By Bruce Holloway and Adam Julian
Driven by the palpable regret of having missed out on a National Top Four berth in First XV rugby earlier this year, Tauranga Boys’ College have steamrolled their way to a maiden Condor Sevens title.
Tauranga proved a class above the 27 other schoolboy sevens teams in action at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui, over the weekend, while in schoolgirl competition, unflappable Howick College nabbed their third title since 2018.
Howick needed a golden-point win to clinch their final against Hamilton Girls’ High School – but for Tauranga it was more a case of a golden generation of players finally making their point.
Since September, Tauranga – the reigning Super 8 champions – have carried the burden of being informally tagged as one of the best schoolboy rugby teams ever to fail to qualify for National Top Four in First XV competition.
They’d won the First XV Super 8 competition in such a resounding fashion it was unfathomable when they were eliminated from National Top Four contention the following week by a Rotorua Boys’ High School side they’d earlier hammered 57-14.
But in front of their home crowd in the sevens format, Tauranga brought out all their party pieces, proving at least 20 points better than anyone they encountered, to become worthy national champions.
In pool play, Tauranga beat Marlborough Boys‘ College 34-0, Francis Douglas Memorial College, 31-7 and St Peter’s College (Auckland) 48-5, then they trounced St Bede’s College 32-7 in the quarter-finals and Rotorua Boys’ High 40-14 in the semis, and ultimately downed Sacred Heart College 36-7 in the final.
Victory underscored Tauranga’s credentials as the best rugby school in New Zealand in 2024. Yes, Hamilton Boys’ won the National Top Four and holds the Moascar Cup, but Tauranga beat Hamilton twice, won all three Super 8 rugby crowns, all four Bay of Plenty Sevens competitions, and have now taken out the Condor tournament in a canter.
As a bonus, mercurial Tauranga winger Kele Lasaqa was named MVP for the boys' tournament.
Tauranga coach and former Bay of Plenty representative Te Aihe Toma acknowledged the disappointment and frustration at having missed out on a national First XV title and the role it then played in the team’s sevens preparation.
“It’s a long but short season in sevens,” Toma reflected. “Yes, we had a chip on our shoulder coming into the tournament after missing out on a shot at a national First XV title.
“But we used it as fuel – and credit to the boys for doing so. You can see this means everything to them.
“This is history. They have now left a legacy.”
Tauranga’s emphatic 36-7 win over Sacred Heart in the final typified their play throughout.
Showing great speed and deft handling, Tauranga imposed themselves early, with the supremely slippery Lasaqa scoring early under the posts, and Tommy McQuoid following suit immediately afterwards to establish a margin of comfort.
If it’s hard getting used to seeing Charlie Sinton, the New Zealand Schools' first-choice halfback this year, playing in a No 2 shirt, the wiry redhead was always busy in both directing and sidestepping traffic, and also scored himself to bring up a 21-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Jay McQuoid killed off any prospect of a Sacred Heart comeback, while also adding the notable milestone of having two brothers – sons of former Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Chiefs flyer Grant McQuoid – scoring in the same final.
Liston Vakauta pulled a converted try back for Sacred Heart late in the contest, but Tauranga’s Cooper Spratley put a full stop on things with a late try in the corner.
For cosmopolitan schoolboy sports followers, the Condor result was a reversal of this year’s National Secondary Schools First XI football final between the two schools, won 1-0 by Sacred Heart.
Earlier in the tournament, it was looking like a Super 8 Benefit weekend, with Tauranga, Hamilton Boys’ High, New Plymouth Boys’ High, Palmerston North Boys’ High and Rotorua Boys’ High claiming five of the eight quarter-final berths.
But Sacred Heart, chasing their first title since 1986, made their presence felt, disposing of Feilding High School 31-7, then really impressing with some delightful play in upsetting nine-time winners Hamilton Boys' High 24-12 in the semis, with winger Max Morgan and the muscular Cruiz Simpson the standouts.
Auckland Sevens and XVs champions Kelston Boys’ High School, despite having players such as Aio Keith, Jarrel Tuaimalo Vaega, Solo Baleinaikasakasa, and Tyson Parsons on board, barely fired a shot, failing to make the quarter-finals after being beaten 19-12 by Mt Albert Grammar and 10-7 by Rotorua in pool play.
Rotorua beat Hamilton 32-7 to claim third place.
