Westlake Boys' High have now triggered an earthquake on the schoolboy rugby landscape.
In his weekly wrap, Bruce Holloway charts Westlake Boys High's journey to the national Top Four schoolboy playoffs alongside Napier Boys' High, Hamilton Boys' High and John McGlashan College.
When veteran Westlake Boys' High old boy Alan Wilson was invited to speak to the school's first XV at a jersey ceremony just before the start of the 2022 rugby season, he felt slightly sorry for the lads.
The 78-year-old, who had captained Westlake's first XV as flanker in the Auckland 1A competition back in 1962 - the first year in which the school had been partitioned into boys and girls colleges - was actually quite worried about their prospects.
"I didn't have a lot to say, just wished them all the best and told them a few tales about the old days," Wilson said.
But before he left, Wilson also promised them $1000 towards team costs if they could somehow win their competition.
"When I saw the boys they all looked so small to me, and I thought 'they're going to get a hiding'," Wilson said, figuring his money was pretty safe.
Turns out he could hardly have been more wrong.
Because Westlake Boys' High have now triggered an earthquake on the schoolboy rugby landscape by going well beyond a North Harbour title win and making the National First XV Championship finals – and there might be further aftershocks to follow in Palmerston North on Friday.
When Westlake upset Auckland's 1A champions Kelston Boys' High 23-20 in the wider Blues franchise final last weekend, they achieved something which had historically eluded any school north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Until then the Blues' berth in the national secondary schools Top Four had been the exclusive historic preserve of the winners of Auckland's 1A championship, a competition Westlake has been frustratingly frozen out of in modern times (though not in Wilson's day).
Indeed, for many, the annual Blues final playoff against the Northland-North Harbour first XV winners was little more than a seasonal footnote.
It was the Auckland 1A final hosted at Eden Park seven days earlier which got the rock-star treatment. By contrast, for the Blues franchise final against the 'wildlings' from the North Shore, it was back to the Kelston schoolyard.
So Westlake's victory over Kelston – earned primarily through gritty defence and exceptional pace on the wings - was everything.
There was a jubilant, heaving pile-on in the middle of the Kelston pitch at full time. Grown men were seen crying in the 2000-strong crowd. One, seeking to explain the swirling emotions, went as far as drawing comparisons with the All Blacks' 2011 Rugby World Cup final win.
If that was a (harbour) bridge too far, others reflected on how Westlake's coach Mark Manihera, along with assistants Rob Mildenhall and James McLauchlan, and manager Shane Young, had somehow turned good schoolboy players into great players.
But the happiest fan of all was old boy Wilson, who had again got his wallet out and dangled another $1000 if Kelston could somehow be beaten.
"Turns out Westlake can play quite well," Wilson said. "I was rapt."
And because the process seems to work, now Wilson is offering a further $1000 if Westlake can go all the way and win the national title.
This was something that was was never even a vague prospect during his own schooldays. The team he captained copped repeated drubbings from the same Auckland schools that will this weekend be quietly envying Westlake.
Against that backdrop Westlake's director of rugby, Hugh McGahan is trying to put the school's big breakthrough into perspective.
"We are excited but trying to keep our feet on the ground," he said. "It is quite significant for the school but it was always our goal to try to get to top four, and we could only ever do it one step at a time."
McGahan also noted Westlake fans had shed tears for a different reason last week, after the school's U15 team lost their tournament final in Christchurch in the final minute, in heartbreaking circumstances.
However McGahan said this was nevertheless another sign the school was moving in the right direction.
"When you build from within your own programme and nurture your own boys it can do wonders."
But would Westlake still like to play in Auckland's 1A competition – or should Auckland teams now be applying to join the North Harbour competition in search of a higher standard?
McGahan: "We would still love to play in 1A, but yes, this has opened a few eyes. We know our programme is good."
The eyes being opened will surely include those at Auckland Rugby Union, who may be inquiring of their schools how it is that a North Harbour team largely starved of top competition is now representing them at the Top Four tournament.
Westlake face Hurricanes franchise winners Napier Boys' High in their semifinal at 1.10pm (Friday) in Palmerston North, while Hamilton Boys High face another first-time outfit in Dunedin's John McGlashan College at 2.45pm.
