Westlake Boys' High School are the most dominant rugby school on the North Shore having won the North Harbour 1A First XV championship 15 times since its inception in 1985.

Additionally Westlake are the present North Harbour senior and U15 sevens champions and have won the first U15 National Condor 7s title in 2015. The National Condor 7s for both age groups happens next weekend at Sacred Heart College in Auckland and Westlake has strong teams in both divisions.

Key Stats

Founded: 1962
Motto: Virtute Experiamur - Let Courage Be Thy Test
Roll: 2000 (Plus)
Most Recent All Black: Dillon Hunt, 2018
Most Famous Sevens All Black: Nick Evans
 
Westlake Seniors

Westlake didn’t enter the tournament last year, but finished a credible 9 th in 2016. Westlake is a young team building for the future with 9/12 players either Year 11 or 12. The leader of the side is very much First XV captain and senior volleyball player Tiennan Costley. The Blues U18 selection has exceptional skills combined with abrasiveness on defence and an instinct for the line. Westlake is grouped with Waikato runners up St Peter’s Cambridge, National Top Four First XV runners up Napier Boys’ High School and Taranaki champions
New Plymouth Boys’ High School.

North Harbour Sevens Results

Pool: Albany Senior High School, 42-5
Pool: Northcote College, 50-0
Pool: Massey High School, 17-7
Semi-Final: Orewa College, 24-12
Final: Takapuna Grammar School, 22-17
 
Westlake U15’s

Westlake has a strong history in the U15 tourney, winning the first event in 2015 after finishing third last year, improving three places from 2016. Westlake won the North Harbour U15 qualifying tournament and are hopeful of National success with an experienced squad consisting of four Year 11 students and eight Year 10 players. Some of the players to watch include:
 
Caleb Tangitau – Promising skill and obvious speed. He is a player to watch throughout the
tournament with his ability to ignite the game and score unbelievable tries.

Peti Tavui – Strong ball runner and huge work rate. Enjoys the physical confrontations and
can evade defenders with a good turn of pace.

Etienne Piere – The stepper and speedster in the team as well as being a hearty defender.
Clayton Kozte – A workhorse forward.

Sam Charlesworth – An Auckland surfing champion who is adept in the tackle and serves as
one of the key leaders in the group.
 
North Harbour U15 Sevens Results

Pool: Rangitoto College, 60-0
Pool: Kaipara College, 26-5
Pool: Rosmini College, 27 – 7
Semi Final: Massey High School, 31-0
Final: Takapuna Grammar School, 43 – 5

St Peter's College's Niko Jones has signed a NZRU All Blacks Sevens contract.

Jone joins four other players on the contracted list including former Whangarei Boys' High School player and athletics thrower Scott Gregory.   

Newcomers Gregory and Jones are the latest of New Zealand’s emerging rugby talent to choose the sevens pathway.

“This year was a perfect example with Etene Nanai-Seturo and Salesi Rayasi playing a year of sevens before picking up Investec Super Rugby contracts. Scott and Niko are outstanding young athletes and its exciting to see what they might be able to achieve in this form of the game, said All Black Sevens coach Clarke Laidlaw.
“Our job is to develop these young men on and off the field; both have big futures ahead of them,” said Laidlaw.

​Read more about Niko Jones here 

Hamilton Girls’ High School rose to the top of the secondary girls rugby tree again, winning the Hine Pounamu Top 4 Trophy for the first time since 2015 on the back of winning last December’s Condor Sevens.

But in an increasingly competitive girls rugby landscape – both in 15s and 7s rugby – there are more contenders putting their hands up to challenge in the future. Following the Top 4, the New Zealand U18 Girls team won gold at the Youth Olympic Games, while a number of schoolgirls made their debuts in the Women’s NPC Farah Palmer Cup competition.

Our contenders are below for our fourth annual Champion of Champions series – vote in the poll  - scroll down below.

​Glory Aiono and Ana Mamea – Aorere College – Chosen together in this list, Aiono and Mamea were Aorere College’s two standout players at the Top 4 tournament. Playing lock and loose forward, they impressed with their damaging ball running and helped Aorere come back from an opening day defeat to Hamilton GHS to beat Southland in their second game to finish third. Both then played for Counties-Manukau in the Women’s NPC competition, both appearing in all eight matches for the Heat. Aoino played the last four matches including the final in the starting XV while Mamea scored two tries on debut against Waikato and then scored two tries in the Premiership final against Canterbury.  

