It was youth to the fore at Cooks Gardens over the weekend as the inaugural secondary schools' Issac Luke tournament was held in Wanganui.
The field had whittled down to four school teams as Cullinane College withdrew their entry, but nonetheless the remaining sides of locals City College, Foxton's ManawatuCollege, Palmerston North's Tu Toa College and New Plymouth Boys' High School went hammer and tong to claim the silverware.
In the end, Tu Toa and NPBHS made the final on Sunday afternoon and the Manawatu team carried the day, winning 28-14 after leading 18-10 at halftime.
All the games were 60-minute matches.
While Kiwi international Issac Luke could not attend his namesake tournament, because he was helping his South Sydney Rabbitohs to a 32-4 win over the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, his grandparents were there on his behalf. He asked them to make sure they got their picture taken with the cup and the winning team.
