NZ Schools Rugby 2025
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Rumours of this move have been discussed previously.
The New Zealand U18 team will be announced following a high-performance camp and a series of matches from September 16 to 21, featuring the New Zealand Secondary Schools (NSSS), New Zealand U18 Māori and New Zealand Barbarians U18 teams, with a fourth team to be confirmed.
“We understand the desire by NZ Rugby to provide a pathway for all under 18 players, including those who have recently left school, and that this is the norm in our competitor countries, including Australia. We also understand that it is a rare occurrence in 2025 that the New Zealand and Australian school holidays align the schedule around the New Zealand Under 18s versus Australia U18s fixtures.
https://www.allblacks.com/news/new-zealand-u18-team-introduced-to-high-performance-pathway
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Surprise, surprise, the schools aren't happy with the move to a NZ U18 team. From a Gregor Paul paywalled article, so no idea of the content.
I assume it's because the NZ Schools team won't get to play the Australian U18s (the irony).
@Bovidae said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
I assume it's because the NZ Schools team won't get to play the Australian U18s (the irony).
Yes.
Also here is AI summary of the rest of schools complaints:
Possibly compromises elite students' education.
Undermines volunteer support for First XV rugby.
Downgrades the NZSS team to a trial role.
Reflects poor communication and a takeover of schoolboy rugby by NZR.
Risks scheduling conflicts with academic priorities.
Ignores schools' successful talent development history. -
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While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
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While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
@SouthernMann said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
Can a non schools U18 side field a team, let alone a competitive team? Surely the majority of good U18 players are in the school system?
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While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
@SouthernMann They deliberately don't play the NZ Schools against the NZ Barbarian U18s. The cynic in me knows why. The Māori U18s beating them last year would have been an embarrassment to the system.
In theory, the Barbarians is the next best team but includes a number of player who have left school and are attached to clubs. Many are better players than those in the NZS team with a year of S&C and often senior club games behind them.
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@SouthernMann said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
Can a non schools U18 side field a team, let alone a competitive team? Surely the majority of good U18 players are in the school system?
@Nepia said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
@SouthernMann said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
While I see the arguments from the schools. The counter argument is why aren't we playing our newly established U18s side against the Aussie U18s. Like for like. The establishment of that side essentially means it is the best side the school age kids are available for.
Still run a schools programme, then play the non dchools U18s v the schools side. The top 25 makes the full U18 side for the Aussie game.
Can a non schools U18 side field a team, let alone a competitive team? Surely the majority of good U18 players are in the school system?
Around half of school leavers these days will be turning 18 after they finish school. There will be plenty out there. Last year Gregor Rutledge was one, this year Mika Muliaina si, previously Kyan Rangitutia. There will be plenty out there.
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Watching the Wellington final on SS2 atm. This kid Fletcher Cooper (only year 11) is very impressive. Has a bigger boot than all our AB 10s already. The Canes better have this kid locked down.
Elijah Solomona who’s rumoured to be going to the Warriors is having a blinder. Two tries already, looking like a young Ardie. Absolutely dominating his Wellington College opposition.
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Watching the Wellington final on SS2 atm. This kid Fletcher Cooper (only year 11) is very impressive. Has a bigger boot than all our AB 10s already. The Canes better have this kid locked down.
Elijah Solomona who’s rumoured to be going to the Warriors is having a blinder. Two tries already, looking like a young Ardie. Absolutely dominating his Wellington College opposition.
@Canes4life said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
Watching the Wellington final on SS2 atm. This kid Fletcher Cooper (only year 11) is very impressive. Has a bigger boot than all our AB 10s already. The Canes better have this kid locked down.
Elijah Solomona who’s rumoured to be going to the Warriors is having a blinder. Two tries already, looking like a young Ardie. Absolutely dominating his Wellington College opposition.
Gez that was a good game. That kid Solomoana certainly looks a bloody loosie, was prepared to do some bloody hard work at times too. You right about that young Copper kid, looks to have a lot of skill, not just kicking, some of his passing in those conditions were pretty good too.
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@Canes4life said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
Watching the Wellington final on SS2 atm. This kid Fletcher Cooper (only year 11) is very impressive. Has a bigger boot than all our AB 10s already. The Canes better have this kid locked down.
Elijah Solomona who’s rumoured to be going to the Warriors is having a blinder. Two tries already, looking like a young Ardie. Absolutely dominating his Wellington College opposition.
Gez that was a good game. That kid Solomoana certainly looks a bloody loosie, was prepared to do some bloody hard work at times too. You right about that young Copper kid, looks to have a lot of skill, not just kicking, some of his passing in those conditions were pretty good too.
@Dan54 said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
@Canes4life said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
Watching the Wellington final on SS2 atm. This kid Fletcher Cooper (only year 11) is very impressive. Has a bigger boot than all our AB 10s already. The Canes better have this kid locked down.
Elijah Solomona who’s rumoured to be going to the Warriors is having a blinder. Two tries already, looking like a young Ardie. Absolutely dominating his Wellington College opposition.
Gez that was a good game. That kid Solomoana certainly looks a bloody loosie, was prepared to do some bloody hard work at times too. You right about that young Copper kid, looks to have a lot of skill, not just kicking, some of his passing in those conditions were pretty good too.
I was gobsmacked when I learned Cooper was only year 11. He’s going to be even more dominant by the time he gets to year 13. The thing I like about him the most is he’s got natural leadership skills, he was by far the most dominant voice on the park even though he was the youngest on the field.
