The Senior A Touch Team were crowned National Secondary School Champions in Auckland over the weekend.

The National Secondary Schools Touch Tournament was held in Auckland, where our Columba team was vying for their first title.  Columba came runner-up in 2016, with no Otago school having ever won a title in any grade.

Day one saw a big win against Morrinsville 10-1, and Trident 9-1.  Also in our pool were St Kentigern College, with multiple titles to their name.   After a tight tussle we went down 3-1, but coming second in our pool was enough to put the team through to the top 8.

Day two saw the team again looking for a minimum of two wins to progress through to the top 4.  A fired up Whangarei Girls tested the team at times, but we came away 7-4 victors.  Mount Albert Grammar School were next, another elite touch school in Auckland.  MAGS were, however, no match for our team, with an 8-4 scoreline on the whistle.  Westlake was up last, with a win or a draw needed to secure top position.  The game see-sawed throughout, with Columba scoring two minutes from time to tie the game up 6-6.  This draw saw the team through to the Top 4 as top seed from our pool, ready to face Hamilton Girls' in the semi-final.

Sunday - finals day.  With huge support from the other Dunedin schools at the tournament and our amazing travelling supporters, we faced Hamilton Girls' who had beaten us in the 2016 final.  This time, the roles were reversed and we pulled away to a 4-1 half-time lead.  The second half was more even, with the final score 7-4 to Columba.  A composed and clinical game by our team sent us to the big dance!

With all the ceremony of a grand final, our team were announced out onto the park.  We were calm and collected, ready to reverse our pool play result.   A fast start saw St Kentigern score first, but this was quickly matched by a set-up to put Grace Macbeth over in the corner.  We struck again to put Meg Breen through a hole, for St Kentigern to then tie it up, 2-2 at halftime.

McKayler Moore showed her pace to score, levelling the scores at 3-3 before we began to pull away.  Madi Williams and Brylee More touchdowns at the end of some fantastic teamwork saw the score out to 5-3.  St Kentigern scored once more, but that was to be their last.  Brylee scored again before McKayler Moore set Liv Preston up to score in the corner on the final hooter.  Columba College became National Champions, 7-4.

An amazing team, with McKayler Moore, Claudia Carruthers, Kate Macbeth and Meg Breen winning a National title in their final year.  Mr PJ Turnbull has coached this team for five years, in combination with our own Miss Dayna Turnbull for the past four.  This coaching, mixed with the dedication of these players, has turned Columba into National Touch Champions!

Meg Sycamore and Maia Joseph were named in the tournament team, with McKayler Moore being named tournament MVP.  Within our team, Brylee More was named 'best up-and-coming', Olivia Fowler was selected by the team as 'player's player', and Meg Sycamore was named MVP.

We would like to sincerely thank all our parent support throughout the season, through their fundraising and support of the girls.  Your help throughout the season and at the tournament is invaluable.  The sixteen girls in this team did Columba very proud, playing with grace throughout and bringing home the NZSS Girls' Touch Championship.