Hawke’s Bay’s top first XV teams tune up for the business end of the season

Napier Boys High School in 2023 in their first win over Hamilton BHS in 12 years. They won 17-15, a reverse of Hamilton’s win when they met in the national first XVs championship final in 2022. Photo / NZME

The Napier and Hastings boys’ high schools first XVs face up to five more games in 2024 if either is to get their name back on the national secondary schools rugby championship trophy this season.

With both missing out on a place Super 8 schools final, in which Tauranga Boys’ College host defending champion Hamilton BHS on Saturday, both sides have a week off before the Hurricanes region schools championship playoffs start a week later.

Both will have home games in the knockout format, with Napier playing Gisborne BHS in Napier next Thursday, and Hastings playing Palmerston North BHS two days later.

Napier were beaten 17-15 by Hamilton in 2022 in what was Napier’s seventh national final, with just one national title, shared with Rotorua BHS in 2002, and Hastings won in 2017 and 2019, just their second and third times in the final.

If Napier win next week they will play the top Wellington side on August 24, and if Hastings win they will play Feilding HS, with the winners to play the regional final on August 31.

The regional winner will go to the Top Four national semifinals and final in Palmerston North on September 5-8, part of the national college winter sports week.

Hastings BHS ended their Super 8 schools campaign on Saturday when beaten 22-14 by defending champions Hamilton BHS in Hastings.

Hastings led 14-0 after 11 minutes and 14-7 at halftime, with tries to wing John Lameko and lock Nehemiah Lauvao, each converted by first five-eighths Tana Faumuina.

But they were unable to score in the second half, as Hamilton, already assured of a place in this Saturday’s final against unbeaten Tauranga Boys’ College, added their second and third tries, and a conversion and penalty goal, in a 10-minute phase of the second half.

Napier BHS, who finished with a 38-38 home draw against Palmerston North BHS last week, finished third in the competition and Hastings BHS fourth.

The Central Hawke’s Bay sub-union side went within seconds of claiming a Heartland union scalp when beaten 22-20 by Ngāti Porou East Coast at George Nepia Park in the East Cape settlement of Rangitukia on Saturday.

Beaten comfortably by Wairarapa-Bush and King Country in two other matches against Heartland championship unions earlier in the season, a win on CHB’s 960km round-trip was thwarted only by a last-second, home-side penalty goal by former Napier Boys High School first fifteen member and now-established NPEC first five-eighths Carlos Kemp from almost in front of the posts.

CHB had come-back from 7-0 down in the first half and 14-10 down at halftime to lead 20-14 lead when first five-eighths Bain Champion kicked a penalty goal with about 20 minutes to go.

Kemp had earlier converted the two first-half tries scored by NPEC prop Billy Priestley but missed the conversion of the second-half try scored by No 8 Aorangi Stokes, while Champion kicked a 24th-minute penalty for CHB, and converted the tries scored by second five-eighths Tony Mihaere and hooker Rhys Hardwidge.

Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay Māori scored their second big win in two games with a 57-12 victory over Manawatū Māori on Saturday at Elwood Park, Hastings.

Leading 26-5 at halftime and building towards a Tirakatene Shield challenge against Wellington Māori, Hawke’s Bay scored eight tries, with two to fullback Tāwhiri Gifford-Kara, and one each to Phil McRoberts, Donovan Mataira, Hunter Nuku, Donovan Godinet, Taranaki Hokianga and captain and first five-eighths Jayden Falcon, who also kicked six conversions.

Te Matau a Māui play Poverty Bay Māori representatives Tūranganui-a-Kiwa in Gisborne on Saturday, as a curtain-raiser to a match between the Hawke’s Bay Magpies development side, the Saracens, and the Poverty Bay Heartland championship squad.

In Wairoa last Saturday, Tapuae closed a tumultuous season unbeaten with a 29-12 victory over Māhia to win the three-team Wairoa local competition.

Tapuae finished unbeaten in 14 games, including claiming Wairoa’s first Poverty Bay premier rugby championship title, and Saturday’s win came with at least three players away with the Poverty Bay squad for a Heartland championship warm-up match against Eastern Bay of Plenty sub-union in Gisborne, where Poverty Bay won 48-39.