​Carys Dallinger – Manukura – The Manukura fullback produced the individual performance of the Top 4 tournament in early September, scoring three tries and setting up two more against Southland GHS. Her pace and skill helped propel Manukura to their maiden final, in which they lost to rampant winners Hamilton GHS. Previously, Dallinger had been a key player in Manukura beating last year’s Top 4 champions St Mary’s College 38-33 in the Hurricanes region decider. Dallinger was one of four Manukura players in this year’s Manawatu Cyclones squad and made three Women’s NPC appearances including two starts at fullback. She subsequently joined her Manukura teammate Kalyn Takitimu-Cook in the gold medal-winning NZ U18 Youth Olympic Games team.

Tiana Davison – Sacred Heart College, New Plymouth  - Hard work paid off this year for Sacred Heart’s sports prefect Tiana Davison when she returned to New Zealand in October with a gold medal around her neck. Davison and the New Zealand U18 Sevens team rallied to beat France in the Youth Olympics final. Started playing rugby aged three and captains her school sevens and fifteens team, and plays for Clifton on the burgeoning Taranaki competition. A high work rate and a committed defender. Nominated as a Taranaki Senior Sportswoman of the year. 

​Amy Rule – Aparima College  - The Head Girl of her school in Riverton played for Winton’s Central Southland College this year in the local school competition and played club rugby for the Blues Club. Otago Spirit coach Scott Manson (a former prop) picked the specialist tighthead prop in Otago’s squad and she played six matches including two starts against Counties Manukau and Tasman and 25 minutes off the bench in the Championship final against a blockbusting Wellington team. 

​Montessa Tairakena (Hamilton Girls’ High School) - Montessa, who switches comfortably between halfback and wing, was a nightmare for all opposition this year. She started the year in try-scoring mood at the Sir Gordon Tietjens 7s in Palmerston North. At Hamilton Girls she helped he First XV complete an unbeaten season and back in Palmerston North she scored three tries in the National Top Four semi-final and two in the decider. Even better was to come at the Youth Olympics in Argentina where Montessa helped New Zealand win their first ever goal medal - scoring a try in the 15-12 victory over France in the final.  

​Previous winners
2017: Grace Brooker (Christchurch Girls’ High School)
2016: Rina Paraone (Kaipara College)
2015: Ayesha Leti-L'iga (Porirua College)

Then there were 50.

A group of the country’s leading players have been invited to attend the New Zealand Under 20 development camp in Palmerston North in December.

Players selected to attend the camp from 3-8 December are listed below.

Players unavailable for selection due to Super Rugby and Sevens commitments are:  Etene Nanai-Seturo (Counties Manukau), Kaleb Trask (Bay of Plenty), Leicester Faingaanuku (Tasman), Billy Proctor (Wellington), Caleb Clarke (Auckland), Scott Gregory (Northland) and Jeriah Mua (Bay of Plenty)

The 50 players have been selected from the National Provincial Championship, the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 tournament and New Zealand Secondary Schools team.

After December’s camp players will return to their provincial unions with many set to be involved with Super Rugby development or age grade programmes.

Players will reassemble in March before a squad of up to 32 players will be selected to play in the Oceania Championship in Australia in April.
​
The final squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship, to be played in Argentina, will be named in May.

The New Zealand Secondary Schools extended their unbeaten run to 16 games in a row, but St Peter’s College, Auckland and the New Zealand Maori Under-18 teams produced huge upsets in their respective campaigns in another big year for rugby.

Our contenders are below for our third annual Champion of Champions series – vote in the poll  - scroll down below.

​Iona Apineru (St Patrick’s College, Silverstream) - The head prefect of St Pats Silverstream showed his leadership on the rugby field throughout 2018 helping Silverstream successfully defend their Premiership title and extend their unbeaten record in the local competition to 22 successive games. Apineru, a robust flanker, scored a vital try in the final and then earned selection for the New Zealand Schools’ where he was the vice-captain in the 26-12 win over Australia in Brisbane.

