Brockbank Graves Rugby Tournament

We started the first round of the Brockbank Graves Rugby Tournament on 10 May. This year's tournament includes Buller, Greymouth and Darfield High School. There are six rounds, each team playing each school twice.

While Darfield and Buller were playing against each other, JPII hosted the first round, locally, against Greymouth High School. Two games were played, U15s and 1st XV. Each game consists of two, thirty minute halves.

Starting the match the U15s were three players down so, GHS kindly lent us three players to bulk our team. The final score was 46 - 5, to us!!

After watching the U15s take the win, the 1st XV were hungry for a second. With 6 players that had just played in the U15s, were now onto their second game. The wind was at its peak, cold and very wet, the 1st XV were out for the win, and that's what they got. Final score 41 - 10.

U15s Team

Keil Guthrie, Ethan Williams, Jari Atkinson, Will O’Reilly, Max Walklin, Seth Wilson, Mack Fahey, Quinn Berry, Kade Howe, Jack Costelloe, Cooper McLean (C) & Payton Guthrie.

1st XV Team

Keil Guthrie, Max Walklin, Seth Wilson, Mack Fahey, Cooper McLean, Payton Guthrie, Robbie Lyford, Eddie Motu, Toby Sharp, Cole Butters, Levi Calder, Matty Molloy (C), Liam Donaldson (VC), Lochie Gibson, Taine Hilton, Jack Byrne.

Game breakdowns

U15s

Starting the match with 12 players and an additional three players from Greymouth High School, the boys were ready to give GHS a competitive competition. Four minutes into the match we secured our first try. Payton was fast on his feet, weaving himself around several GHS players to snatch the first 5 points. Starting the game strong, we were able to stop GHS from any runaways and tries. A chip and chase was made by Payton, along with a conversion kick taking us to 12-0. Finishing the first half strong, Payton was able to gain another try and conversion. GHS scored their first try with only minutes to spare before half time. Offensively, Payton had an outstanding first half, and defensively JPII played fast and strong leaving no open space for GHS. Great ongoing tackles were made by Mack, Keil and Seth. Jari and Will were alert at all times and had good coverage of the outskirts of the field.

Continuing on to the second half, GHS knocked on the ball which led to us to a scrum. JPII were able to trick GHS with where the ball was going and who had it. From this Max was able to push through to the tryline. With more amazing defense play, Quinn was getting amongst the action in the middle of play. While leading GHS to the far side of the field, a few quick passes back into the middle, to Cooper, which gave him a run away from inside our own half. Even though there were GHS players filling our team, they were not shy to go up against their own team peers, Harlan (GHS) boldly went through his own team and scored for us. New to the game, Will, who was not shy to get involved in the game, took on a few big tackles from GHS. Max was able to secure his second try for the game. Back to 12 players on our team, we still managed to stay strong and stop all tries from the opponent team. Despite the lack of players on our team, Jack was able to take the last try of the match. The final score of the match 46 - 5. Teamwork was evident throughout this whole game and was reflected in the score.

1st XV

Rain, wind and cold temperatures did not slow down the 1st XV team. With six players in their second game of the day, they showed no exhaustion playing as well as they did in their first game. Before the game, Matty (captain) and Liam (vice-captain) got the team hyped and went through some game planning. Moving into the play, great agility was shown from Cooper as he scored the first try of this match. Taking the lead of the game, it gave the boys good confidence. Pushing the ball further down to score again, there were several breaks that led us closer to the try line. Payton barged through many GHS players, but within a few meters of the try line GHS were about to push him out of the field. Quick movement from Payton as he was able to throw the ball back into the field before getting dragged out and with great reaction, Toby caught the ball and placed it on the try line, surprising us and the rest of the team. Great passes from Liam Lochie and Max drew GHS to one side, leaving great open spaces for us. Eddie and Cole had no fear when it came to running the ball up the field. It took several GHS players to take the boys down, and with quick play from the team captain, Matty was able to claim the next two tries. Two conversions from Payton set us to 24, GHS were able to get their first try just before halftime.

Starting with the second half 19 points up, it gave good playing room for the team to follow through with their tactics. Lochie was fast at getting the ball out from the ruck, this push for fast offensive play, which made GHS work. Not wasting any time, Toby was already on his second try. Again, a lot of good defense only gave GHS one shot to score another try. GHS struggled to move from two tries they weren’t able to get anymore tries, their main focus was stopping JPII from scoring more. 29-10 quickly changed to 34-10 as Jack, Liam, Matty and Lochie led the ball up the field allowing Max to take his first try for this game and third try for the whole day. Using tactics, Robbie, Seth Levi and Mack were key players for moving the ball outwards. This opened up the whole left-hand side of the field. With these tactics it led ____ to score the final try of the day! Fighting the wind, one conversion was made in the second half taking the score to 41-10.

With two strong wins, there was no better way to start the first round of this tournament. The after-match speeches and food brought everyone together; chatting about the game, the horrible weather and other things. GHS awarded our very own captain, Matty, player of the match!

JPII 50/50 Sports Tournament Fundraiser raffle results