The annual National Secondary Schools Touch Tournament was held in Rotorua, in December 2020, where HBHS set out to win our 9th title in the past 13 years and claim back to back to back championships. Day 1 of the NZSS Touch Nationals began and our HBHS Touch team was filled with a mixture of excitement and nerves as a number of our senior players were absent due to sevens commitments. A lot of excitement was built around this young team which consisted of multiple juniors which was rare especially with the level of skill being so high within our school. We began our first game against Otago Boys’ High School where we had a shaky start to the tournament with a 7 - 8 loss. We gathered ourselves and put out a massive effort coming away with a comfortable 10 - 2 win over Hato Paora. Coming into the last game of Day 1 it was a ‘must win’. Despite the heroic efforts from the team, we unfortunately went down 7 - 8 which meant we were now competing in the plate division on Days 2 and 3.

On Day 2 we had a huge boost of our morale with having all the senior players back from sevens. As a team we gathered ourselves and won all 3 of our games on this day. With the results being a 10 - 5 win vs Hastings Boys’ High School, a 12 - 2 win vs Hutt International Boys’ School and a convincing 15 - 4 win vs Whangarei Boys’ High School to finish off Day 2.

Day 3 was our finals day and our boys were determined to finish strongly for the Year 13s in the team who had given so much to the touch programme at HBHS. We arrived early to the fields where we were faced against tough opponents Christchurch Boys’ High School. Christchurch had improved significantly throughout the tournament but could not keep up with our speed, ending in a 11 - 1 win to HBHS. These wins meant that we made the plate final where we came up against a classy Auckland Grammar team. With this being the last game for our Year 13s, we sought a performance which would make them proud. With an outstanding performance we managed to come away with a 11 - 5 win which meant we placed 11th in New Zealand.

I would like to thank our coaches Mr Hotham, Matua Graham and Mr David Te Whare, and manager Matua Harley Raihe for their development of each and every player on and off the field, not only improving our touch skills but improving our character and values as young men. I would also like to thank Mr Maxie Kemara and Mr Craig Fladgate for graciously giving up their time to stay with the team and help around the marae.

By Taha Kemara

Captain of Touch