NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

First XV rugby: Ranking the top 15 schools in New Zealand after the weekend's action

NZ Herald
12 Aug, 2019 07:00 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Luke Ale of Hamilton Boys' High School on the charge. Photo / Supplied

Luke Ale of Hamilton Boys' High School on the charge. Photo / Supplied

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Want to know who the next Beauden Barrett or Kieran Read will be? In his weekly column for the Herald, schoolboy rugby expert Herschel Fruean singles out the best First XV matches of the weekend, and some rising stars to watch. Fruean will travel New Zealand looking for the best talent the country has to offer, preview the big games every Friday, provide a wrap of all the results on Sunday, and rank the top 15 First XV teams (based on their performances throughout the season) every Monday morning.

This week's rankings

15. St Peter's College (last week: 10)
14. De La Salle College (15)
13. Kelston Boys' High School (14)
12. Christchurch Boys' High School (13)
11. Auckland Grammar School (11)
10. Sacred Heart College (12)
9. St Bede's College (9)
8. Rotorua Boys' High School (8)
7. Scots College (7)
6. Nelson College (6)
5. St Kentigern College (5)
4. King's College (4)
3. Hastings Boys' High School (3)
2. Otago Boys' High School (1)
1. Hamilton Boys' High School (2)

Hamilton Boys' take out Super 8 final

Hamilton Boys' High School won on home ground in a massive clash against Hastings Boys' High School in the Super 8 Final.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hamilton v Hastings was always going to be intense and neither team were keen to change up their game plans in order to hold true to their strengths.

Hamilton Boys' moved the ball at a safe rate and didn't put out too many complicated moves while Hastings Boys' were keen to show a bit of flair.

The forwards for both sides played well with ball in hand, controlling the pace and momentum while trying to keep the game rolling along.

Hastings lock Julian Goerke had a very busy day running the ball. He made good strides up the field and was physical on defence.

Meanwhile, prop Tini Nu'u was active in his role as a bull with the ball hitting the line but also as a playmaker.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hastings had to get things going in their forwards if they were going to give their backs a chance to run. But Hamilton's accurate game plan with Noah Hotham at halfback leading the way proved too much.

Hamilton were crowned champions in the end with a 13-5 victory.

Discover more

All Blacks

Mitre 10 Cup All Blacks watch: Squire and SBW make case for World Cup

10 Aug 09:31 AM
Rugby World Cup

All Blacks injury concerns continue as Goodhue limps off

10 Aug 10:12 AM
All Blacks

The stain clouding Wallabies' stunning win over All Blacks

10 Aug 11:40 AM
All Blacks

Liam Napier: Red card aside - All Blacks were once again below their best

10 Aug 11:50 AM

St Peter's fall short of top four

St Peter's College were on the hunt for another top-four 1A birth and needed to beat De La Salle College at home to have a shot at a playoff spot.

Things looked to start well for the side, but back-to-back yellow cards didn't help St Peter's chances.

Following a big break downfield, the first yellow card was shown for a tip tackle to see St Peter's one man down.

Then just three minutes later, St Peter's conceded another yellow card over a trip to a player who was trying to take a quick penalty tap. St Peter's defence held strong though, only letting in one try for De La Salle, who missed two penalty kicks before half time.

Sofai Maka of De La Salle College. Photo / Supplied
Sofai Maka of De La Salle College. Photo / Supplied

St Peter's College captain Naryan Strickland was at his usual best showing some pace on a breakaway downfield while AJ Faleafaga pushed the De La Salle defence line.

De La Salle's captain Kitiona Vai demanded the same of St Peter's, making tackles and line breaks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Vai's game was almost perfect as he led the likes of Wallace Sititi to have a solid game at No 6 and Sofai Maka from fullback to come up and create opportunities.

In the end, De La Salle College won 10-7.

Around the country

Auckland Grammar School were taking care of business at Liston College making sure their spot was sealed in the top four with a massive 44-6 win.

