Ripping result for young Hawke's Bay stars

After a cliffhanger rippa rugby final against Napier champions St Patrick's School, Parkvale School, of Hastings, has won the honour to represent Hawke's Bay in the Rippa World Cup, in Auckland, in August.
There they'll meet an All Black, play at North Harbour Stadium and wear the playing strip of a designated World Cup nation as they compete against each province's top team in a round robin tournament that replicates the official Rugby World Cup draw.
Parkvale School principal Mark Gifkins said the fully-funded trip was "a once in a lifetime opportunity" for the five boys and five girls from Year 6, who made up the team. "It's huge for them, they're over the moon. For some of them to travel out of Hastings is huge and to go on a plane."
Once in Auckland, an All Black will present the students with the playing strip of their appointed World Cup nation to wear as they march in North Harbour Stadium before an ITM Cup rugby match.
There will also be a free visit to Kelly Tarlton's and the Sky Tower.
An announcement on Small Blacks TV on TV2, at 7.30am on July 10, will reveal which World Cup nation the Parkvale School team will represent.
Mr Gifkins liked the idea of a home advantage. "That would be the icing on the cake if we get to be the All Blacks," he said.
Parkvale School was one of 20 schools from 583 to qualify for the tournament.
Mr Gifkins said the children felt the magnitude of their win as they shook hands with the runners-up after their narrow victory on Friday. "The reality came in when they saw the emotion on the faces of St Patrick's ... they could've been in that same boat," he said.
The nail-biter final at Park Island was the climax to over a month of rippa rugby competition for schools in the Napier, Hastings, Wairoa and Southern/Central Hawke's Bay areas.
St Patrick's School led four tries to one at one stage, but couldn't stave off Parkvale's comeback in the second half, to win eight tries to seven.
Parkvale coach Kieren Moriarty said: "The final could have gone either way and St Patrick's School deserve a lot of credit".
Hawke's Bay rugby development officer and organiser Daniel Somerville said the game was "awesome in terms of quality", and said the whole day's competition "would have been the best rippa rugby I have seen".
The Rippa World Cup was supported by the New Zealand Community Trust, the country's largest funder of amateur sport in New Zealand, and was part of the New Zealand Rugby Union's RWC 2011 Legacy Programme and REAL New Zealand festival of events during the Rugby World Cup.