Tauranga Boys' College Sevens squad: Charlie Sinton, Aiden Roy, Dylan Henderson, Callum Cornelius, Mason Verster, Jay McQuoid, Aaron Riley, Aidan Spratley, Cooper Spratley, Tommy McQuoid, Judah Draiva, Gregory Canterbury, Caleb Neilsen, Kele Lasaqa.
Howick’s remarkable come-from-behind win
Howick overcame a gutsy Hamilton Girls’ High 29-24 in a thrilling girls final, thanks to a golden-point try from Avah Sila, perhaps better known as a New Zealand Under-21 netball squad member.
In extra time, Howick pressed urgently in defence and forced fumbles before bold and brilliant offloading created an avenue for Sila’s euphoric gallop to the line. However, until Sila broke through out wide, Howick had not managed to nudge ahead in the absorbing contest, having variously trailed 7-0, 14-5, 14-12 at halftime, then 19-12 and 24-17 in the second spell. But they had enough ammo and mental fortitude to always bounce back and ultimately add Hamilton’s scalp to their earlier wins over St Mary’s College (Auckland) 31-0, St Hilda’s Collegiate 40-10, St Andrew’s College 41-7, Wellington East Girls’ College 29-5, Feilding High School 17-14 (quarter-final) and St Mary’s College (Wellington) 26-10.
Hamilton conceded a size advantage to Howick but tackled gamely and looked to have a genuine match-winner in Rubi Hart, later named female MVP.
With a bleach-blonde Cyndi Lauper (ask your mum) hairdo, swift feet, a cunning eye for an opening and dogged determination, the nuggetty Hart was the undoubted rock star of the tournament and scored three tries in the final alone, with two engineered from beyond halfway.
But for all that, Howick managed to conjure up a reply every time. Asha Taumoepeau-Williams, one of their standout stars, opened Howick’s account with a 70m run and two huge fends.
And an early critical moment in the contest ultimately proved telling. With an explosive surge, Hamilton’s Amber Mundell left two defenders sprawling with fierce right-hand fends to hit the line. But while sauntering in-goal towards the centre of the crossbar, Mundell suddenly had the ball slapped from her grasp by Howick’s Rochelle Christie. It was a pickpocket so uncharitable even the deplorable Mary Frith from London’s 17th-century underworld would have applauded.
From the ensuing scrum, Charli Taituha stoically lumbered to halfway. With Hamilton deflated and drawn in, Counties Manukau Heat halfback Penny Ffion was left unmarked and she zestfully finished. Ahead 24-17, Hamilton looked to have pulled off the same pickpocketing trickery on Unuhia Crosby-Te Whare’s match-levelling try, but the officials missed a knock-on.
Howick coach Waisake Sotutu, a former Fijian international, was delighted with the win. “We threw a group of Year 9s together three years ago, and now this is their time,” he said. “And all but three will be back again next year.”
Earlier, Hamilton enjoyed the most passionate post-match celebrations of the tournament, after rolling defending champions Manukura 22-17 in a blockbuster quarter-final.
Manukura were chasing their 16th successive match win at Condor Sevens but struck a determined Hamilton team with Libby Kearins-Te Whare in fine creative form.
Manukura led 12-7 at halftime and then 17-12, but Mundell drew Hamilton level and then dotted down in the corner right on fulltime for a treasured Hamilton win, which prompted joyous scenes.
The other notable quarterfinal milestone was Braxton Sorensen-McGee scoring four tries for Auckland Girls’ Grammar in their 46-12 win over St Andrew’s College. It was yet another notable achievement for a rising talent with a track record of turning heads in both rugby and league.