Yep, Solomona was excellent and I thought the St Pats prop with pink headgear, along with the their hooker Riley Browne were instrumental. All will be playing Hurricanes development footy you’d hope.
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It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/sport/360782768/taylor-boots-southland-boys-south-island-final
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It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/sport/360782768/taylor-boots-southland-boys-south-island-final
@Bovidae said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/sport/360782768/taylor-boots-southland-boys-south-island-final
He's had big wraps down south, believe he'd be eligible for the Barbarians U18 next year too. Really looks to have filled out his frame since 2023 too, for obvious reasons. Expect him to be around one of the squads.
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It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/sport/360782768/taylor-boots-southland-boys-south-island-final
@Bovidae said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
I thought both first fives were good in this game. Taylor obviously has an appetite for the big moments but Jake Hill, the King’s HS 10, is a fantastic runner of the ball, breaking the SBHS defence nearly every time he attacked the line.
This was the first game I’ve seen from King’s HS but their attack was very interesting to watch. They played almost exclusively off 9, which isn’t something you see that often in NZ Rugby, with the halfback distributing directly to different forward pods. Their use of pods was interesting as well: instead of having preformed sets of 3 ready to receive the ball, you had multiple individual runners in motion. It was only after the ball carrier had received the ball, that support players would flock to the carrier. This approach has a few advantages: first of all, you have players in motion rather than standing ready, waiting for the ball to come. And secondly, it’s much harder for a defence to anticipate where the brunt of offensive impact is going to occur, making the attack more unpredictable.
At the same time, this unpredictability is also the fatal flaw of the system, as the support players themselves weren’t always ready to form a pod on the fly. As a result, King’s HS carriers would often get isolated, leading to easy turnovers for SBHS. It’s a very ambitious and demanding attack – only apt for a school which has both Tony Brown and Ben Smith among its old boys – but with such young and inexperienced players, it’s perhaps no surprise that the wheels occasionally fell off slightly.
Still, you’d have to say that the King’s HS attack worked well, most of the time. It allowed the team to move effectively up the field, and then you’d have Hill injecting himself into the line at pace from 1st or 2nd receiver, exposing the retreating SBHS defenders and cutting them open. The passage around the 50 minute-mark is a good example of this system, with Hill making multiple devastating runs in the same sequence of play.
youtube.co/watch?v=6jtKkpj9MZc&t=4296
It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
I’ve honestly been surprised by how many games are available online. I think I’ve watched First XV games from all of the competitions, apart from the 1A (which, admittedly, is a considerable blind spot). Still, I wouldn’t really have a clue who’s in the frame for NZ Schools selection. If anything, watching those games emphasized for me what a difficult selection process NZ Schools must be. So many different programs and so many players on different places in their development curve. Seems like a stab in the dark.
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@Bovidae said in NZ Schools Rugby 2025:
This 1st 5 seems to be a man (boy) for the big occasion.
I thought both first fives were good in this game. Taylor obviously has an appetite for the big moments but Jake Hill, the King’s HS 10, is a fantastic runner of the ball, breaking the SBHS defence nearly every time he attacked the line.
This was the first game I’ve seen from King’s HS but their attack was very interesting to watch. They played almost exclusively off 9, which isn’t something you see that often in NZ Rugby, with the halfback distributing directly to different forward pods. Their use of pods was interesting as well: instead of having preformed sets of 3 ready to receive the ball, you had multiple individual runners in motion. It was only after the ball carrier had received the ball, that support players would flock to the carrier. This approach has a few advantages: first of all, you have players in motion rather than standing ready, waiting for the ball to come. And secondly, it’s much harder for a defence to anticipate where the brunt of offensive impact is going to occur, making the attack more unpredictable.
At the same time, this unpredictability is also the fatal flaw of the system, as the support players themselves weren’t always ready to form a pod on the fly. As a result, King’s HS carriers would often get isolated, leading to easy turnovers for SBHS. It’s a very ambitious and demanding attack – only apt for a school which has both Tony Brown and Ben Smith among its old boys – but with such young and inexperienced players, it’s perhaps no surprise that the wheels occasionally fell off slightly.
Still, you’d have to say that the King’s HS attack worked well, most of the time. It allowed the team to move effectively up the field, and then you’d have Hill injecting himself into the line at pace from 1st or 2nd receiver, exposing the retreating SBHS defenders and cutting them open. The passage around the 50 minute-mark is a good example of this system, with Hill making multiple devastating runs in the same sequence of play.
youtube.co/watch?v=6jtKkpj9MZc&t=4296
It's hard to know who is in the frame for the NZS squad because a lot of games aren't seen, particularly 1A games.
I’ve honestly been surprised by how many games are available online. I think I’ve watched First XV games from all of the competitions, apart from the 1A (which, admittedly, is a considerable blind spot). Still, I wouldn’t really have a clue who’s in the frame for NZ Schools selection. If anything, watching those games emphasized for me what a difficult selection process NZ Schools must be. So many different programs and so many players on different places in their development curve. Seems like a stab in the dark.
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I went along to the King's St Kent's rugby final at EP today, the game was enjoyable, flowing, a clash of two styles, and thoroughly unmolested by the ref and the officials. St K came out hot with a forward dominated game and a huge pack, rumbled over for three first half tries almost at will. King's has the superior backline, more mobile pack and seemed more fit, and once they got to grips fronting up in the collision area physically, and as St K started to tire, King's got on top and pulled out convincing winners. I enjoyed the game more than the ref dominated pro game slop we are fed most of the time
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Westlake beat Whangarei Boys 39-18 in the NH final, although it was only 25-18 inside the last 5 with both sides trading tries most of the game.
