NZ Schools Rugby 2025
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There were quite a few in the Aust U18 team that also play RL, and that includes Heinz Lemoto, who has/will sign with Toulouse. Aust rugby definitely gives their schoolboy players more opportunities. NZ doesn't have a U16 team or national SR U16 competition, for example.
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Clearly selections and coaching not an issue.
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Fuck
Dont know what happened there.So NZR was to select a NZ U18 team, but it appears did'nt, or maybe it did.
And the trials teams were:
NZSS XV (NZSSC, an NZR associated member)
Maori XV (a separate, but integral part of NZR)
Barbarians XV (invitation club, also an NZR associate)
Chiefs XV (NZR super club)All separate entities. The coaching teams responsible to different institutions.
May as well be from different countries.Just make some smoke and sneak away.
No one is guna have to really take responsiblity for the mess. -
I believe that Matt Sexton and Ben Fisher oversee the selection process, but you would assume that the NZS coaches are closely involved too. The key point is that the NZS team is selected first, followed by the Barbarian U18s and then the Māori U18s. The NZS team gets first choice of all players from 1st XVs, which made them losing to the Māori U18s last year even funnier.
They are all under NZR control. They aren't trial teams as the teams are set. Some NZ Barbarian U18 players (from those at school) are often added to the NZS squad due to injury. A Chiefs U18 team was used to make up numbers so the Barbarians U18s and Māori U18s had two games each. Next year PI teams should be involved again, and Aust U18 should be back in NZ as well.
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Yeah
I had a think about this.
I know they want to spread the net and make sure they dont miss anyone.
They are just making it more complicated than it needs, or wants to be.So maybe they should do the trial thing.
Form a selection panel; NZR rep, Maori rep, Schools rep, SR rep.
Select a 100 or so players; select 4 teams (twice), and play a couple games.
Then do the final selection, and there you have it, NZU18,.
A bit more straight forward.If NZ Schools Council want to do something additional on their own, that's their business.
I think they have this problem in Aus. Probably even worse there. Catholic/Private/State in separate comps.
At least our schools play in unified comps.How old does a player need to be before they can sign a contract?
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A long read but covers a lot of topics.
About selection:
Sexton describes the selection process as "robust''.
"I know there are lots of opinions and I have read a lot of opinion pieces that the wrong players potentially get selected, and that often happens when you don't get a good result,'' Sexton says.
"But we were really confident that New Zealand Schools was the best representation of the school environment and the players.
"In terms of the players that were selected, it was a really thorough process.''
He said 140 players were nominated, and that NZ Rugby talent ID manager PJ Williams consults a network of people throughout New Zealand.
"And I am talking from Bluff through to Kerikeri, there are people across all those schools and different competitions,'' Sexton adds.
"All the video gets uploaded too, and then we have a process where we get down to rankings and finally there is a panel that picks a team based on recommendations from selectors and position specific selectors.
"There is a lot of information that goes into it. It is a very detailed process and we think we run a pretty good shop there.'' -
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