Silverstream beat New Plymouth in sports exchange

St Patrick's College, Silverstream defeated visitors New Plymouth Boys' High School 22-10 in the First XV rugby and 3-2 in the First XI football in their annual exchange this afternoon.

A fast start propelled Silverstream to their a 22-10 rugby win. 

 Two tries in the first five minutes rocked the visitors who fought bravely, but never looked like winners.

Shortly after the kickoff, Silverstream first-five Sam Clarke pierced through the New Plymouth defence travelling from 22 to 22 before transferring to fullback Rocco Berry who switched back to Clark to finish in the corner. The conversion missed and it was 5-0.

Silverstream blindside Iona Apineru was a destructive presence often making a series of shattering tackles, but it was his sleight of hand which created a second try. Offloading nimbly in contact created an overlap which was eventually completed by prop Luke Chisholm after a 30-meter charge from wing Fritz Rayasi.

When New Plymouth rarely acquired possession they looked promising, especially second-five Daniel Rona. However it was the forwards who took initial credit on the scoreboard with prop Tuterangi Anderson rumbling over from a lineout drive.

Silverstream had the last say of the first-half when halfback Swayde Brightwell charged down an attempted clearance, juggling the rebound to cross the chalk for his second try in as many games.

The second-half was an error ridden affair. Silverstream left several points out on the field with Raysai breaking at will and Riley Higgins and Sivarn Owens-Agnew being called back after receiving forward passes.

Rayasi did eventually record Silverstream's fourth try about ten minutes before time when he slipped his smaller marker and galloped 40-metres

New Plymouth, featuring six Year 11 students, were well organised and battled honourably. Workhorse lock Josh Clark scored the last try to make the final score. 22-10.

This fixture was the 87th meeting between the two schools. New Plymouth have won 53 times and Silverstream on 30 occasions with a third of their wins coming since 2004. The four draws happened in 1936, 1948, 1966 and 1995.

Silverstream retains the McDonald Shield which has been up for grabs since 1999.

Silverstream score in the football. PHOTO: Hamish Wareham.

In the First XI football Silverstream edged New Plymouth 3-2. Scores were tied 1-1 at halftime, but two goals early in the second half was the telling difference despite a late resurgence by New Plymouth.  Ben Taylor (2) and Jack Antonopoulos scored the victors goals while Ben Wilson and Daniel Cleland impressed for New Plymouth.

In the other big rugby traditional today Southland Boys’ High School and Otago Boys’ High School shared a 14-14 draw. Otago scored the first try, only for Southland to respond twice before Otago ensured this tussle dating back to last century was drawn for the first time since 2010.

OBHS missed a penalty on fulltime to win. 

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Above: Try scoring highlights in the First XV rugby fixture
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Below: Rugby exchange records between the two schools.