Boys tournament team:
Aiden Spratley (Tauranga)
Bradley Tocker (Palmerston North)
Brayden Neilson (New Plymouth)
Charlie Sinton (Tauranga)
Finn McLeod (Christchurch)
Jack Wiseman (New Plymouth)
Kele Lasaqa (Tauranga)
Max Morgan (Sacred Heart)
Ollie Guerin (Hamilton)
Rewiti Ngarimu (Scots College)
Wiremu Brailey (Rotorua)
William Haig (Christchurch)
Girls tournament team:
Amber Mundell (Hamilton)
Rubi Hart (Hamilton)
Danii Mafoe (Mt Albert Grammar)
Braxton Sorensen-McGee (Auckland Grammar)
Asha Taumoepeau-Williams (Howick)
Te Maia Sweetman (Manukura)
Avah Sila (Howick)
Litiah Bulicakau (St Mary’s Wellington)
Hana Paterson (Hamilton)
Taufa Bason (Feilding)
Ana Kerr (St Mary’s Wellington)
Condor Boys Placings (Top 16):
1st Tauranga Boys' College
2nd Sacred Heart College, Auckland
3rd Rotorua Boys' High School
4th Hamilton Boys' High School
5th St Bede’s College
6th Feilding High School
7th Palmerston North Boys' High School
8th New Plymouth Boys' High School
9th Christchurch Boys High School
10th Kelston Boys' High School
11th Marlborough Boys' College
12th King’s High School
13th Mount Albert Grammar School
14th Rosmini College
15th St Peter’s College, Auckland
16th Whanganui Collegiate School
Condor Girls Placings:
1st Howick College
2nd Hamilton Girls High School
3rd St Mary’s College, Wellington
4th Auckland Girls' Grammar School
5th Manukura
6th Cambridge High School
7th Feilding High School
8th St Andrew’s College
9th Mount Albert Grammar School
10th Sacred Heart Girls' College New Plymouth
11th Christchurch Girl’s High School
12th St Hilda’s Collegiate
13th Epsom Girls Grammar School
14th St Mary’s College
15th Mt Maunganui College
16th Pukekohe High School
17th Rosehill College
18th Craighead Diocesan
19th Wellington East Girls' College
20th Waikato Diocesan
# An invitational Year 9 and 10 sevens tournament was held on Thursday and Friday. Rotorua Girls‘ High School won the girls title from a field of 16 schools, while Kelston Boys’ High were the best of 22 boys’ schools.
Rotorua GHS results: b Cullinane College 50-0, Cambridge High 53-0, Christchurch GHS 29-5. Ōrewa College 32-0 (quarter-final), Feilding High School, 31-12 (semifinal), Manukura 31-0 (final).
Kelston BHS results: b Taupō-nui-a-Tia College 50-0, Palmerston North BHS 43-0, Rotorua BHS 38-0, Shirley BHS 36-5 (quarter-final), Hamilton BHS 19-17 (semifinal), Christchurch BHS,19-14 (final).
Seven who have made it big from Condor Sevens
Craig Innes (Sacred Heart College, Auckland):
According to their school records, Sacred Heart were the “surprise” winner of the first Condor Sevens in 1986, having qualified for the first national tournament by finishing second to St Peter’s College in the 20-team Auckland Sevens.
At Condor, Sacred defeated Westlake Boys High School, Hauraki Plains College and Whangarei Boys’ High School to set up a final against “favourites” Wesley College. The scores were tied 16-16 at the end of regulation time but in extra time, Craig Innes and Viane Kei combined with a 70m run for Kei to score the winning try. Sacred Heart were rewarded with a trip to the Fiji International Sevens, where they finished eighth.
The 1986 season was the beginning of big things for Innes. In the First XV season, he helped Sacred Heart win 15 of 18 games, earning selection for the New Zealand Schools side, who beat Japan (44-13) and Australia (18-8). The midfield back, nicknamed “Postie”, played 81 games (72 wins) for Auckland, winning NPC titles in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1999. He was capped 17 times (6 tries, 14 wins) by the All Blacks from 1989 to 1991, attending the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
He then switched to rugby league, where he enjoyed enormous success, initially with Leeds in England (1991-96: 134 games, 52 tries, 79 wins) and then with Manly in the NRL (1996-97: 50 games, 25 tries 38 wins). In 1996 Innes won an NRL Premiership.
John Timu (Lindisfarne College)
The 1987 Condor Sevens were held in Taupō and won by Auckland Grammar, who pipped Lindisfarne College (Hastings) 28-24 in the final in extra time.
Martin Stanley, the brother of Rugby World Cup-winning All Black Joe Stanley, scored the winning try after sprinting 25m and later played for Auckland and Counties Manukau.
In a wildly fluctuating game, Grammar were ahead 16-6 at halftime and should have coasted to victory. However, John Timu scored the try of the tournament, from his goal-line, to engineer a Lindisfarne fightback that all but snatched the game.
