Eligibility row erupts over five ‘Year 14s’ in controversial Marlborough Boys’ College First XV

The Marlborough Boys' College First XV is again attracting controversy. Photo / Sky Sport

By Dana Johannsen of RNZ

The schoolboy rugby team that made international headlines last month over a controversial try is facing further claims of dubious tactics by rivals.

RNZ has learned Marlborough Boys’ College, one of the top rugby schools in the South Island, has five “Year 14” students in its First XV team this season.

The make-up of the team has raised concerns about the integrity of the First XV competition, known as the Miles Toyota Premiership, and wider questions about the overheated nature of schoolboy rugby.

The Year 14 phenomenon, whereby students return for a sixth year of high school for sporting purposes, has long been a source of contention in secondary school sport. The practice has been banned in rowing.

In 2018, age eligibility for secondary school rugby changed from under-19 to under-18 as of January 1 of the competition year, which appeared to temper the environment around first XV rugby. But school sports officials say the Marlborough Boys’ College example shows more needs to be done to rein in the practice.

One parent claimed the Marlborough team’s actions are “making a mockery” of the premier competition, which involves schools in the Crusaders’ catchment area stretching from Nelson, at the top of the South Island, to Timaru.

“The biggest issue I’ve got is not necessarily what they’re doing, although I don’t believe what they’re doing is in the spirit of secondary school rugby. But when you have five boys coming back to play rugby, they’re blocking the path of other boys who won’t get the opportunity to play in the First XV and share that experience with their peers,” said the parent, who asked not to be named out of concern that their children may experience backlash.

“I know there’s a lot of people in Blenheim who aren’t particularly happy with the approach here. There’ll be some that are delighted because [Marlborough] are sticking it to the big Christchurch schools and beating Nelson [College], who are their local rivals. But how they’re achieving it is pretty questionable in my opinion.”

Tonga Taumoefolau, coach of the Marlborough Boys’ College First XV, disputed claims that having five Year 14s in the team had created an uneven playing field, and questioned the motives of those “calling us out”.

The Marlborough Boys’ College team, known as the Falcons, sit second in the premiership with five wins from five outings this season, just behind the Christchurch Boys’ High School First XV, who have an additional bonus point.

“I think your sources are revealing a bit about their character, that’s how I feel,” Taumoefolau said.

“Two of the Year 14 boys are not in the starting line-up, so only three of those boys are starting our games and [are] what I would call our regular mainstays. I’m really bemused we’ve got a bunch of schools worried about what we’re doing when you consider some of the stuff that goes on in other schools.

“I would suggest it might also be worth looking at how many schools have imported players from the Islands in the past.”

Taumoefolau also claimed that having five Year 14s in their line-up was not unusual in the context of the competition. He said in 2021, one rival school had nine Year 14s in its First XV, while another school had six in 2023. He declined to name those schools and RNZ has been unable to verify the claims.

Tony Smail, chief executive of Canterbury Rugby, which governs the competition, was unavailable for an interview, but in a statement confirmed the union was aware Marlborough Boys’ College had five Year 14 players registered this season.

“It isn’t common that there are five players in any given year at Year 14 but the key consideration for eligibility is age, not year level,” he said.

‘It’s not a level playing field’

Tim Grocott, principal of Shirley Boys' High School, says having five [Year 14s] in one team "is very, very unusual". Photo / Niva Chittock, RNZ

Tim Grocott, principal of Shirley Boys’ High School in Christchurch, which also features in the premiership competition, said he was shocked to learn there were five players in the Marlborough line-up.

As player registration data only captures date of birth and year the player first started at the school, the number of Year 14 students playing secondary schools rugby is difficult to quantify. But Grocott said having five in one team “is very, very unusual”.

“I haven’t heard of a school who’s had that number in previous years and a quick check of all of the team rosters of the premier competition ... it appears that it is significantly higher than any other school.”

Grocott said he is aware of one other school in the competition that “potentially has one or two Year 14s”.

“What this issue has highlighted is I think there’s probably a need for schools to be much more aware of what’s happening and potentially push back a bit more.

“If we’d known earlier, perhaps the principals could have got together and said to Marlborough Boys’ College, ‘we don’t think that’s right’. It’s not a level playing field. How are we going to operate in a better way that actually identifies and demonstrates the values of secondary school sport? Because I don’t think having five Year 14s does that.”

Marlborough Boys’ College principal Jarrod Dunn insisted his school did not set out to stack its rugby team with Year 14s to gain a competitive advantage.

