2018 School Rugby

[Stargazer]

Charles Alaimalo - the big nomad

This time last year Charles Alaimalo was playing rugby league in Melbourne. Twelve months later he returns to Australia as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby team.
 
The flanker/lock was a standout for Hamilton Boys’ High School who won the Super 8 title and narrowly lost the National Top Four final against Hastings Boys’ High School. Alaimalo explains how he ended up in the Waikato.
 
“My Dad got a good job in Melbourne so that’s why we moved from Christchurch to Australia. I missed the atmosphere of First XV rugby in New Zealand. When my brother Solomon got in the Chiefs I decided to come home,” he says.
 
In year 11, Alaimalo started every game for St Bede’s College who won the UC Championship. Since Alaimalo left, St Bede’s hasn’t made the top four. 

Solomon’s lifestyle in Hamilton wasn’t conducive for hosting a schoolboy. When the hostel at Hamilton Boys’ was full, Charles was homeless.
 
“I was blessed to be taken in by the Gordon family. They have looked after me very kindly. I am grateful,” Alaimalo accalims.
 
Former All Black Steve Gordon has three sons, Mac, Baxter and Arie, who have passed through Hamilton Boys.’
 
Hamilton coach Nigel Hotham was delighted to welcome Alaimalo to his squad, describing him as “a piece of gold that stumbled into our arms” and praising his worth ethic.
 
“Charles is a great kid who arrived here after a year of no rugby. It took him a while to adapt to tough trainings, but he 'got it' by the middle of Super 8 and was consistently our hardest working ball carrier all season. We couldn’t keep him off the field even when he was injured,” Hotham praised.

Alaimalo agrees there was a period of adjustment while settling into Hamilton.
 
“It's different to St Bede’s, way more intense. We train eight times a week which is tough, but the hard work pays off.”
 
Hamilton won the Super 8 by scoring a record number of points after a shock loss to Rotorua Boys’ High School in the Chiefs Cup final.
 
“It took us a while to find our combinations, but we had a really good culture. I am real happy for Tauterangi marie Kapea and Quinn Tupaea who also made the New Zealand Schools.” Alaimalo enthuses.

[Chester Draws]

@ploughboy said in 2018 School Rugby:

hamilton boys players dont seem to have much success post school though?

The school's success is a reflection on making sure the squad has no gaps and thorough training. It's not particularly based on star power. It's quite noticeable that they are not a big side.

You simply cannot pick boys at age 12 knowing that they will be stars. So wisely the school relies on making the best of what they have.

The suckers in this are the kids, if anyone. Going through HBHS doesn't really make your chances of success after school much higher. That depends on your genetic gifts and work ethic. A school can't really give you either. But it can give you false expectations of how good you are.

You see the same with private schools and academic success. Because the teaching tends to be better, but especially the push to work harder is higher, many kids struggle when taken from that environment. They're used to others deciding how hard they should work. They find the distractions they were shielded from overwhelming.

I also suspect there's some cases of burn out. Some of those 1st XV kids are doing too much for their age.

[Bovidae]

Hamilton Girls' High School beat Rotorua Girls' High School 56-5 today so join Manukura, Aorere College and Southland GHS in the girls top four.

[Stargazer]

@bovidae That's a big score for a final. I wonder how many players from last year are still in the Hamilton GHS squad; they were quite impressive last year, also in sevens at the Condor 7s. I think two of last year's players made it into the Black Ferns 7s (Devleopment) squad, including Jazmin Hotham? Very talented player. May also go to the Youth Olympics next month.

[Bovidae]

@stargazer Not as big as the Chiefs co-ed SF last weekend - Manurewa HS beat John Paul College (Rotorua) 82-3.

HGHS has had a very good team in recent years. Jazmin's father is the co-coach at Ham BHS. There are a couple of recent students in the Black Ferns sevens squad (Tenika Willison and Terina Te Tamaki).

Kickoff Times for Saturday (Host school listed first unless denoted).

Blues
Westlake BHS v St Peter's College - 1pm
Takapuna GS v MAGS - Noon

Chiefs
Hamilton BHS v Wesley College - Noon
St Peter's Cambridge v Manurewa HS - Noon

Hurricanes
Napier BHS v Hastings BHS- McLean Park - Noon
Feilding HS v Wairarapa College - Johnston Park (Feilding) - 12.30 p.m.

South Island
Christchurch BHS v Otago BHS - 12:30pm
Gore HS v Rangiora HS - Noon

[Stargazer]

So it seems, only the Christchurch BHS v Otago BHS will be televised (Rugby Channel). Bugger.

The Hamilton v Wesley game will be streamed here: https://www.sidelineapp.com/teams/hamilton-bhs-1st-xv/

Likewise, the Napier v Hastings BHS game - which will be played at McLean Park, Napier - can be watched here: https://www.sidelineapp.com/teams/napier-bhs-1st-xv/

[Bovidae]

I've had a chat to those sidelineapp guys at games. No idea what it's like to watch via one camera.

Sky might have highlights of the other games in their 1st XV revision show.