Jason Simons scored 10 of Lindisfarne’s 17 tries at the tournament, and Andre Bell (Otago, Bay of Plenty) kicked 15 conversions. To reach the final Lindisfarne beat: Horowhenua College (18-16), Rosmini College (18-16), Morrinsville College (18-12) and Hutt Valley High School (24-16).
Timu was the most spectacular First XV player in 1987 with a staggering 52 tries in 19 games for Lindisfarne, plus another 22 in rep fixtures and four on the unbeaten New Zealand Schools tour of Japan.
Timu went on to play 100 games for Otago (69 tries, 69 wins). In 1989, he was selected for the All Blacks and accumulated 26 test appearances before switching to rugby league, where he was capped nine times by the Kiwis and won an NRL Premiership with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 1995. His son Josh Timu has played for Otago.
Jonah Lomu (Wesley College)
The 1993 Condor Sevens were broadcast on national television, and there was a spectacular display from Jonah Lomu. In the semifinal, the future All Blacks (1994-2002: 63 tests, 44 wins, 37 tries) superstar scored three tries in a 19-5 win over two-time reigning champions St Kentigern College and then went one better in the final against Te Awamutu College, which Wesley won 43-12.
Most of Lomu’s tries started inside Wesley’s territory. Wesley won a six-day trip to the Gold Coast Sevens for their success.
Wesley College were the first school team to complete the National Top Four-Condor Sevens double. In the XVs season, Wesley won 18 out of 20 games, conquering St Paul’s Collegiate (Hamilton) 13-7 in the National Top Four final, with Lomu named man of the match.
Lomu was in the unbeaten New Zealand Schools team in 1993 and the following year helped the All Blacks Sevens win the Hong Kong Sevens.
Crystal Mayes (Feilding High School)
The first Condor Sevens for girls was held at Kelston Boys’ in 2012. Feilding High School were resounding winners, beating Mahurangi College (featuring future Black Ferns captain Ruahei Demant) 27-12 in the final.
Earlier, Feilding accounted for James Cook High School (40-0), Lincoln High School (34-0), Tamaki College (40-5), Epsom Girls’ Grammar (31-0), and Hamilton Girls’ High School (20-7).
Mayes (Ngāi Te Rangi/Ngāti Ranginui) was named player of the tournament and later became a member of the Black Ferns Sevens 2016/17 World Series-winning team and played for Manawatū and the Hurricanes Poua. A winner of five national sevens titles with Manawatū, Mayes has fond memories of her Feilding experience, having arrived in Year 13 from Freyberg High School, where she played basketball, touch, volleyball, softball and rugby.
“Rob Jones was my rep coach and he encouraged me to come to Feilding because I was mucking around in class and playing sports without purpose,” she said. “The rugby girls and parents at Feilding helped me out heaps. If we had training, they would just let me stay over.
“I played a lot of centre before moving into the forwards. Centre has a bit more pace and footwork, you cover a lot of ground and one-on-one defence is important. Hookers are mahi dogs, running, hitting rucks, showing mongrel and the whole set-piece thing.
“We went 51-0 in 2012. We did a South Island tour, won the National Top Four, and beat schools twice our size.”
Hayley Hutana (Black Ferns Sevens) and Amy Cokayne (79 tests for England) were other internationals who featured for Feilding that season.
Pita Ahki (Kelston Boys’ High School)
Kelston Boys’ High won four consecutive Condor Sevens titles from 2010 to 2013, and their most accomplished MVP was Pita Ahki in 2010.
Kelston upset defending champions Mt Albert Grammar 26-17 in that year’s final. Both teams scored two tries in an exciting first half, with blockbusting Ahki crossing twice for the West Aucklanders.
Ahki later played for North Harbour, Waikato, Blues and Hurricanes but made the biggest impression in sevens, helping the All Blacks Sevens win the 2013-14 World Sevens Series and capture a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Since 2018, he has been one of the best midfield backs in European rugby, helping Toulouse win four French Top 14 and two European championships. He has played 140 games (102 wins) for Toulouse and scored 18 tries. Capped eight times by Tonga, Ahki made four appearances at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and scored a try in Tonga’s only tournament win against Romania (45-24).
Meanwhile, Condor MVPs Lolagi Visinia (2011) and Nathaniel Apa (2013) went on to enjoy careers in first-class rugby, while 2012 MVP Tui Lolohea played 52 games for the Warriors and has been part of the Tongan rugby league team that has twice shocked the Kiwis in internationals.
