First XV rugby: Liston win the Battle of the West, St Kentigern’s massive victory; Sacred Heart sport some familiar names; Palmerston North-Feilding historic feud eases; all the top nationwide action ...
By Bruce Holloway and Adam Julian
Once-humble Liston College have built on eye-catching preseason form by rolling defending Auckland 1A rugby champions Kelston Boys’ High School 21-16 at home on the opening day of the First XV season.
Liston, a Catholic school founded in 1974, have never won the 1A, but in the space of a month have now defeated two of the four schools that contested last year’s National Top Four.
And to add deeper historical context, minnows Liston were eviscerated 99-0 in the same fixture in 2022 (though did manage to flip that result, 9-5, a year later).
In the latest Battle of the West on Saturday, Liston showed their chops as a talented and well-drilled outfit that will test a lot of teams, as they came from behind to claim a treasured early-season scalp against opponents who are seeking their 15th Auckland title.
More significantly, Liston’s efforts did much to salvage the reputation of the 1A championship as a credible and competitive premier spectacle on a day when other blowout results appeared to be undermining it.
St Kentigern College posted a 98-0 win over hapless De La Salle College, and King’s College breezed to a 50-0 win over once-proud Mt Albert Grammar. Auckland Grammar beat Botany Downs Secondary College by 38 points, while St Peter’s College registered their ninth successive win against Dilworth School (47-24), and fourth straight victory against them by more than 20 points.
By contrast, at least Sacred Heart College kept it real, with a tentative and hard-fought 17-10 home win over St Paul’s College.
To be fair to Kelston, they were fielding 13 1A debutants, so it wasn’t exactly Muhammad Ali taking the fight to sunny Liston.
Kelston only had Cesc Keith and Sam Clark remaining from the starting XV in last season’s grand final, due partially to injuries, and players tied up with the Warriors Harold Matthews Cup (Under-19) team, contesting the short-form New South Wales Rugby League competition.
So they will take pride in their efforts, even though bragging rights rest firmly with Liston.
In a game of open, running rugby, Kelston started the scoring with two early penalties to first five-eighths Max Talbot before Liston hit back with a converted try to lock Jed Lindsay-Ola.
Kelston, however, went into the break up 13-7 through a try to flanker Benji Wichman and extended their lead to 16-7 through another Talbot penalty.
But converted tries to blindside flanker Sione Katoa and substitute Lee Fesolai got Liston home. Halfback Max Stocker accounted for two conversions and fullback Conrad Chaston one.
Liston are coached by Daniel Morath and Rory Lord. Kelston are this season being coached by Scotty Keith, who has been part of the team’s management for the past six years and has taken the reins from Matt Howling.
Sacred Heart and King’s College warmed up for their big Fitzpatrick-Kirkpatrick Cup clash this coming Saturday with first-round wins, but quite different showings.
While King’s players, metaphorically speaking, might have had time to light a cigar, put their feet up and reflect on the meaning of life in their unexpectedly one-sided 50-0 romp over Mt Albert Grammar, Sacred did it the hard way with a hesitant performance on a beautifully resurfaced home pitch.
In previous seasons, Sacred Heart have boasted generational playmaking talents in Rico Simpson and Cohen Norrie. So even if this was a scratchy first-up seven-point win, it will at least be reassuring for Sacred fans to see their starting line-up once again featuring a (younger) Simpson and Norrie in the backline this year.
Keanu Simpson started at first five-eighths with Finn Norrie immediately outside him (while Cruz Simpson captained from No 8).
But it was a bit shambolic early on for Sacred and a mix-up at the back allowed St Paul’s to break 75m to score and take an early 7-0 lead.
Auckland 1A rugby can be a highly sensitive business – perhaps more-so than anywhere else in the world – and this season match details feature a “name withheld” option for first XV starting line-ups and scoresheets. On this occasion, one such “name withheld” character has played a blinder for St Paul’s to open the scoring.
Sacred Heart then won a series of penalties, mainly for maul collapses, and from one of them lock Will Quinn scored near the posts following a quick tap to level at 7-7, with Max Morgan converting.
Just before the break, following a further maul, Norrie collected a long cut-out pass to zip across the line out wide for a 12-7 halftime lead.
From a scrum early in the second spell, Simpson made a good run and halfback Liston Vakauta shipped the ball wide for winger Troy Hala to add a further (unconverted) try.
After a host of penalties where St Paul’s chose to tap and go, fullback Romana Whitiora added a penalty to his earlier try conversion.
St Paul’s had opportunities to force a draw and Sacred Heart needed a lineout steal to clear their line after a lot of pressure, but errors from both teams ensured no further scoring.
