The Senior A Touch Team have continued their impressive results, finishing with the silver medal at the South Island Secondary School Tournament.

With recent success, winning the Otago Secondary School Tournament, the touch team travelled to Christchurch last weekend to play teams from around the South Island.

Pool play saw wins over Waitaki Girls', Burnside High School, Motueka High School, Rangi Ruru Girls' School and Nelson College for Girls.  A staggering 41 tries for and only 4 against in pool play!

The semi-final saw us play the talented Southland Girls' High School, as the sixth game in two days, the players needed to dig deep to make the final again.  They succeeded, and with a 5-2 win, Columba made the South Island final!

The final saw us matched against our old foe, St Hilda's, showing the amazing depth of talent that we have here in Dunedin.  We were grateful that both teams made the final so that we weren't forced to play against each other any earlier in the tournament.

The game sea-sawed throughout.  Each time one team scored, the other soon replied.  Unfortunately, St Hilda's scored with a couple of minutes to go and Columba could not find the equaliser for a 5-4 loss.  This is still an amazing result considering the team is made up of only five senior students and 11 juniors with 5 players new to the team this year.

We would like to thank Miss Turnbull for her amazing coaching. It was a huge effort from her, especially given she is expecting her first child in less than six weeks!  Thank you also to Mr PJ Turnbull for his assistance and wisdom over the weekend as well - your help is always appreciated.  To our parents who were able to make the trip, thank you for all your support over the weekend!

The team will now focus on their other passions over the winter, regathering late in Term Three to look toward the National Secondary School Tournament in Rotorua in December.  Touch - what a game!

Photo credit:  Tania Barr and Meli Fowler