Kelston Boys' were beaten 26-0 by King's College, setting up semifinals between King's College and Auckland Grammar School, and St Kentigern College and Sacred Heart College.

In the North Harbour competition, Whangarei Boys' broke their losing streak to Manurewa High School with a solid win 12-7 win.

Whangarei are now looking at their first final after only joining the competition last year.

Westlake Boys' hosted Rangitoto College in their semifinal, winning 48-0 to play Whangarei in what should be a solid finals match-up.

In the Central North Island competition, St Paul's Collegiate and Whanganui Collegiate both won their games and will head into the finals.

St Paul's Collegiate boasts a very strong and mobile front row led by Havila Molia, who has built himself into one of the most promising props.

However, Whanganui also have a solid team including the likes of Te Atawhai Mason and Sione Osamu, with plenty of strength to call on from the bench.

They are one of the most balanced teams in the country and know how to play to their strengths - shaping up a must-watch final.

Sione Halahilo of Scots College. Photo / Supplied
Sione Halahilo of Scots College. Photo / Supplied

Scots College and St Patrick's College Silverstream have come out on top in the Wellington competition - and it's not a surprise.

Rongotai College beat St Patrick's College Silverstream last week before their do-over in Saturday's playoffs with Silverstream winning 39-10.

Scots College also had a repeat of last week's game, winning 22-8 over St Patrick's College Town.

The Scots College and St Patrick's College Silverstream final is set to be a nail-biter. Scots College are heavy favourites to take out the title but the Wellington finals always prove to pack big surprises.

St Andrew's College, after being perfect all year, lost their last three games of the season only to be bumped out of the UC Championship playoffs.

A 31-3 loss to St Bede's College saw them fall out of the top four.

Christ's College did their homework and came out with a massive win over Timaru Boys' beating them 55-28 to slot themselves into the UC top four.

Nelson College, who are winners of the regular season, will now play Christ's College and St Bede's College take on Christchurch Boys'.

Kings High School's Giovanni Leiataua. Photo / Supplied
Kings High School's Giovanni Leiataua. Photo / Supplied

King's High School managed to grind out a 19-12 win against Southland Boys' High School to book their place in the Otago comp finals.

They face Otago Boys' High School in the decider, who earlier defeated John McGlashan College 40-5.

This week's matches

Friday, 16 August:

North Harbour finals: Westlake Boys' High School v Whangarei Boys' High School.

Saturday, 17 August:

CNI Final: St Paul's Collegiate v Whanganui Collegiate.

1A semi-finals: St Kentigern College v Sacred Heart College; King's College v Auckland Grammar School.

UC Championship: Nelson College v Christ's College; St Bede's College v Christchurch Boys' High School.

Otago Comp: Otago Boys' High School v Kings High School.

Sunday, 18 August:

Wellington Comp: Scots College v St Patrick's College Silverstream.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Sport

Entertainment

'Move it or lose it': Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk on their TV return to the court

12 Jul 09:00 PM
All Blacks

France player ratings: Who gave the All Blacks the most trouble?

12 Jul 08:00 PM
Tennis

'Super surreal': Most one-sided Wimbledon final ever as Swiatek triumphs

12 Jul 07:37 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

'Move it or lose it': Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk on their TV return to the court

'Move it or lose it': Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk on their TV return to the court

12 Jul 09:00 PM

'It was a shock to the system, but that's part of why I said I wanted to do it.'

France player ratings: Who gave the All Blacks the most trouble?

France player ratings: Who gave the All Blacks the most trouble?

12 Jul 08:00 PM
'Super surreal': Most one-sided Wimbledon final ever as Swiatek triumphs

'Super surreal': Most one-sided Wimbledon final ever as Swiatek triumphs

12 Jul 07:37 PM
'We were ruthless': Robertson, Savea's pride as All Blacks show true colours

'We were ruthless': Robertson, Savea's pride as All Blacks show true colours

12 Jul 07:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP