School rugby: Young stars set to battle it out

Mitch Tane passes the ball for Tauranga Boys' College First XV in a pre-season defeat by Auckland Grammar. Photo / File

The fourth year of the Chiefs Secondary School First XV competition kicks off tomorrow with schools challenging for the Chiefs Cup and Chiefs Trophy.

Tauranga Boys' College and Aquinas College will fly the flag for the Western Bay among 16 top-ranked schools from Counties Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley and King Country in the two-tier competition. Both competitions have eight teams split in two pools over four weeks, concluding with cross-pool play-off matches to be held on Friday May 22 in Rotorua.

In an exciting opportunity for the qualifying teams, the Chiefs Cup final match will be played as the curtain raiser for the Chiefs v Bulls Investec Super Rugby match at Rotorua International Stadium that night.

"The Chiefs together with our provincial unions are committed to the development of rugby and building success in the Chiefs region and believe that First XV rugby is an important part of this strategy," said Chiefs high performance manager Chris Tindall.

Missing are the leading Taranaki schools that already had existing tours and fixtures planned during this year's competition dates.

Chiefs schools Under-18 development camp selectors will view the Chiefs Cup and Chiefs Trophy matches to help identify players for the selection of up to 50 players to attend the camp to be held in the first week of July school holidays, which also forms part of the selection process for the NZ Secondary Schools team.

-The Baywide Bethlehem Coachlines Secondary School competition in four divisions is also under way tomorrow, with a highlight the local derby in division one between home team Otumoetai College and Bethlehem College from 12pm.