"The biggest thing for me is that he has overcome adversity," Boyd said. "In Year 11, he made the First XV and then had an horrific knee injury and was out for the season after one game. In Year 12, he played two games and the same injury occurred, which is a bit of a freak accident, and he was out again for the season.
"So for him to almost make the New Zealand Secondary Schools squad this year after his first full season of rugby under his belt was amazing. There are a lot of what-ifs, as I think had he played those other two years, who knows where he might have been.
"He is a natural athlete, with great [volleyball] court eye-hand co-ordination for a big fullah. He easily would have travelled away a lot more in New Zealand teams if finances allowed it - he was that good."
Tauranga Boys' annual sports awards exemplified the diversity of sporting success at the school.
Boyd says a total focus on just rugby, or a core group of sports favoured by their main rivals, is not their priority.
"We are working hard at getting better at what we do. Rugby is hard. Everyone expects us to win all the time and if we put all our eggs in the rugby basket then maybe we would.
"But the current philosophy of the school is around all sports, whether that is right or wrong.
"We can stand up and say there would not be many schools in New Zealand that have the success across a range of sports that we do."
