A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
RUGBY by Ben O’Brien-Leaf
They’re better than that.
Gisborne Boys’ High School first 15 conceded nine tries as hosts Palmerston North BHS beat them 54-10 in Game 4 of the Super 8 secondary school competition on Saturday.
Rugby folk don’t like excuses but to put it into context — in 2020, Gisborne are the only first 15 in the Super 8 with players who turned 18 before January 1.
New Zealand Rugby brought in a regulation whereby if the opposition team have players aged 15 years or under on the field, opposition players who turned 18 before January 1 cannot be on the field at the same time.
There are dispensations for this, however, these recently-imposed NZRU requirements impact on Gisborne personnel.
Rotorua Boys’ High allowed one of the Gisborne over-18 players at a time on the field and hung on for a 20-19 victory.
Reigning national secondary school champions Hastings BHS were happy to play whoever Gisborne fielded in their Rectory game and Gisborne won 17-5, claiming the Norman McConnell Memorial Cup for the first time since 2011.
Saturday’s tetchy showing against Palmerston North was what can happen when boys are miffed to see hard-working teammates unable to take part but by the opposition’s “substitutory grace” or permission.
The clash played out at Central Energy Trust Stadium on a cold, damp and windy day.
Palmerston North centre Lafo Takiari-Ah Ching opened the scoring with a try in the seventh minute and fullback Curtis Heaphy followed suit in the 13th.
Heaphy missed both conversion attempts but landed a penalty goal in the 17th for 13-0.
In the 23rd minute, Gisborne’s player of the day, halfback Kirk Ngatai, scored the visitors’ first try from an attacking scrum set 15 metres from Palmerston North’s goal-line and 15m off the left touch.
Manawatu referee Stu Curran gave Gisborne a scrum penalty, Ngatai in willow-the-wisp fashion flew openside — the merest hint at a dummy-pass to his right deceiving PNBHS first-five Logan Love — then split he and opposition fetcher Jared Sellwood to score beneath the posts.
Palmerston North right-wing Tayne Harvey scored in the 26th minute for 18-5 before Gisborne reserve lock Tyla Keelan-Phillips was given a yellow card by Curran in the 31st.
On halftime, left-wing Tavita Henare-Schuster scored in the corner for 23-5.
Three minutes after the resumption, Love scored and Heaphy converted for 30-5.
Curran issued a yellow card to Gisborne captain fetcher Amos Roddick in the 40th minute for a split-second error of timing at a restart.
Gisborne soldiered on in the absence of Roddick and Keelan-Phillips but conceded a try to tiny halfback Jordi Viljoen in the 42nd minute, converted by Heaphy for 37-5.
Roddick announced his return to the fray with a thunderous textbook tackle on Sellwood.
Fullback King Maxwell scored Gisborne’s second try in the 51st minute.
From a Palmerston North line-out 17m from their goal-line on the right touch, Keelan-Phillips won the ball against the throw.
Two rucks to the left later, first-five Nic Proffit’s grubber kick produced the visitors’ second try on Maxwell’s chase to the left corner.
Reserve lock Hunter Morrison scored Palmerston North’s seventh try (53rd min), converted by Heaphy for 44-10.
Henare-Schuster completed a double in the 60th minute and second-five Leo Brown (68th) was the last player to score for 54-10.
Gisborne’s head coach Ryan Tapsell was impressed by Ngatai’s efforts.
“That’s the best game I’ve seen him play in the jersey,” said Tapsell. “Our boys went slightly off our process, which was a huge strength against Hastings, and Palmerston did the basics well and capitalised.”
Roddick also paid tribute to the strong performances of Ngatai, left-wing Whetu King-Taufa and No.8 Nik Patumaka.
“If all of us had played at their level, it would have been a different game,” he said.
Despite the heavy scoreline, Palmerston North captain and No.8 Elyjah Crosswell has great respect for Gisborne.
“Gisborne are a strong side. They have a few hitters on defence who force the knock-on so I’m proud of our boys’ efforts and stoked to get a win.”
Gisborne second 15 lost 46-15 to their Palmerston North counterparts.
Gisborne play Tauranga Boys’ College at the Rectory Gisborne this Saturday, followed by Hamilton Boys’ High away.
Neither of these sides have players 15 years of age or younger in their squads.