Either Rotorua Boys’ High or Feilding High School will be crowned winners of the Sanix World Youth Rugby Championship in Japan on Tuesday afternoon (NZ time) after hard-fought semi-final wins in the 16-team international tournament.
The final showdown at the Global Arena in Fukuoka will effectively be a repeat ofthe 2025 New Zealand First XV final in which Rotorua beat Feilding 43-17.
Feilding beat Taiwan’s state champions, Chien Kuo High School, 24-0 in their final pool match and then Japan’s Tenri High 22-19 in the semi-finals.
Rotorua beat Tonga’s Tupou College 22-7 in their final pool match and then Tokai University Osaka Gyosei High (Japan) 21-7 in their semi-final, after it was 7-7 at halftime.
For Rotorua in the semi-final, there was a first-half try to left winger Curtis Frederick, and one to skipper and No 8 Te Ariki Rogers midway through the second spell, while second-five Taowaru Waititi broke brilliantly for a late third, with Loky Chapman converting them all.
Meanwhile, hard-driving No 8 Taine Anapu-Bourke turned in a man-of-the-match performance for Feilding in their semi-final triumph against Tenri, scoring two critical tries in tricky conditions. Anapu-Bourke was also in the thick of it defensively in resisting Tenri’s much-vaunted mauling play near the goal line to hold on for the win.
This is Feilding’s first appearance at the annual Sanix Tournament, while Rotorua have previously won it in 2003 and 2004. The last New Zealand team to win it was Hamilton Boys’ High in 2023.