It was a tough return to Glen Innes for St Paul’s coach Ross Asiata, a former Sacred Heart teacher who took the college’s 2A teams to back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024.
Meanwhile, Sacred Heart have added 50-test All Black and Rugby World Cup winner Charlie Faumuina to their coaching team for 2025.
Across town, co-captain Marco Miln accounted for 20 of the points – including two tries – in King’s College’s 50-0 rout of Mt Albert Grammar.
Miln starred for King’s at halfback last year, with his speed of clearance from set pieces a feature of their backline’s more effective attacks. But he is being given responsibility at first five-eighths this year, with last year’s deputy, D’Angelo Tupou, getting first call on the No 9 shirt.
Other try scorers for King’s were fullback Calvin Harris-Tavita, prop Sione Manuopangai, flanker Johan Schaumkell (2), second five-eighths Joseph Fatuvalu and sub Ollie Anderson.
These are tough times for Mt Albert Grammar. Since winning the National Top Four title with a 19-1 record in 2016, they have failed to make the 1A semis and fashioned a record of 39 wins and 44 defeats.
There were no surprises as St Peter’s continued their dominance of Dilworth, who have not won one of these meetings since 2015.
After Bailey Tupu Tuia opened the scoring in the fifth minute, St Peter’s were always in control. Further tries followed to No 8 Liam-Vaea Lavulavu, second five-eighths Christian Roache (2), fullback Tom Wright, centre Tua Soti, and sub Shannon Pai, while first five-eighths Malakai Hafoka made six conversions.
Dilworth at least earned a bonus point with four tries, including to prop Adrian Vea and sub Taha Veainu, while Davis Ripia-Ihe landed two conversions.
Meanwhile, St Peter’s are being coached this season by Richie Harris, a former deputy principal at Tamaki College, whose CV includes coaching Northland in the NPC, and taking Grammar Carlton to the Gallagher Shield.
After losing two successive grand finals, St Kentigern will be taking nothing for granted this 1A season.
But on top of winning the annual Presbyterian Quadrangular, they could hardly start their campaign any more emphatically than dishing out a 98-0 drubbing against a team they could only beat on the basis of an obscure first-try rule in the playoffs two season earlier.
To add perspective, when St Kentigern went unbeaten for 52 consecutive matches between 2011 and 2013, the biggest victory they managed in a 1A match was 69-0 against Tamaki College in 2012.
From a De La Salle outlook, it is quite a fall from grace. Since 2017, De La Salle have had 44 wins, 36 defeats and seven draws in the 1A competition, making the semis in 2022 and 2023.
In 2017, en route to winning the 1A championship, St Kentigern beat De La Salle 31-3 – which until Saturday was the largest defeat the Mangere Catholic school had suffered in eight seasons.
Life is too short to list all the St Kentigern try-scorers but there were three to star centre Siale Pahulu, two to crowd-favourite prop Riley Grant-Faiva and two to hooker Luka Makata. First five-eighths Keanu Graham made nine conversions as well as scoring a try.
St Kentigern will get more of a workout from Liston this Saturday. Until then, this is at least a scoreline that will get college followers talking about more than just their new farm in the Coromandel.
Meanwhile, Auckland Grammar bounced back from a heavy loss to Tauranga Boys’ College by beating Botany Downs 48-10.
Auckland 1A draw Saturday (home team first, all games 2.30pm): King’s College v Sacred Heart; Dilworth v Mt Albert Grammar; St Kentigern v Liston; St Peter’s v Botany Downs; Kelston v St Paul’s; Auckland Grammar v De La Salle.
Westlake Boys’ High School began their defence of the Kyocera-sponsored North Harbour First XV competition with a workman-like 52-0 win over Rangitoto College.
Westlake were never really troubled – but never got out of second gear either, after leading 17-0 at the break.
Rangitoto were able to stop their opponents, but seldom the offloads and Westlake’s mortar-and-pestle approach inevitably ground them down.
Standout for Westlake was their pacey and unpredictable Year 11 Fijian winger, Yisrael Tukania, while captain Arlo Leith earned his 50th cap in this match.
Mahurangi College came from behind to win 18-8 away over Ōrewa College through first-half tries to lock Finn Nowakowski Craig and sub Loky Chapman and two penalties and a conversion to Samuel Wech.
For Ōrewa, there was a try to fullback Flynn O’Donnell and a penalty to captain Ryder Donovan.
An interesting Mahurangi initiative this year is the introduction of a free Mahu City Express bus to transport travelling fans to away matches. Fans can book in advance and get a ride there and back with pickup from Mahurangi College or Mahurangi Rugby Club.