Risi Pouri-Lane (Motueka High School)
In 2016, Motueka High School stunned the country when they made the semifinals of the Condor Sevens, with Pouri-Lane their emerging star.
Then in 2017, Motueka were South Island Sevens champions and again reached the semis, where they were toppled by eventual champions Hamilton Girls’ High. Motueka led at halftime after a length-of-the-field try by Pouri-Lane, who was named in the tournament team.
Pouri-Lane made such an impression with the tiny South Islanders that she would become the youngest contracted Black Ferns Sevens player, aged 17. Pouri-Lane has gone on to captain her country and win three Olympic gold medals (2018 Youth Olympics, Toyko 2020, Paris 2024).
Sport is in her blood. Her father, Kevin, was a New Zealand age-group wrestler and her mother, Lealofi, was a body sculptor. Her older sister, Keilamarita, has represented Samoa in rugby sevens and played rugby for Canterbury before being contracted to play in Japan.
Mark Kelly and Bevan Thomas coached Motueka from 2015 to 2017 and Thomas said Pouri-Lane was destined for greater things.
“Risi was very committed to training as well as being a great listener and a very fast learner,” Thomas said. “Because of the other sports she played, like judo, her physical and technical application was huge. Even though most girls were twice her size in the early days, she had no fear of the physical nature of the game.”
The Hotham Family
Nigel Hotham coached Hamilton Boys’ High to all nine of their Condor Sevens titles, including a record seven consecutive titles between 2015 and 2022.
In that span, Hamilton won 45 consecutive games. In 2020, Nigel’s son Noah Hotham made the tournament team as Hamilton edged Kelston Boys’ 14-10 in the final. Hamilton outscored opponents 230-24 in seven games in the tournament and Noah is now an All Blacks halfback.
All Blacks Sevens veterans Regan Ware and Joe Webber are graduates of Hotham’s coaching, while Ollie Mathis from the 2022 title-winning Hamilton team has just made the All Blacks Sevens.
Meanwhile, Jazmin Flex-Hotham is arguably the most decorated female player to have taken part in the tournament. In 2015, she helped Hamilton Girls’ High School sweep to the title with a 35-0 whitewash of Southland Girls’ High School in the final. In 2016, she was named tournament MVP as Hamilton were pipped by St Mary’s College, Wellington 19-17 in the final.
Hotham was even better in 2017, scoring two tries in the final as Hamilton Girls’ conquered Christchurch Girls’ High School 20-5. A week later, she scored the winning try (after the buzzer) for New Zealand in their 20-19 win over Australia to win the World Schools title. Hotham missed Condors in 2018 with a dislocated shoulder but she was contracted to the Black Ferns Sevens anyway.
Condor Boys Winners
1986: Sacred Heart College
1987: Auckland Grammar
1988: Te Aute College
1989: Wesley College
1990: Mount Albert Grammar School
1991: St Kentigern College
1992: St Kentigern College
1993: Wesley College*
1994: Gisborne Boys’ High School*
1995: De La Salle College
1996: Wesley College
1997: Western Heights High School
1998: Western Heights High School
1999: Cancelled
2000: Wesley College
2001: Wesley College*
2002: Kelston Boys’ High School
2003: Aranui High School
2004: Mount Albert Grammar School
2005: Wesley College
2006: Hamilton Boys’ High School
2007: Gisborne Boys’ High School*
2008: Hamilton Boys’ High School*
2009: Mount Albert Grammar School
2010: Kelston Boys’ High School
2011: Kelston BHS*
2012: Kelston BHS
2013: Kelston BHS
2014: Rotorua Boys’ High School
2015: Hamilton BHS
2016: Hamilton BHS
2017: Hamilton BHS
2018: Hamilton BHS
2019: Hamilton BHS
2020: Hamilton BHS
2021: Not held (Covid)
2022: Hamilton BHS*
2023: Rotorua BHS
2024: Tauranga Boys' College
*National Top Four winner
Condor Girls Winners
2012: Fielding High School
2013: Hamilton GHS
2014: Hamilton GHS
2015: Hamilton GHS
2016: St Mary’s College, Wellington
2017: Hamilton GHS
2018: Howick College
2019: Christchurch GHS
2020: Howick College
2021: Not held (Covid)
2022: Manukura
2023: Manukura
2024: Howick College