​Louie Chapman (Christchurch Boys’ High School) - The diminutive halfback led Christchurch Boys’ High School to the National Top Four for the first time since 2014, passing 50 games for the First XV and impressing with his superior leadership. Christchurch defended the UC Championship and won the Moascar Cup for the first time since 2007. Chapman was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ team. Chapman was also a member of the Christchurch BHS First XI cricket team that won the national title.

Niko Jones (St Peter’s College) - The son of All Black great Sir Michael Jones showed dad’s talent runs in the family with a stellar 2018. Jones was captain of the First XV which won five knockout games in a row by a combined margin of eight points to capture the Auckland 1A and National Top Four titles. In the National final, St Peter’s was down by 0-21, but Niko set up two tries and scored one himself in a man of the match display. Jones was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ tour of Australia starting in the annual test against the Junior Wallabies, his kick creating the Kiwis second try.

​Blair Murray (New Plymouth Boys’ High School) - The fleet-footed fullback suffered injury in the early part of the season, strongly returning at the Chiefs Under-18 trial to earn a place in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team. While in Australia, Murray was a standout player scoring two tries against the Australian Barbarians and then winning the Bronze Boot award as the best player in the annual Australian test match.

​Terrell Peita (Mount Albert Grammar School) - The No.8 from the Te Rarawa Kaiwhare tribe was a standout in an otherwise disappointing MAGS First XV in 2018. MAGS only won three games in 1A, but Peita was so highly respected he was selected to captain the New Zealand Under-18 Maori team who stunned the Barbarians Schools in October and then toppled Fiji in a campaign that achieved well above initial expectations.

Previous winners:
2017: Rivez Reihana (Saint Kentigern College)
2016: Brayden Iose (Palmerston North BHS)
2015: Josh Buchan (Otago Boys’ High School)

Current and recent school players featured in the squads, from left: Niko Jones (St Peter's College), Rosie Kelly (Christchurch GHS), Lincoln McClutchie (Hastings BHS) and Renee Savai'inaea (St Mary's College). Photos: Andy McArthur.

Nationally ranked sprinters, provincial netballers, age-grade AFL stars, and New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby representatives are among the 96 players named to take part in the inaugural Red Bull Ignite7 event this November.
​
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) today unveiled the 48 men and 48 women who have been selected to take part in a new high-performance programme designed to uncover the next generation of sevens superstars.

More than 500 applicants from Invercargill to Kerikeri signed up for an event that will see three men and three women win the chance to train with the All Blacks and Black Ferns Sevens squads in 2019.

Among the women’s players selected are a pair better known for their provincial netball feats in Renee Savai'inaea and Mererangi Paul, former New Zealand Universities hockey player Grace Steinmetz, and Taranaki women’s senior basketball guard Iritana Hohaia.

The ranks of the men’s squads include 2017 New Zealand Under 18 AFL Player of the Year Carlos Donnell-Brown, New Zealand’s second fastest senior 400m runner Thomas Woods, former junior Warriors rugby league fullback Mark Graham, and 2018 New Zealand Secondary Schools loose forward Niko Jones.

NZR High Performance Sevens Manager Tony Philp said the selection process had provided a valuable and encouraging glimpse into New Zealand’s untapped pool of athletic talent.

“We were absolutely thrilled with the quality and variety of athletes who came forward and that made it a tough group to select,” Philp said. “It’s a very diverse group in terms of their backgrounds and sporting talents and it’s going to be interesting to see how quickly they can transfer those skills to sevens at the highest level.”

Philp and his team of selectors have split the players into eight squads (four men’s and four women’s) for the event, with Team Power, Team Surge, Team Inferno and Team Bolt competing for the inaugural Red Bull Ignite7 trophy.

The teams are: 

Carlos Spencer was emphatic when stating the 2005 victory by the New Zealand Maori over the British and Irish Lions was the most satisfying game of rugby he ever played.
 
In a glittering career which included multiple domestic titles and 35 tests for the All Blacks, Spencer's Maori experience was a high point.
 
What’s unique about Maori rugby and is it relevant today?
 
An upset win by a National Maori Under-18 selection against the New Zealand Barbarian Schools at Jerry Collins Stadium, Porirua recently seems to suggest there is plenty of life left in Maori rugby.
 
