line. Their driving maul fell short and two more pick and go attempts also fell short before replacement prop Andrew Kaufana scored. It was then over to 17-year-old Hau'ofa Latu to line up the conversion from out wide. As he slotted it between the uprights to end the match with the scores tied, cheers erupted from the Waitaki Boys' sideline. Waitaki held the Leo O'Malley Trophy, so a draw meant they retained the treasured "peanut". There was some confusion as the Southern Schools Rugby Championship determines the winner of a one-off game through a series of tiebreakers including who scored the first try, which was St Kevin's. However, it was soon clarified that Waitaki Boys' did in fact retain the trophy as this was a game held outside that competition. It was the first time the Blood Match had ended in a draw since 2006. Latu said while he was nervous taking the final conversion, he was confident when lining up the kick. "All I can hear is the SKC crowd just going at me. "All I thought was just, do what I do." It was a frantic end to the annual clash with both sides scoring a pair of tries late. St Kevin's led 7-0 at halftime but Waitaki Boys' equalised after the break. Waitaki Boys' took the lead after a well-worked move off a lineout put Latu in space down the right touchline. He stabbed a chip kick ahead and the lightning-fast Jack Nicol beat everyone to it to score. Not letting the game slip away, St Kevin's hit back. They got the ball out wide to fullback Kobe Narruhn, who drew in his defender and gave it to Louie Hose on his outside. The winger then gave it back to Narruhn on the inside to run away and score. St Kevin's had another just a few minutes later when a midfield bomb took an awkward bounce. Narruhn was able to grab it and pass to Kenton Tokai, who sprinted away to score in the corner, setting up the grandstand finish. • St Kevin's showed immense courage to back up 24 hours later for a Southern Schools Rugby Championship game. They were beaten 43-5 by Otago Boys' 1sts yesterday. Just three other games were played at the weekend thanks to the shocking weather. John McGlashan 2nds pipped Southland Boys' 2nds 18-15, King's 2nds beat Maruawai/Menzies 10-0, and second five Wiandro Wiese scored three tries to lead Dunstan to a 62-0 win over Otago Boys' 2nds. Blood Match The scores Waitaki Boys' 19 Hau'ofa Latu, Jack Nicol, Andrew Kaufana tries; Hau'ofa Latu 2 con St Kevin's 19 Orlando Narruhn, Kobe Narruhn, Kenton Tokai tries: Lachy Neal 2 con Halftime: St Kevin's 7-0.
Otago Daily Times
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
St Kevin's show competitive ability
Photo: file Perhaps the co-educational schools are finally closing the gap in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship. St Kevin's stuck with King's for 35 minutes in a division 1 game at Kettle Park on Thursday. They went into the break tied 12-12. King's finished strongly to seal a 36-12 win. St Kevin's coach Justin Fowler was partially satisfied with the effort. "We were definitely happy with that first half," he said. "I think we controlled territory quite well and we had a couple of try-scoring opportunities which we capitalised on. "Defensively, we weren't too bad either. "But just in the second half, I think we lost our way a little bit by doing too much in the half. We put ourselves under pressure." Powerhouse No 8 Siu Fisipuna carried strongly and got St Kevin's over the advantage line, while openside Sam Fluksa covered a lot of ground. First five Lachlan Neal shone in the opening half. "We probably have [bridged the gap a bit]. But, look, it is early days for us. But we're pretty excited with what we've got, we've just got to sort of limit our mistakes." St Kevin's play Waitaki Boys' in the Blood Match this Saturday and will back up on Sunday with a game against Otago Boys', which is a big ask. In the other division 1 games this round, Otago Boys' beat John McGlashan 17-12 at Logan Park, and Southland Boys' beat Southland Boys' 2nds 63-5. In division 2, Wakatipu edged rivals Mt Aspiring 22-21 in Queenstown, Waitaki Boys' posted a 43-36 win over Dunstan in Oamaru, and South Otago beat Otago Boys' 2nds 27-14 in Dunedin. In division 3, Taieri College beat Cromwell 26-17 in Mosgiel, Central Southland recorded a 32-17 win over Māruawai/Menzies in Winton, and King's 2nds beat John McGlashan 2nds 28-26 at Bishopscourt.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
SBHS remain unbeaten after trouncing OBHS
Southland Boys' winger Zeke Siola charges to one of his three tries during the interschool against Otago Boys' in Invercargill yesterday. PHOTO: DEBBIE FAHEY PHOTOGRAPHY Southland Boys' remain unbeaten in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship. They dispatched old rivals Otago Boys' 43-12 in Invercargill yesterday. The game doubled as an interschool fixture and was a fairly convincing win for the home team. They led 24-0 at halftime. Otago Boys' rallied in the second half but they were outmatched. Southland Boys' coach Jason Dermody is pleased with the way his side have improved since their opening game of the campaign. They dominated the physical exchanges yesterday, particularly in the opening half. Blindside flanker Elliot Wilson shone on the side of the scrum. He made some punishing tackles and openside Josh Cairns had an industrious match. Winger Zeke Siolo grabbed a hat-trick. The evasive left winger displayed good pace and power. "He's done a lot of work in the offseason to get fit, and is understanding how to play rugby now," Dermody said. "He's really good with ball in hand." Southland essentially put the game out of reach just before halftime. First five Jimmy Taylor put in a pinpoint cross kick to Siolo, who ran in to score from 40m. Otago Boys' have had a tough opening round in the competition. They beat King's and Southland Boys' 2nds. But losses to John McGlashan and Dunstan followed by yesterday's loss have left the traditional powerhouses in fourth place. While Dunstan had one win during the opening round, they finished last in division 1 and will be relegated to division 2. St Kevin's College and Mt Aspiring will play off for a spot in division 1. That game is in Ranfurly on Saturday and is the only game this weekend.
