First XV rugby wrap: Westlake to Wesley - the Auckland schools structure conundrum

A Manurewa player evades a tackle against Westlake.

By Bruce Holloway

Solving the riddle of how to best structure First XV rugby at Auckland’s northern and southern flanks looks as tricky as ever after three rounds of North Harbour’s 2023 competition.

Westlake Boys’ High, chasing their 17th championship honour - as well as defence of their wider Blues region title - are a point clear at the top of the table with a points differential of 197.

But after Saturday’s 85-0 win over Manurewa - the team that pushed them so hard in last year’s enthralling North Harbour first XV competition final - the jury is still out over whether Westlake have risen to new heights, or it’s just that the competition is much weaker this year.

Westlake have now racked up 226 points - and three bonus points - in their three matches. Though there was almost a touch of pathos in seeing Westlake blow Manurewa away from the opening minutes in a contest unrecognisable from the arm-wrestle of 2022′s final.

Not that too much should be made of a North Harbour competition mismatch on a day when Auckland’s 1A competition produced a 71-0 result (with Dilworth suffering at the hands of Sacred Heart) and three other matches being settled by margins of 39 points or more.

But the inescapable fact is Manurewa are, to put it politely, in a rebuilding phase with a young team which does call into question whether it makes sense for them to be still competing in a North Harbour competition in pursuit of a better standard of play.

Finding the right levels for Counties-Manukau First XVs is an ongoing conundrum. All schools want to find a level where they best fit. And it is tough on smaller “local” competitions - and isn’t good for the game - when there are unavoidable lop-sided results between big geographically-trapped rugby schools and the district’s smaller schools.

Historically the likes of Westlake to the north, and Wesley College to the south, have had bids to enter Auckand’s 1A competition rejected (while more recently Pukekohe High have even been turned down by North Harbour).

Westlake coach Mark Manihera said Manurewa remained an important part of North Harbour’s competition, even if they are not the force they previously were.

“It wasn’t the challenge we were expecting,” Manihera admitted of the runaway win over Manurewa.

“We have had really engaging clashes with them in recent times.

“Over the past six years they have added a real flavour to our competition. They’ve brought a level of physicality that we have been lacking in some of our North Harbour matches.

“We tend to have ‘nice’ boys from ‘nice’ families so it can provide a little bit of a different challenge for a team that is looking to utilise speed and skills to come up against physical opposition.”

And Manihera noted Westlake had also come off another high-scoring game against Rangitoto.

“It’s left us wondering whether the competition is weaker or if we are just doing a really good job.” (Westlake were due to play Super 8′s Tauranga Boys’ High at home at 10.30am today, which may provide more of an answer.)

Manihera praised centre and captain James Cameron for his skill and leadership in the win over Manurewa, though a team with nine prefects in it shouldn’t require too much guidance. Others to impress were Casey Good, Matereti Hoyt, and fullback Isaac Murray-Macgregor.

Meanwhile on the subject of Counties-Manukau First XVs, Wesley College, the four-times National Secondary Schools First XV Championship winners from the 1990s-2000s, could be on the rise again, under coach Lawrence Lawrence, who has returned after four years away.

Wesley enjoyed an excellent pre-season in which they beat Rotorua Boys’ High to win the Chris Grinter Challenge Cup for the first time, managed a narrow 13-12 win over Tauranga Boys’ College and held on for a noteworthy 19-19 draw with Auckland 1A champions Kelston (who only scored in the last play to level).

However, Lawrence had mixed feelings about their opening 22-22 draw against St Peter’s (Cambridge) in the Central North Island competition on Saturday.

“I was pleased we were able to maintain our standards of preseason, but we should have won it,” he said, after Wesley had led nearly all the way. Tries were scored by prop Viliami Aholelei, lock Apenisa Naevo, fullback Seou Buke and left winger JJ Sloan.

Wesley face massive seasonal travel challenges to venues such as Masterton, Hastings, Whanganui, and Feilding. Typically the team travel Fridays and then returns on the day of the match.

“The ideal for us would be an Auckland-wide competition, while the next easiest fit would not be North Harbour but in with Waikato teams in the Chiefs’ region.”

Lawrence made one key observation on the differences since his previous stint as a first XV coach.

“There is a general lower quality of skill-sets,” he said. “Through the Covid period most boys didn’t play a lot of rugby and this is a result of that.”

# Auckland’s 1A table already looks like it is splitting into the haves and have-nots after just two rounds, with one-sided results common on Saturday.

Mt Albert Grammar beat Tangaroa College 53-0 to be one of five unbeaten teams at the top of the table. However, the scoreline was coloured by the fact Tangaroa had fullback Sebastian Amani-Brown sent off early in the contest for a spear tackle.

Tangaroa were 7-0 down at the time, but the game lost most of its competitive edge once they were reduced to 14.

Mt Albert had speed and skill in their backline, and the stand-out players included fullback Roy Tatupu, who at the end of last year was named in the 2022 U18 boys New Zealand Invitational Selection, and Ikaika Hanks-Papali’i whose kicking and distribution at first five was excellent.

Mt Albert Grammar fullback Roy Tatapu in plenty of space.

Sacred Heart again impressed with their 71-0 trouncing of Dilworth - opponents who had sprung a major upset last year in scoring their first win in this match-up.

Sacred Heart displayed great skill and vision, with off-loads and multiple phases a feature of their play. They were superior in all departments, effortlessly found gaps in the Dilworth defence and led 38-0 at halftime. Rico Simpson was superb at first five, and it was one of his cross kicks which set up a magical final try for the day.

Watch for Sacred Heart to again dominate on Saturday against newcomers St Paul’s, who were beaten 55-7 by St Kentigern and have now conceded over 100 points in their first two games, but at least managed their first try of the season.

In the round’s closest contest, De La Salle went down 23-34 against St Peter’s and their away match against St Kentigern may be the pick of this Saturday’s matches.

Saturday’s 1A draw (home team first, all 2.30pm): St Kentigern v De La Salle; Liston v Kelston; Sacred Heart v St Paul’s; Mt Albert Grammar v King’s College; Dilworth v St Peter’s; Auckland Grammar v Tangaroa.

1A points: Sacred Heart 10, St Kentigern 10, Kelston 10, Mt Albert Grammar 9, St Peter’s 9, Auckland Grammar 5, De La Salle 4, Liston 0, King’s 0, Tangaroa 0, Dilworth 0, St Paul’s 0.

North Harbour draw, Saturday (home team first, all 12 noon): Massey v Rosmini; Westlake v Takapuna Grammar; Rangitoto v Whangarei Boys; Orewa v Manurewa.

Points: Westlake 15, Takapuna 14, Rosmini 11, Massey 9, Whangārei 6, Rangitoto 4, Orewa 0, Manurewa 0.

Central North Island: Whanganui Collegiate 43 St John’s (Hamilton) 41; St Paul’s Collegiate 40 Lindisfarne College 14; Francis Douglas 3 Feilding 15; St John’s (Hastings) 29 Rathkeale 27; Wesley College 22 St Peter’s (Cambridge) 22.

Miles Toyota Premiership (Canterbury): St Andrews College 24 Selwyn Schools Combined 31; Christchurch Boys’ 53 Timaru Boys 22; Nelson College 32 St Bede’s College 17; St Thomas of Canterbury College 7 Christ’s College 21.

# Readers are invited to send their first XV rugby updates, news snippets and hot takes to nzschoolboyrugby@gmail.com .