Jack Gray (Ngāti Whakaue) started at fullback in the Barbarians game and shares some personal and collective sentiments before and during the Barbarians fixture.
 
“Leading into the game you could tell how much the boys had to play for and what it meant for Maori rugby and Maori in general. The coaches have been fighting to have a team for years so for us to win was pretty special. I’ve never been in a team where that’s been the case. It definitely felt like the game meant more to us than the Barbarians,” he said.

Gray’s late father Wayne Gray was a Maori All Black, but Jack concedes he had little prior knowledge of his heritage before selection.
 
“Maori hasn’t been a big part of my life so I was surprised to be picked. Getting up to do Hui Te Marama at 530am on frosty grass isn’t something I’ve experienced before. We learned a lot about our ancestors and how tough it was for them. A lot of them were sent to war and didn't come back. We’re lucky, when we go to war on the field we get to go home afterwards.”
 
Rua Wanoa is the current coach of the NZ Maori U18 team and reflects on the genesis of the age group concept.
 
“That 2005 Maori All Black victory over the British and Irish Lions was the high point of Maori rugby. The whole crowd stayed behind to applaud the Maori All Blacks afterwards and that doesn’t happen very often. Unfortunately things fell away after that. In 2010, Maori rugby celebrated the Rau Tau centenary and that was the catalyst to try and revive things again.”
 
The New Zealand Maori Board identified Maori youth as a group to target and a coherent plan to develop Maori talent took shape. Maori reps have two votes on the New Zealand Rugby Board.
 
Presently Provincial Union Maori age grade teams attend regional Maori tournaments. Players selected from these tournaments advance to attend Northern, Central and Southern regional under-18 camps in April. In July 40 players are chosen to attend National camp before finally being selected into the National team in September.
 
The U18 Maori team itself played their first game in 2016 in Rotorua against what was supposed to be a Bay of Plenty representative selection, but instead was a poorly selected and weak Bay of Plenty Maori outfit. The National Maori won a slaughter 103-0.
 
New Zealand Rugby appears to have an ambivalent relationship with the Maori. Funding and fixtures have increased, but this year’s Maori team news was absent in New Zealand Rugby’s official communication around the schoolboy international series.
 
The Maori it appears are in a constant battle to prove their worth. In 2017 a narrow defeat to the Barbarians was followed by a somewhat unconvincing 38-26 win against Tonga. Club Rugby reported:
 
“New Zealand will be relieved to win, but the real story is Tonga who have delighted and surprised their supporters with infectiously positive, organized and aggressive play.  Tonga was assisted in the coaching department today by All Black Vaea Fifita while the Maori had at least half a dozen staff many of whom appeared to be doing little.”
 
It was clear standards had to be lifted in 2018. A theme built around the metaphors of Rangatira and Ariki-tanga was established for the camp. Essentially Rangatira is an individual of high rank and as high performance athletics each player looks to emulate the behaviours, traits and standards of a Rangatira. Ariki-tanga is about rising to an even higher level, Wanoa elaborates.
 
“Were all on the same waka which travels better with everyone in unison. If the coaches swear they do sit ups just like the players do. There were no phones in the dining room to encourage being together, little things like that which make us better all round. Were about respect and honour which are universal themes.”
 
Embracing Mauri was another key idea. A mauri is a material symbol of a life principle, a physical object used by an individual or social group expressing their essence. Each player shares what’s most important to them and together these forces are connected like a jigsaw for the good of a common cause.
 
The team’s headquarter at Mana College, Wellington were surrounded by imaginary of legendary Maori chiefs, activists, politicians and rugby players such as Sir Āpirana Ngata reinforcing the desire to rise to Ariki-tanga.

Loose forward Terrell Peita (Te Rarawa Kaiwhare) from Mount Albert Grammar School was an obvious choice for captain.
 
“I have always been around our culture and it’s customs. I was schooled at Te kura Kaupapa Māori o Puau Te Moana nui-a-kiwa when I was young and then went to Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Tonga o Hokianga a small local school in the heart of Whirinaki. It wasn’t until I moved back to Auckland I started learning more about my mainstream side,” Peita reveals.
 
