2022 School rugby
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@Stargazer There are not really many players with the X factor in the NBHS team. It is just a "good team" that is well coached and led and which plays with a fierce determination and defend their line with their lives.
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@Higgins Max Ratcliffe, Gus Brown, Tyrone Chrystal, Cory Berkett, CJ Mienie have all been great this season. Also prop Ta$man Soanai-Oeti, but I think he's too young.
If x-factor is the only consideration, the team is doomed. We don't just need the flashy players, but also workhorses (Ratcliffe being a typical example of that).
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@Stargazer Yeah, I liked the NBHS hooker. It will be Bason plus another for the NZ Schools team. Obviously there is a Barbarians team to be named too.
As the commentators mentioned, Cory Berkett was one of the halfbacks in the Barbarians squad last year. As a 1st 5, he is a very good kicker, but I'm not sure about the rest of his game. Ratcliffe is probably the best bet from the forwards. Brown is too short to be a genuine lock and his height means he can be exposed in the scrum as a TH prop. Richie Tupuailei will be one of the TH props. Anyones guess for the other props.
If you want some locks with height then both Nelson and JMC had a couple. I don't know about the Chch teams.
From the Hamilton BHS team, both Spencer and Tuivalala will make the Schools team. Mathis, Hodgson and Putoko will be in the conversation for either team.
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@Bovidae Josh Leach from Hastings Boys' is a very good lock, but yeah, didn't make the Top 4, so not much chance. Can't remember how tall he is, but he dominated games on his own at times.
How do you know that those players will be in the team? Do you have inside knowledge?
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No inside knowledge but history shows if you make the NZ Schools team as a Y12 like Spencer did, you are at very short odds to be selected as a Y13. Also Y12s who make the Barbarians tend to be in the NZ Schools team the following year if form warrants it.
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How long ago did they change teenage rugby to schools only? In the 90's I played U14,, took a tear off with no suitable team, U17 for two years and then up to U19's when I left school. All for club teams. This was in the Counties comp. At U17 the competitions were a mix of club teams and school teams with most school teams being 2nd XV's.
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What a great final. Yes, might be a bit old now seeing Hamilton in the final and winning but they are so good to watch. Napier, unlucky. Some absolute guns in that team but i think Hamilton have much better depth and it showed.
Also feel for St Pats Silverstream who drew and lost on tries to Napier only 2 weeks earlier. That one team alone shows that the Wellington comp could be coming back from extinction. They should have a number of boys pushing for higher honors, starting with the prop and big 2nd 5.
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@Left-Right-Out-0 said in 2022 School rugby:
What a great final. Yes, might be a bit old now seeing Hamilton in the final and winning but they are so good to watch. Napier, unlucky. Some absolute guns in that team but i think Hamilton have much better depth and it showed.
Also feel for St Pats Silverstream who drew and lost on tries to Napier only 2 weeks earlier. That one team alone shows that the Wellington comp could be coming back from extinction. They should have a number of boys pushing for higher honors, starting with the prop and big 2nd 5.
They don't have to try too hard to achieve that. Picking Wellington players ahead of outsiders is a speciality of Darren Larsen.
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@Higgins show me a better prop and 2nd 5 in the Hurricanes zone than those two?
They also had a good 6, winger and fullback. Not saying they were better than Napiers but in the small sample we saw they looked outstanding. Lets not forget this team also beat Fielding and held them to 12 points i think
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A world tournament in Thailand? The author seems to be making a lot of the 2019 result when comparing the strengths of NZ and SA schools. I'm not saying that SA school rugby isn't strong, only that Christchurch BHS didn't even make the Top 4 that year.
The top eight rugby schools in the world will face each other in December, but which schools?
The World School's Festival returns in 2022, with excitement that the best rugby schools in the world will be taking each other on. Could this signal a seismic shift in the world's view of school rugby.
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@Bovidae The problem with that World Schools Festival in South Africa has always been that there was an age difference between participating teams (the SA schoolboys were generally a year older) and that SA teams were/are notorious for poaching the best and biggest players in their areas. These schools have in the past also been linked to doping.
That the tournament will now be held in Thailand of all places, will not change that.
The fact that it is an invitational tournament also doesn't guarantee that you get the best schools.
Add to that schools are in different stages of their competitions. In December, most NZ schools are in their off-season and haven't even started their preseason yet. And who are in the NZ teams? The older boys that played 1stXV in 2022 have left school by then, so you get the younger, less experienced players.
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