First XV rugby: Ranking the top four school rugby grounds in New Zealand

There isn’t a rugby ground anywhere in the world like the Gully at New Plymouth Boys' High School. Photo / Supplied

What makes a good First XV rugby venue? Is it geographic setting and natural beauty, supporter infrastructure and accessibility, history and heritage, or just the general matchday ambience and atmosphere? It’s a totally subjective exercise, but here is a conversation starter on New Zealand’s top four schoolboy rugby venues, as ranked by Adam Julian.

4. Jack Gleeson Oval

St Patrick’s College, Wellington

Despite being king-hit by a future rugby international and receiving detention for bringing “athletics into disrepute”, it would be remiss to exclude my old stomping ground – not that I made the First XV or achieved anything of distinction playing rugby.

Silverstream is a postcard on a good day, set against the backdrop of St Patrick’s statue, an embankment where encouragement and abuse have been dished out in equal measure, and the undulating hills of Upper Hutt.

And it is typically a tough place to win, with the First XV unbeaten on their home field in 2017 and 2018, and only dropping a single game in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

The “bank” is more subdued now, or at least it seems to be through the lens of rose-tinted glasses. Back in the day, we were notorious for getting stuck in. There was no such thing as lame, dim-witted chants like “big, big scrum”. It was straight for the jugular.

In my fourth-form year, St Patrick’s College beat Wellington College 7-0 in a fierce, traditional contest. Wellington had a gigantic pack and when their mammoth prop was within earshot, we all chanted in unison: “Who ate all the pies!” This was accompanied by unflattering descriptions of our rivals’ physical composition. Anyway, Neemia Tialata went on to play 43 tests for the All Blacks and now coaches Wellington College.

(Earlier this season, I was involved in filming a match at Wellington College. It was a lousy capital day, yet a scaffold tower had been arranged for optimum viewing and protection by Tialata. When I shared the story of the 2000 disgrace, Tialata – a thoroughly decent man – hollered with laughter.)

In Arthur Reeve’s Cradle of Rugby: The History of New Zealand College Rugby, Silverstream’s No 1 pitch is referred to as the “Jack Gleeson Oval”, something not heard today. Gleeson was captain of the First XV in 1945 and coach of the first All Blacks team to achieve a Grand Slam in 1978. Perhaps the Jack Gleeson Oval name should be revived.

The First XV rugby field at St Patrick's College, in Wellington. Photo / Supplied

3. The Front Field

Nelson College

This is where it all began. The father of rugby in New Zealand is Charles John Monro and he was educated at Nelson College, something acknowledged by a small exhibit at the country’s oldest state school.

Nelson is set against the backdrop of a large embankment, always well populated, and the long walk down the stairs of that embankment by the First XV makes a stirring sight.

For years, Nelson was a bog, until very recently when the Old Boys Association funded a refurbishment. The existing turf was stripped entirely and now contains over 2300 metres of new subsoil drains and 850 cubic metres of new topsoil.

Nelson have been hard to beat at home, winning two Myles Toyota Championship finals in 2019 and 2022 and defending the Moascar Cup 18 times between 2016 and 2018.

Nelson College's 'Front Field' has been recently refurbished. Photo / Supplied

2. The Rectory

Gisborne Boys’ High School

If you like your rugby hard and fast, Gisborne Boys’ High School is the place to go. Sometimes the grass is so short you can hear the knocks and see the dust.

The Gisborne crowd is unashamedly parochial with the entire community, not just those at Boys’ High, rallying around the team. There is always a sense of occasion when they play a home game, especially when the “Gisborne Mums” start stalking the sideline, offering advice to all and sundry.

In 2011, Gisborne beat Hamilton Boys’ High School 32-6 to win the Super 8 and the crowd was so big that spectators even climbed atop nearby water containers.

There were similar scenes in 1980, when Gisborne won the Moascar Cup for the first time against St Stephens, 32-6. Gisborne’s captain that day was Derek Lardelli (KNZM) – tā moko artist, painter, carver, kapa haka performer, composer, graphic designer, researcher of whakapapa, oral histories and kaikōrero and in 2005 he composed the All Blacks haka Kapa o Pango. The after-match feed in Gisborne is legendary.

1. The Gully

New Plymouth Boys High School

The Gully is a gladiatorial amphitheatre that’s been the subject of international curiosity, and there isn’t a rugby ground like it anywhere in the world.

The views from the top are pristinely panoramic and, when the New Plymouth Boys’ High School’s First XV is playing, a whole-school haka there is spine-tingling. On the most raucous of days, an opposition fullback waiting underneath a high ball and dropping it might be one of the most humbling experiences in New Zealand. The Gully truly feels like it’s on top of you.

At the beginning of last century, The Gully, as it is known today, was a raupo swamp serving no useful purpose. But in 1915, it was decided that the whole area should be reclaimed, the filling material being obtained from the sides, and that when the work was completed there would be room for a full-sized football ground. Because of World War I and hazardous conditions, progress was slow.

It was a national disaster in the form of the economic depression that finally provided the means for completing the work on The Gully. At the beginning of 1927 serious unemployment began to occur and “The Gully” project was the first means of providing employment in New Plymouth.

By 1929, the development of The Gully had reached its final stages. The terraces had been cut out before the May holidays and the surface playing area was covered with soil, raked by hand and tramped down by the whole school, en masse. By the end of the second term, the grass was well established and the basic formation of the gully as we know it today was completed.

Throughout the ensuing years renovation and improvements have continued, including the construction of a pavilion, permanent seating on the eastern and western terraces, steps, a sealed carriageway, and tree planting.

New Plymouth Boys High School’s First XV isn’t the force it once was, but they’ve enjoyed long undefeated runs at the Gully. From 1957 to 1962, New Plymouth didn’t lose an inter-school game at home. The 1992 and 1995 First XVs were unbeaten in inter-school fixtures.

There isn’t a rugby ground anywhere in the world like the Gully at New Plymouth Boys' High School.

Honourable Mentions: Auckland Grammar School (imperial), Otago Boys’ High School (Littlebourne has rustic southern charm), Sacred Heart College (“The Pit” is authentically rugby), Les George Oval (Southland Boys’ High School’s fortress), Hamilton Boys’ High (modern superpower), Rotorua Boys’ High School (long-time host of National Top Four).

Readers are invited to nominate their own favourite First XV venues in the comment section below, or email us at nzboyrugby@gmail.com.