Maori rugby is actually very mainstream in the New Zealand schools environment with 21 of the 53 players selected in the original New Zealand Schools development camp boasting some Maori heritage.
​
Interestingly though there was only one private schoolboy selected for the Maori squad and Bailey Gordon (Western Heights High School), Nikora Broughton (Hato Paora College) and Samuel Walton-Sexton (Karamu High School) were all selected from institutions hardly recognised today as powerhouses.  
 
Capturing some of this untapped talent is invaluable and the Maori deliberately visited the Hurricanes U16 tournament while at camp to support the struggling East Coast against Wairarapa-Bush. At one stage in the second half the Coast were reduced to 13 players by injury, but battled on gamely to complete the match.  
 
For their courage, East Coast won the Manaakitanga Trophy - presented in 2010 by Gisborne artist and associate professor Steve Gibbs - for the first time. It is an award that recognises team culture and sportsmanship. The presence of and the haka performed by the National Maori squad might prove inspirational for some of the battling Coast boys.
 
“This team is very unique, a lot different to the Barbarians and New Zealand squads,” Peita explains.
 
“We do a lot of physical conditioning but from a Māori perspective. That included games such as Ki o rahi and Mau rākau. We stay on a Marae and also pray and sing a lot of songs together.”
 
The task of putting together a rugby team is challenging at the best of times, but how does one ensure the cultural building side of things is not just mere lip service? What is done about the boy who rolls his eyes?
 
Assistant coach Kahu Carey (Rangitane, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō):
 
“First and foremost were here to develop a good rugby team, but we’ve got 25 future fathers at camp so if we can imbue them with a little bit about what it means to be a good Maori and a good citizen then win or lose I think we’ve done our job.”
 
Peita with the final word:
 
“The bond created on this camp is something as Maori that just happens because of what we do and how we all cooperate as Rangatira. We were and are still a very tight group. We keep in touch via social media so I guess that speaks a lot for itself.”

The 2018 Youth Olympic Games is underway in Bruenos Aires, with many New Zealand teams and individuals already in action across several sports.
​
The U18 Girls sevens rugby team is busy training and preparing for their tournament that takes place this coming Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

A selection of Youth Olympic Games action is being broadcast on SKY, on channels 56 and 57.

The U18 rugby team's draw is:

Saturday 13 October
12.00pm New Zealand v Tunisia (4am, Sunday 14 October - NZT)
3.05pm New Zealand v Colombia (7.05am, Sunday 14 October - NZT)

Sunday 14 October
12.00pm New Zealand v France (4am, Monday 15 October - NZT)
3.05pm New Zealand v Canada (7.05am, Monday 15 October - NZT)

Monday 15 October
9.50am New Zealand v Kazakhstan (1.50am, Tuesday 16 October - NZT)
Play off matches will be held on Monday 15 October

The New Zealand Youth Olympic Games Sevens team is;

Arorangi Tauranga (Hamilton Girls' High School)
Azalleyah Maaka (Gisborne Girls' High School)
Carys Dallinger (Manukura)
Hinemoa  Watene (Howick College)
Iritana Hohaia (Opunake High School)
Kalyn Takitimu Cook (Manukura)
Kiani Tahere (Te Wharekura o Mauao)
Mahina Paul (Saint Kentigern College)
Montessa Tairakena (Hamilton Girls' High School)
Risaleaana Pouri-Lane (captain, Motueka High School 2017)
Tiana Davison (Sacred Heart Girls' College, New Plymouth)
Tynealle Fitzgerald (Rangiuru Rugby Club) 

Carys Dallinger, Kiani Tahere and Mahina Paul were brought into the squad to replace Dhys Faleafaga, Jazmin Hotham (injuries) and Ricshay Lemalu (withdrawn).

As well as rugby, Paul is a member of the St Kent's Premier netball team and a New Zealand U18 touch player. Tahare, formerly of the Kapiti Coast and the Petone Rugby Club in Wellington is now at school in the Bay of Plenty and Carys Dallinger was Manukura's fullback at the recent Top 4 tournament and has played NPC rugby for the Manawatu Cyclones.

