Napier Boys' High delivered a fierce pre-game haka, that their opponents chose to not respond to. Photo / Paul Taylor
Napier Boys' High delivered a fierce pre-game haka, that their opponents chose to not respond to. Photo / Paul Taylor
Napier Boys' High School are the new holders of the Moascar Cup - the Ranfurly Shield of secondary school rugby - after a tense scrap against arch rivals Hastings Boys' High School.
Napier took out the local derby 15-10 after taking a 10-3 lead into half time during a stop-startbut hard fought first half in cool conditions at Hastings' Boys.
Captain and hooker Will Robinson, bouncing back from a knee reconstruction which stopped him playing any rugby last season and delayed his elevation to the Napier BHS first fifteen, scored the match-sealing try and last points of the match 15 minutes into the second half.
With over 1500 spectators circling the field in ideal conditions at Hastings BHS for the match, which was televised live, the rugby was played mainly at the southern end, with the wind from the northeast.
With an overwhelming territorial advantage in the first half, but with a few typical pressure-match errors, Napier, who last held the Cup for two days in 2018, went to a 10-0 lead with the game's first try seven minutes from halftime, to centre Jayden Stock.
But it was a spark for Hastings, who won both the Cup and the national Top Four title with a 27-15 win over Auckland school King's College last year.
With a penalty just before the break and returning firing on all four after halftime, the home team and cup holders were rewarded with a try to hooker Jacob Dorward after about seven minutes.
Converted, the try quickly made it 10-all but Napier regathered the ball as the kickoff was misfielded, a turn of events which enabled the pressure on Hastings which led to the 17-year-old Robinson's ultimate clincher.
The match doubled as a second-round game in the Super 8, a central North Island schools championship. Napier's first defence of the Cup will be in Napier next Saturday against Tauranga Boys College.
Result:
Moascar Cup, at Hastings: Napier Boys High School (challengers) 15 (Jayden Stock, Will Robinson tries; Carlos Kemp pen, con) beat Hastings Boys High School (holders) 10 (Jacob Dorward try; Hoera Stephenson pen, con). Halftime: Napier 10, Hastings 3.
