News

After 12 rounds of competition, the UC Championship is proving a close-fought contest in 2016. The secondary schools competition, consisting of 15 teams from within the Crusaders region, features a number of players keen to make their mark in the first XV, and a number of sides are making claim to this year’s title. Here is a round-up of the competition so far:

The intensity of this year’s schools’ competition was evident from round one, when Marlborough Boys’ College toppled Christchurch Boys’ High School 22-18 in Christchurch and Timaru Boys’ High School beat Lincoln High 92-7, running in an impressive 15 tries in the process. Christ’s College lead the standings after 11 weeks of competition on 49 points, just two points clear of Christchurch Boys’ High School, who defeated them in Round 7 to break their unbeaten record in the competition this season. Christ’s College have yet to drop a match since that top-of-the-table clash with Boys’ High and both sides remain key title contenders with only a few regular season games in hand. Last year’s champions St Bede’s College currently occupy the mid-table, while beaten 2015 finalists Shirley Boys’ High School have a tough run if they are to secure a spot in the play-offs, hosting Christ’s College and Waimea Combined before wrapping up the round robin against Christchurch Boys’ High School on Saturday 6^th August.

Sam Gilbert continues to anchor the St Andrew’s College backline; the talented first five-eighth is the competition’s leading points scorer (114 points), with four tries to his name and a further 94 points off the tee so far this season. Josh Reece (Marlborough Boys’ College – 110 points), William Havili (Nelson College – 96 points), Jackson Taylor (Shirley Boys’ High School – 87 points) and Luke Glen (St Bede’s College – 72 points) round out the top five highest points scorers so far, all having made notable contributions with the boot. Burnside High School player Mikaele Ravalawa heads the try tally, with 13 tries scored so far, including a hat-trick against Roncalli College in Round 9. Christ’s College back Isaiah Punivai is one try behind having dotted down 12 times, and Timaru Boys’ High School’s Isireli Kawa, has crossed the chalk 11 times already this season.

Also on the line this year is the Moascar Cup, one of New Zealand rugby’s most coveted schools’ trophies, currently within the Crusaders region. In the season to date, the Cup has changed hands twice within the UC Championship; Timaru Boys’ High School won the Cup for the first time in their history in round eight of competition, defeating St Andrew’s College. That same week, Nelson College travelled to Alpine Energy Stadium and also made history for their school, returning home with the Cup after an impressive 18-3 victory. St Andrew’s College had a second chance at claiming back the silverware when they travelled north to provide Nelson College with their first challenge on 25^th June, but so far the Nelson side have shown steely determination in fighting off the challenges of St Andrew’s College, Shirley Boys’ High School and St Thomas of Canterbury. The remaining rounds provide another two challenge opportunities (to Roncalli College and Lincoln High School) as those sides make the trip to Nelson in rounds 14 and 15 respectively.

Given the current standings, a number of teams still have plenty to play for in the remaining three rounds of competition, as they look to secure play-off spots on Saturday 13^th August for the UC Championship (1^st - 4^th place), Plate (5^th - 8^th place) and Bowl (9^th – 12^th place) semi-finals. The finals for each section are set to take place on Saturday 20^th August.