​The Bronze Boot was inaugurated in 1992 by John Blondin and his publishing company Rugby Press International (Australia).
​
It is awarded to one player from each team ‘For the most constructive player in a Schools Test series’. It is now seen as the most prestigious award for test matches between the Australian and New Zealand Schoolboys. Many recipients have gone to represent the Wallabies or All Blacks.
​
2018
Australia: 
New Zealand: Blair Murray, New Plymouth Boys High School

2017
Australia: Lachlan Lonergan, Trinity Christian College, ACT
New Zealand: Devon Flanders, Hastings Boys High School

2016
Australia: Opeti Helu, Newington College, NSW
New Zealand: Sione Havili, Auckland Grammar

2015
Australia: Harry Johnson-Holmes, Merewether High School, NSW
New Zealand: Alex Fidow, Scots College

2014
Australia: Connor Moroney, St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace QLD
New Zealand: Patelesio Tomkinson, Otago Boys’ High School

2013
Australia: Jack McCalman, The Kings School, NSW
New Zealand: Akira Ione, Auckland Grammar School, Auckland

2012
Australia: Jonah Placid, Toowoomba Grammar School, QLD
New Zealand: James Tucker, St Bede’s College, Christchurch

2011
Australia: Will Miller, The Scots College, NSW
New Zealand: Ardie Savea, Rongotai College, Wellington
​
2010
Australia:  Tim Donlan, St Ignatius College, NSW
New Zealand: Matt McGahan, Mount Albert Grammar School

2009
Australia: Liam Gill, St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace, QLD
New Zealand: Sam Cane, Reporoa College, Bay of Plenty

2008
Australia: Eddie Quirk, Brisbane State High, QLD
New Zealand: Blade Thomson, Gisborne Boys’ High School

2007
Australia: Robert Horne, Georges River Senior Campus Oatley, NSW
New Zealand: Charlie Ngatai, Gisborne Boys’ High School

2006
Australia: Rodney Ma’a, Westfields Sports High School, NSW
New Zealand: Luke Braid, Tauranga Boys’ HS

2005
Australia: David Pocock, Anglican Church Grammar School, QLD
New Zealand: Zarhn Commerer, New Plymouth Boys High

2004
Australia: Richard Stanford, The Scots College, NSW
New Zealand: Victor Vito, Scots College Wellington

2003
Australia: Tahjon Mailata, St Joseph’s College Nudgee, QLD
New Zealand: Aaron Bancroft, Marlborough Boys’ College

2002
Australia: Daniel Halangahu, The Kings School, NSW
New Zealand: Liam Messam, Rotorua Boys High School

2001
Australia: Tyrone Smith, St Edmunds College, ACT
England: Benjamin Durham, Pate’s Grammar School

2000
Australia: Luke Doherty, Iona College, QLD
New Zealand: Benjamin Atiga, Auckland Grammar School, Auckland

1999
Australia: Daniel Heenan, Marist College Ashgrove, QLD
New Zealand: Cameron McIntyre, St Bede’s College, Christchurch

1998
Australia: George Smith, Cromer High School, NSW
New Zealand: Jerry Collins, St Patrick's, Wellington

1997
Australia: Phil Waugh, Sydney Church of England Grammar School, NSW
New Zealand: Carl Hayman, Kings High School Dunedin

1996
Australia: Lachlan Grant, St Joseph’s College Nudgee, QLD
New Zealand Ashley Barron, Kings High School Dunedin

1995
Australia Nathan Franks: Knox Grammar  School, NSW
New Zealand:  Quintan Sanft, De La Salle Colege, Auckland

1994
Australia: Sean Hardman, Nudgee College, QLD
Wales: Neil Watkins, Neath College

1993
Australia: Tom Bowman, The Scot’s College, NSW
New Zealand: Carlos Spencer, Waiophehu Colege

1992
Australia: Nick Harvey, The Kings School, NSW
New Zealand: Jeffrey Wilson, Cargill High School, Invercargill

The New Zealand Secondary Schools’ have remained unbeaten against Australia since 2012, battling to a 26-12 victory in the annual Trans-Tasman test at Ballymore, Brisbane.

Driving rain and a heavy field meant both countries started cautiously, the visitors gaining the upper hand through strong lineout mauling.

Rivez Reihana failed to land his first penalty attempt, but the beastly Saula Mau wouldn’t be denied in the 10th minute from a ‘pick and go’ at close range. Moments earlier the tight head prop had been bundled into touch by multiple Australian defenders after attempting to finish in the corner.