Whangārei Boys’ High School made a strong start with a 40-10 bonus-point home win over Massey High School. There were tries to captain Brock Reid, wing Rhyder Harrington, centre Keelan O’Neill, hooker Ryan Leyland, fullback Tametai Wihongi and sub Dailyn Dickeson.
For Massey, flanker Shaun Butler scored and first five-eighths Jordan McDonald added five points with the boot.
North Harbour draw Saturday (home team first, all 12 noon): Mahurangi v Rosmini; Takapuna v Westlake; Ōrewa v Whangārei; Massey v Rangitoto.
Hamilton Boys’ High School beat Australia’s Barker College 33-12 in post-pool play at the Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament in Japan at the weekend and then on Monday beat Toin Gakuen High (Japan) 26-19 in the playoff for fifth.
Against Toin Gakuen, Hamilton Boys took an early lead through Kent Mills and fellow lock Aiden Saxon added a second try after a good run from skipper Alex Arnold. Flanker Tom Foote ended a great backline move with a nice try out wide, though Toin Gakuen stayed in the fight and it was 19-19 at halftime.
The score stayed that way until the last minute, when Hamilton’s No 8 Corban Dunlop wrestled his way over the line in the final play of the game, with Jackson Botherway converting.
Interestingly, it was all Japanese schools making the top four this year, with Osaka Toin High beating Saga Technical High 20-17 in the grand final.
A fifth-place finish was a step down for Hamilton Boys’ High after having won this tournament four times previously, but was easily the best of any non-Japanese team, with Barker College the next highest in eighth place.
Feilding High School waited 103 years for a chance to tussle with Palmerston North Boys’ High School on their No 1 field in Palmy.
But in a cruel twist of fate, when it finally transpired on Saturday, historically-snubbed Feilding had to wait a further 50 minutes for an injured player to be safely removed shortly after kickoff.
The prone individual was eventually seen walking into an ambulance – while Palmerston North also made a late recovery to win 19-15.
Shortly after the delay, Feilding increased the intensity and broke the first-half stalemate when Kingston Manihera-Dankwa raced clear to score a converted try.
A penalty kicked by Feilding second five-eighths Nixon Foreman stretched the gap to 10. The hosts were galvanised into action, employing a novel tap move from a penalty that saw Charlie Robbie finish a training-paddock special.
The more orthodox approach of astute kicking and sturdy scrimmaging saw Palmerston North jump 12-10 ahead with a Bailey Ngatai-Cribb try from a Feilding scrum infraction.
Feilding regrouped and seized the lead with 10 minutes remaining. Hooker Alani Fakava blasted into a hole and freed Steelie Hammond: Feilding, 15-12.
Banter and bragging from previously unwelcome neighbours would have proved insufferable for the longer-established Palmerston North rugby programme. With cold composure and vigorous determination, Clark Sutcliffe muscled over for a try that sidelined Fielding and saved face for Palmy, at least for now.
Palmerston North and Feilding are easily the strongest rugby schools in the Manawatū. Yet despite being only 20 minutes apart have only played seven games since 1942, each of them equally as riveting Saturday’s.
A long-standing historical feud has eased, and there is a commitment from both parties to play a fixture in 2026.
Long may it continue. What about a trophy?
Napier Boys’ High School edged Wellington College 33-27 in an often entertaining, sometimes sloppy win in the capital.
With 25 minutes remaining, and only ahead 21-20, pugnacious openside Carlo Mienie wriggled past a lethargic defender and scampered 30m.
Following a period of even jousting, composed fullback Angus Lovett nabbed a second try on the hour mark from a deflection as Napier stretched their unbeaten run against Wellington to nine years.
The visitors’ back row of Mienie, Ollie Maclachlan and Carter Pirie outplayed their larger adversaries, who performed in fits and starts. The height of Maclachlan and Pirie provided Napier with an abundance of choice in a slick lineout.
Napier centre Harvey O’Rourke scored a crucial try to make it 21-13 at the interval.
The Herald was reliably informed that O’Rourke can bench-press 140kg. That means the schoolboy midfielder can lift Wellington coach, former All Blacks prop Neemia Tialata.
Wellington were left to rue too many mistakes, struggling to find the right balance between direct forward thrusts and bold expansion. When they earned the right to go wide, winger Shea Bosher crossed twice in the corner. With speed, swerve and swagger, Bosher demands attention, as does lock Laifano Kamoto with his impactful bustle and cherry-red headgear.
Napier and Wellington have been annual rivals since 1980. Napier won eight matches in a row between 1982 and 1989, a streak that rivals their success.
