Captain of Rugby, Liam Anderson, reports on our stellar rugby season.

The 2022 Rugby season has now come to an end, with many great results to show for it and silverware to be locked away for another year, once again showing why HBHS is consistently at the top of schoolboy rugby in New Zealand. However, all this would not be possible without the skills, knowledge, and assistance from all of the coaches, trainers and parent support which I know all of the boys at HBHS are extremely grateful for. The early mornings and pre-season fitness trainings turned out to be worth it as it was a very successful season to say the least.

The Under 14A Rugby team had a strong season with a solid second place in the Waikato Secondary Schools Under 15 Division 1 competition and then going on to win the Under 14 Super 8 competition. Winning against Tauranga Boys' College in the annual exchange is definitely something they can be proud of as well with coaches Mr Gibbs and Mr McKenzie doing a fantastic job this year.

The Under 15A team had a strong season as they were winners of the Waikato Secondary Schools Under 16 Division 1 competition. They then travelled down to Christchurch for the NZSS Under 15 National Tournament, where they finished sixth. They also won four out of five of their exchanges and traditional fixtures. I would like to give a big thank you to coaches Mr Katene and Mr Te Ruki-Chambers for doing a great job coaching the Under 15A side this year.

The 2nd XV, which involved players from Year 11 to 13 this year, was a very exciting and hard-working team. The 2nd XV competition is very competitive and a strong performance is required each week to ensure you get the result you are after. Coaches Matua West and Mr Moorby did a fantastic job coaching, despite falling short in the final. I would call their season this year a success and the boys should be proud of their efforts as the Super 8 is one of the toughest competitions in the country and to finish second is a result the coaching staff and players can be proud of. Also thanks goes to Mr Richards-Coxhead for his contribution while Mr Moorby was overseas.

Finally, with a mostly COVID-free season and a return to normality this year, the 2022 1st XV was in for a full length and exciting season with Super 8 and the National Top 4 tournament all going ahead, with our goal being to win Super 8 first and foremost. With only seven boys returning from the 2021 1st XV we knew we had to bond well as a team to create a strong positive culture which would bring the best out of each player. We did this through a tough bootcamp at Waihi Beach and being around each other every day helped strengthen this team culture.

The 2022 1st XV Super 8 competition was very competitive and rated by most as easily the toughest 1st XV competition in the country. We went undefeated throughout the round robin and gained a four try bonus point in each of the seven games. The highlights included regaining The Boot off Tauranga Boys' College, 30-5, winning the Moascar Cup for the first time since 2014 off Rotorua Boys' High School, 28-19, beating a strong Napier Boys' High School team, 22-8, and holding off a strong challenge against Hastings Boys' High School, 26-21, in Hastings. By gaining a place in the Super 8 final we ticked off one of our goals, but we were up against Rotorua Boys' again and the Moascar was also on the line. The final was always a close affair, with moments of brilliance from both teams, but the Rotorua maul on full time proved to be too strong for us to defend and with their kicker slotting the conversion they took the win 20-19. We were devastated, losing both the Moascar Cup and Super 8 shield. All of our hard work throughout the year, beginning way back in December 2021, felt like it had gone to waste. Strange things happen in sport though and as it eventuated we still had another chance to prove ourselves in the Chiefs Cup. The Chiefs Cup qualifications saw us victorious against St John's College, 31-12, Tauranga Boys' College, 20-17, and eventually New Plymouth Boys' High School, 8-7, in the Chiefs final, with two of the games seeing us win by a penalty kick. We also won back the Moascar off Tauranga who had won it the previous week from Rotorua.

We reached our goal of getting to Top 4 but now we had to win two games with only a one-day turnaround. On the Friday we played the undefeated South Island champions John McGlashan College where we played some of our best rugby and managed to comfortably secure the win, 48-14. This would see us play Super 8 rivals Napier Boys' High School in the final. With sore bodies and the Moascar Cup again up for grabs, we had a big target on our backs. In one of the toughest games I have played in and against a huge defensive effort by Napier, we scored on full time after trailing all game to win 17-15 and claim our fifth ever Top 4 National title and kept the Moascar for the summer.

Suddenly it had felt like all the work we had done from December had paid off and being able to say the HBHS 1st XV is the best schoolboy team in the country for 2022 was extremely special. I would like to thank Mr Hotham, Mr Kirkham, Mr Asplin, Alf Daniels, Mr Moorby, Paul Head, Chris Pett, Nathan Smith, Lewis Kittsen and Mrs Clark for all your commitment and contributions to the 1st XV in this tough year. I would like to thank everyone for their support this year and hope the 2023 season can be even more successful. Thank you.

Seven members of our National championship winning 1st XV Rugby team went on to be selected in New Zealand representative teams. Caelys-Paul Putoko, Payton Spencer, and Aki Tuivailala were selected in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team, Tama Hodgson, William Martin, and Brodie Robinson made the New Zealand Barbarians side, and Raharuhi Palmer was selected in the New Zealand Māori team. Kia kaha to our talented young rugby players, you are ones to watch in the future!