New Zealand was unable to make the most of their territorial advantage and lapses in discipline invited the hosts back into the contest.

In the 29th minute disaster nearly struck when an attacking kick was jabbed into the New Zealand 22 forcing fullback Blair Murray to kick off the ground towards the sideline. Instead Murray volleyed into the hands of unmarked wing Daniel Ala who failed to secure cleanly with the line at his mercy.

The halftime score was 7-0.

The first seven minutes of the second spell was effectively a stalemate until a clamatious Aussie error proppled New Zealand 12-0 ahead. Niko Jones dabbed a kick down the sideline which clean bowled two Australians between the legs allowing Reihana to dribble forward and control over the course of 25-metres.

The Kiwis lineout was wobbly on occasions in the final 35 minutes, but secure possession and an authoritative drive made the score 19-0. Tamaiti Williams joined his fellow prop Sua on the scoresheet.

Australia showed plenty of backbone and exceptional openside Luke Reimer responded from an Aussie maul to close the gap to 19-5. The sideline conversion reduced the deficit to 19-7.

Australian replacement hooker Tyrell Kopua and second-five Joey Walton were difficult to restrain at times and a series of powerful charges created a breakthrough for substitute flanker Jeremy Williams.

New Zealand could have imploded but instead showed commendable composure and in the 66th minute Murray sealed victory on the end of an overlap, The New Plymouth Boys’ High School student had an eye catching tour despite his First XV having a modest season.

Mau appears to have a bright future and in conjunction with Tamaiti Williams ensured New Zealand had a solid platform throughout. Lock Sam Darry wasn’t flashy, but is highly efficient. Jones enjoyed some quality moments, Reihana played with poise and  Gideon Wrampling was resolute in testing conditions.

New Zealand haven't lost any game since a shock 20-22 setback against Fiji Schools in 2013. Their current unbeaten streak is 16 games. The record is 22.

New Zealand Schools

1. Tamaiti Williams (St Kentigern College)
2. Soane Vikena (Mt Albert Grammar School)
3. Saula Mau (Auckland Grammar School)
4. Thomas Martin (Hamilton Boys' High School)
5. Sam Darry (Christs' College)
6. Iona Apineru (St Patrick's College - Silverstream)
7. Anton Segner (Nelson College)
8. Niko Jones (St Peter's College)
9. Taufa Funaki (Sacred Heart College, Auckland)
10. Rivez Reihana (St Kentigern College)
11. Jacob Kneepkens (Francis Douglas Memorial College)
12. Chay Fihaki (Sacred Heart College, Auckland)
13. Isaiah Punivai (St Kentigern College)
14. Gideon Wrampling (St Paul's Collegiate)
15. Blair Murray (New Plymouth Boys' High School)

Reserves
16. Tyrone Thompson (Napier Boys' High School)
17. Matt Graham-Williams (St Kentigern College)
18. Patrick Thacker (Christ's College)
19. Josh Lord (Hamilton Boys' High School)
20. Simon Parker (St Peter's School)
21. Louie Chapman (Christchurch Boys' High School)
22. Zarn Sullivan (King's College)
23. Josiah Maraku (Feilding High School)

Australian Schools
​
1. Angus Bell (c), Newington College
2. Billy Pollard, Barker College
3. Zane Hogan, St Edmund's College Canberra
4. Will Harris, The Scots College
5. Tom Van der Schyff, The Southport School
6. Luca Moretti, Waverley College
7. Luke Reimer, Barker College
8. Bailey Tautau, St Joseph’s Nudgee College
9. Spencer Jeans, The Southport School
10. Carter Gordon, Brisbane Boys' College
11. Brendan Jimenez, St Edmund's College Canberra
12. Joey Walton, Wadalba Community School
13. Lachlan Ilias, Trinity Grammar School
14. Daniel Ala, St Augustine’s College
15. John Connolly, The Kings School
​
Reserves
16. Tyrell Kopua, The Southport School
17. Harry Vella, St Joseph’s Nudgee College
18. Thomas Lambert, Trinity Grammar School
19. Jeremy Williams, The Scots College
20. Cayle Manu, St Joseph’s Nudgee College
21. Seb Strang, The Scots College
22. Reesjan Pasitoa, St Joseph’s Nudgee College
23. Angus Bell, St Ignatius College