In 2000, Napier were Super 8 champions and narrowly beat Wellington 23-20. Later in the season, Wellington beat Napier 18-15 to eliminate “Sky Blue” from National Top Four contention. Coach Tialata was a prop for Wellington that season.
In other pre-season results, St Patrick’s College Town overpowered Scots College, 80-22, and Hastings Boys’ High School defeated St Patrick’s College Silverstream, 41-26.
Grading for the Wellington Premiership started with Hutt Valley High School tipping over Rongotai College 20-18, while the margin was the same at Paraparaumu College with St Bernard’s College beating the hosts 26-24.
It was even closer in the middle of Trentham Racecourse with Hutt International Boys’ School edging out Tawa College 22-21, while the Battle of Wairarapa saw Rathkeale College open their Wellington account with a 17-12 win over Wairarapa College. Masterton’s Rathkeale was a Central North Island school between 2012 and 2024.
Back in 2023, Christchurch Boys’ High School missed out on South Island supremacy to Southland Boys’ High School by a whisker. A sideline conversion by Jimmy Taylor sent the Highlanders regional champions to the National Top Four, while Christchurch rued “what-ifs” and a questionable “local ref” in a heart-rending 29-28 defeat.
But on Saturday, in what could be a precursor to a 2025 South Island final, Christchurch left nothing to chance in a resounding 45-28 victory at the Ohoka Rugby Club in Mandeville North, 25km from Christchurch’s Straven Road home ground. The match was moved after central city flooding.
Christchurch steamed out of the blocks, with two tries in 10 minutes to Cam Jones. Jones scored his first try on the left wing, roaming intently. His second was on his normal right side, profiting from speedy ball movement, including a pass from Sonny-Bill McAndrew.
Halfback Koen Rarere scored from Southland’s first trip inside the 22, but Christchurch bounced back quickly with a driving maul try to co-captain Mac Chaplin and strikes out wide to Delahoia Te-Pakake Kakoi and Hiro Fuchigami that involved Jones’ assists.
Behind 31-14, Southland heeded a stern halftime message and hooker Luka Salesa scored shortly upon the resumption.
Christchurch might have had the jitters at 31-21, but the bench added zest and steel. Replacement flanker Phoenix Smith was a commanding presence and scored two tries.
Southland’s prop Presley McHugh was a hive of activity and scored a try. McHugh, Salesa, Taylor, Caleb Harvey, Jack Brock (four conversions) and Mason Coulthard were Highlanders Under-18 representatives in 2024 who featured in the game.
Meanwhile, King’s High School thrashed Waitaki Boys’ High School 48-17 in an annual traditional fixture that was a curtain-raiser to the Highlanders v Moana Pasifika Super Rugby clash at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
King’s were finalists in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship last year and have the vast majority of that roster returning. King’s eight tries were scored by Jeremiah Tuhega-Vaitupu (2), Henry Hunter, Justin Talailima-Wineti, Lafa Tofiga, Kaia Patterson, Zane Rakete-Gray and Ollie Walsh. Tofiga slotted four conversions.
Nelson College overcame a gritty Timaru Boys’ High School 46-26, while St Andrew’s College trounced John McGlashan College 48-3 in their traditional fixture.
The Miles Toyota Championship (Crusaders region) and the Southern Schools Rugby Championship (Highlanders region) start on Saturday.
New Plymouth Boys’ High School‘s famous and sometimes intimidating Gully rugby ground has been reinvented as a dual-code artificial turf pitch and will be formally reopened at midday tomorrow, ahead of a fixture against Auckland Grammar.
The renovation is believed to have cost about $6 million, with the new-look turf marked out for rugby and football.
The Gully’s amphitheatre still has terraces along both touchlines to provide elevated views for spectators.
But it’s a sign of a new era that in advance of the formal opening, the new turf pitch will be first used for a football match between New Plymouth and Grammar at 10am.
Meanwhile, New Plymouth were beaten 35-25 by St Paul’s Collegiate (Hamilton) last week.
St John’s College (Hastings) annual exchange with St Pat’s Wellington – which dates back to the 1940s – has been cancelled this year, due to a tightening of billeting policies, of all things.
A full winter exchange was scheduled for June 10-11 in Hastings but in a joint statement, St John’s principal George Rogers and St Pat’s rector Mike Savali said there was a need to thoroughly review and update their billeting policy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all participants.
“A robust, consistently-applied policy is essential to manage risk effectively. At present, we remain vulnerable without such a policy in place.”
They said that while significant progress has been made on policy formation, it would not be approved in time for the scheduled exchange in just over a month.
Readers are invited to send their first XV rugby updates, news snippets and hot takes to nzschoolboyrugby@gmail.com.
Japanese school teams have made rapid advancements.