A large crowd and good conditions set the scene for this much awaited Super 8 rugby encounter between last years national champions Gisborne Boys' High and the hosts Napier Boys' High.
Napier played with a significant breeze in the first half and with some good kicking from Ihaia West and David
Neilson dominated field position and created some early pressure.
At least two try scoring opportunities were missed through a combination of desperate Gisborne defence and untimely errors from the hosts.
However, the pressure finally told when centre Leafi Tupuola, acting more like a tight forward, crashed over in the left hand corner after a good drive from the pack.
With Napier's set pieces functioning well the pressure was maintained for much of the first half until Jono Devine scored in a very similar fashion to the first try to make the halftime score 10-0.
The injection into the game of New Zealand Secondary Schools volleyball representative Blade Thompson for Gisborne halted Napier's earlier lineout dominance giving them more ball to use and keeping them on the front front foot for longer periods.
But Napier's defence was rock solid and the only time Gisborne looked likely to score a try was from an enterprising kick from a break out of their own 22 but they didn't capitalise.
Gisborne kicked two penalty goals through their New Zealands Schools representative Charlie Ngatai making the score 10-6 with 15 minutes remaining.
Napier maintained possession for much of this time and with some more good driving play from the pack and a couple of slick backline moves spent the last few minutes on attack earning them a much deserved but very hard fought victory.
The Napier team deserve credit for their defensive effort. They also won the battle of the loose forwards with captain Zane Rangi, Isaiah Martin and Gareth Evans all having strong games. While in the backs West at first five was composed and organised and Tupuola and Ashton Tuck were both enterprising and hard running.
Hastings Boys High School's 1st XV opened their Super 8 campaign with an away 70-6 loss to Palmerston North Boys' High School.