He said in previous years the school may have had “one or two” students return for Year 14. This year was an “anomaly” with eight students returning to school because it was difficult for young people to find employment in the region. Of the eight students who started out the year, two have since left school.

“We’ve not gone out to keep these boys at school just for rugby. That’s not what we’re about – we’re a school, we’re an academic institution. We’re not a rugby club.

“[The students] are all in an academic programme and some of that includes through our Gateway and our Trades Academy trying to find work for those people.

“At the moment, I guess because of the climate, it’s a lot harder to find that work. And when you look at the age of these boys, all under 18, some of them are just not really mature enough to enter the workforce, so we’ll try and find ways to keep them in school so we can try and help get them into employment when they do leave.”

Dunn said he understands the argument that the sixth-year Marlborough Boys’ students could be blocking the pathway for other players to experience First XV rugby, but he did not think it was fair to deny the Year 14 boys the opportunity to participate in all areas of school life.

The controversial trick shot seen around the world

The school’s First XV have already been in the spotlight this season after making international headlines following a try-scoring stunt in their narrow 28-26 win over neighbouring rivals Nelson College.

The controversy occurred in the 33rd minute of the match when Marlborough were awarded a penalty shot in front of the posts and the ball was placed on the kicking tee for a shot at goal.

As the Nelson team huddled behind the posts, the penalty taker side-footed the ball to the left corner, which was chased down by his Falcons teammate, who dotted down in the corner. After a lengthy discussion between the referees, the try was awarded.

The footage quickly went viral, with former international rugby referee Nigel Owens weighing in on the legality of the try.

The incident also reignited another debate over the merits of broadcasting schoolboy rugby games.

The match was Sky Sport’s first live televised First XV match after a two-year hiatus, which was brought about in large part because of schools raising concerns about players being exposed to an unhealthy level of scrutiny.

Some schools – notably those involved in Auckland’s 1A competition – have elected not to allow Sky to broadcast their games because of player welfare concerns.

Dunn said the furore that erupted after the school’s win over Nelson has made him question whether televising secondary school sport “is the right way to go”.

“It’s definitely had an impact on a couple of our players,” he said.

“There’s the pressure for these boys to perform, which can be both positive and negative. The TV and the media can put these boys in the spotlight when they have a good game, but if they don’t have a good game or they make a decision that the public don’t agree with, then the keyboard warriors come out, and with the power of social media, it gets pretty nasty.

“The person I feel the most sorry for is the referee because they’re giving up their time to adjudicate the game and one decision which whether it’s right or wrong, they get crucified for.”

Bringing the temperature down

Grocott said he believes in general the temperature around schoolboy rugby in the South Island is cooling.

“I think there’s now a growing understanding that secondary school sport is a byproduct of being at school and getting an education, and that is our core function. We are there to educate and sport is a byproduct of it, it’s a fantastic byproduct but we are not here to develop professional athletes.

“In terms of what I would call school behaviour, there’s a few outliers around exploiting the rules around poaching and this Year 14 issue, but in general it is improving. For those schools you have to ask what they are trying to achieve here? Are they interested in educating young people? Or are they looking to win rugby competitions and market their school on that basis? And I think where the challenge lies is finding that perspective.”

The furore in the South Island competition comes as School Sport New Zealand – the organisation that governs high school sport – is currently reviewing its eligibility rules for secondary schools events in 2026.

Mike Summerell, chief executive of School Sport New Zealand, declined to be interviewed for this story, but said the organisation is hoping to have a draft go out to schools for final consultation in the coming days.

As reported by RNZ earlier this year, School Sport New Zealand is weighing up a blanket Year 14 ban at national secondary schools events after the issue erupted in rowing.

In January, schools voted overwhelmingly in favour of a rule change for the Maadi Regatta, making students returning for their sixth year of high school ineligible to compete in the prestigious event.

The move was engineered by a group of around 60 high school principals from across the country who, concerned the practice had become “a black mark” on the sport, called for a special general meeting to vote through a change to the eligibility rules for the event.

The vote forced School Sport New Zealand to make a hasty change to its own rules, carving out a separate clause for rowing.

Summerell told RNZ back in February that the “Year 14 issue” is something that officials are looking at closely after receiving a number of submissions from principals pushing for the ban to be implemented across all “championship level” secondary schools events.

He said widespread changes to the rules would have to be weighed up against the positive effects of sport being a vehicle to keeping young people engaged in education.

– RNZ