[Stargazer]

Hurricanes Boys Final
Napier BHS 20 - 10 Hastings BHS

Hurricanes Co-ed Final
Feilding HS 64 - 12 Wairarapa College

Chiefs Boys Final
Hamilton BHS 43 - 5 Wesley College

Chiefs Co-ed Final
Manurewa HS 10 - 38 St Peter's School

South Island Boys Final
Christchurch BHS 29 - 26 Otago BHS

[JK]

Westlake were up 17 - 7 over St. Peter’s at half time.

Waiting on final score

Edit 19-17 ffs

[Bovidae]

@stargazer said in 2018 School Rugby:

Chiefs Boys Final
Hamilton BHS 43 - 5 Wesley College

Was only 10-0 at HT but a lot of whistle in the game. Wesley resorted to some high shots and late tackles in the 2nd half, which wasn't good to see.

[Stargazer]

South Island Co-ed Final
Gore HS 17 - 42 Rangiora HS

Blues Boys Final
St Peter's 19 - 17 Westlake BHS

Blues Co-ed Final
Mount Albert GS 36 - 3 Takapuna GS

[Bovidae]

I had an interesting conversation about Sky's 1st XV coverage at the Hamilton-Wesley game today. Based on what I was told we might be seeing less TV games outside of Auckland in the future. Land Rover paid a good sum for sponsorship of 1st XV rugby. So where did the money go to? Not to the schools, but the ARU.

A lot of schools outside of Auckland won't let Sky televise their games now as none of the money goes to the schools or their local rugby province. sidelineapp seems to be a better model for the future.

[African Monkey]

Well done to St Peter's. Next week might be a step too far for us but we've upset plenty to get this far so you never know.

[Bovidae]

This is the most even Top 4 for a while as there is no standout team.

[Stargazer]

National Top 4 - Friday, 7 Sep 2018 - Sports and Rugby Institute, Palmerston North

Hine Pounamu Trophy – Girls 1st XV
10.30am – Aorere College v Hamilton GHS
Referee: A Conlon

11.45am – Manukura v Southland GHS
Referee: MRRA

Co-ed Cup
1.30pm – Mt Albert Grammar v St Peter’s Cambridge
Referee: A Rimene

2.45pm – Feilding HS v Rangiora HS
Referee: D Waenga

Barbarians 1st XV Trophy
1.10pm – St Peter’s College v Hamilton BHS - Televised
Referee: R Gordon

2.55pm – Napier BHS v Christchurch BHS Televised
Referee: V Ringrose

[Bovidae]

Some historical info in the following article:

• Summary Points: 1113
• Highest scoring final: Wesley College 53 – Rotorua BHS 32 in 2001
• Lowest scoring final: Otago Boys’ HS 5 – Rotorua BHS 5 in 1998
• Draws: 4 (Otago BHS 5 – Rotorua BHS 5 in 1998, Christchurch BHS 22 - Wesley College 22 in 2004, Hamilton BHS 6 – De La Salle College 6 in 2008, Hamilton BHS 26 – Scots College 26 in 2014)
• Tries: 140 Conversions: 82 Penalties: 84 Dropped Goals: 7
• All Blacks try/point scorers: Sitiveni Sitiveni, Stephen Donald, Colin Slade, Charlie Ngatai, Sam Tuitupou, Jonah Lomu, Ant Strachan, Rhys Duggan, Pat Lam, Craig Newby, Richie McCaw

https://www.collegesportmedia.co.nz/rugby-union/national-top-four-rugby-finals-results-and-scoring9808507

[chchfanatic]

Did anyone see the cbhs vs obhs past week. Otago has a winger with serious gas who scored a hat trick. Also the chch halfback is going to be a great player. Don’t think chchs forward will handle the big boys from up north. Pretty good backs though

[SammyC]

@chchfanatic said in 2018 School Rugby:

Did anyone see the cbhs vs obhs past week. Otago has a winger with serious gas who scored a hat trick. Also the chch halfback is going to be a great player. Don’t think chchs forward will handle the big boys from up north. Pretty good backs though

I was there for a bit, not the whole game.

The OBHS winger may be the fastest player I've seen at that level.

[Stargazer]

This week, there's also been an U15 tournament (at Auckland Grammar). I'll skip the pool game results, but here are the results from the quarter-finals, some results of the semi-finals, as well as the draw for finals day.

.

.

Results Semi-Finals (could not find them all)

13th-16th
Palmerston North BHS 24 - 14 New Plymouth BHS
Westlake Boys ? - ? Wellington College - Westlake won

9th-12th
Otago BHS 14 - 36 Hastings BHS
Wesley College 0 - 6 Tauranga BHS

5th-8th
St Patrick's College Town 19 - 22 Christchurch BHS
MAGS v St Bede's - St Bede's won

1th-4th
Hamilton BHS - Auckland Grammar - Hamilton won
Napier BHS 8 - 0 Rotorua BHS

.

[Higgins]

The final looks to be a curtainraiser to the Top 4 Final on the Sunday in Palmy!