Napier have come through a challenging season, in which two losses meant they were out of the running early on for the central North Island Super 8 title.
But within the Hurricanes franchise knockout they then bounced back with narrow wins over Palmerston North Boys' High, Hastings Boys' High, and then eked out a stirring 17-17 draw with Wellington champions St Pat's Silverstream, where they earned the title through having scored more tries.
And wily veteran Napier coach Brendon Ratcliffe promises they won't be underestimating Westlake.
"No school gets to the Top Four by accident and I only have respect for them," he said. "I suspect Kelston disrespected Westlake and were beaten as a result. But Westlake know how to fight on the big stage."
Of his own team's topsy-turvy season Ratcliffe observed: "It is more important to be in love with the game at the end of the season than at the start.
"It is always such a privilege to play top four, and with it not having been contested for a couple of years (because of COVID-19) it feels even more special than this."
Napier won the Top Four in 2002 and have been runners-up five times (1985, 1988, 1992, 2003, 2018) while having made five other finals appearances.
Neverhteless Ratcliffe endearingly refers to his team as "The Sky Blue Battlers" and is loathe to single out any high achievers.
"I know if is not what media want to hear, but we can't focus on the individual," he said. "We don't have the superstars and we have to do it all together as blood brothers."
This brotherhood includes his coaching team of assistants Andy Barham, Bevan Lynch, Dave Russell (coach/manager) and Levi Robinson (assistant manager) and Colin Tutchen (medic/physio), who he is prepared to name-drop.
"We (Napier) are something of a dying breed in schoolboy rugby. If boys turn up at the school gate, we are happy to coach them, but there are no scholarships, no enticements, and we don't encourage age-eligible boys to stay on for another year.
"But we do have old-school values and will help them into the next stage of their lives. Of the 15 first XV team members we will say goodbye to at the end of the season, 10 are going to university, four are going into apprenticeships, and one into a job."
On the other side of the semifinal draw, Hamilton Boys' High are contesting the Top Four for the 13th time. They've won four titles (2008, 2009, 2013, 2014), been runners-up twice (2010, 2017) and been third six times (2004, 2007, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019).
But this year's qualification was a close-run thing, as they scraped past New Plymouth Boys' High 8-7 away in the Chiefs final.
New Plymouth led 7-5 and it was not until the 63rd minute that Hamilton fullback Payton Spencer converted a penalty to regain the lead, though even then, with five minutes remaining New Plymouth's Samuea Vakadula had a chance to snatch it for his team with a penalty attempt.
"Nervous" was the descriptor Hamilton coach Nigel Hotham used for the game.
"The score speaks for itself," he said. "They were up for the challenges and we were limited by the conditions."
Hotham said there was no advantage to Hamilton having attended more Top Four finals than any of the other schools
"This time none of the boys have been there before and it will be new to everyone.
"First XV rugby has been very, very even all season and I would be very surprised if it is any different with the Top Four."
And he wasn't sure about Top Four favourites.
"I'm not a follower of social media, but the boys tell me all the other teams are favourites."
Hamilton will face a John McGlashan College team which has turned heads all season, and last week upset Nelson College in the South Island First XV final with a 29-26 win.
With the match delayed through Nelson flooding, and no commercial flights available, they needed to charter an Air Chathams flight to cover the 760km distance between the schools.
But nothing has fazed The Johnnies this season. They have played with style and verve in their big matches, are inventive with the ball in hand, and will not be out of place in the Top Four.
Josh Whaanga and midfield partner Jack Timu can be highly influential for McGlashan, while nimble year 12 first five Max Hore can chip in with instinctive brilliance.
The Top Four winners are awarded the National Championship title and nominated as the representative team for New Zealand at the SANIX World Rugby Tournament.
If the scores are tied at full time, the title is shared and the SANIX nomination is decided by a tiebreaker process, starting with which team scored the most tries in the match, followed by which team scored the first try. If no tries have been scored in the match, the winner is decided by which team scored the first points in the match. Lastly, if the score is 0-0 at fulltime, the team that progresses is decided by the flip of a coin.
Top 4 draw, Massey University, Friday: Westlake Boys' High v Napier Boys' High, 1.10pm. Hamilton Boys' High v John McGlashan College, 2.45pm. Final: Sunday, 12.40pm.
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