Having the privilege of playing in the Manawatu College First XV from 2000 - 2002, it came as an honour to be asked to coach the team this year

As a die hard rugby fan I could not wait to take up the challenge with my wife, Elizabeth Reid, in toe as the manager. It all started in late February with the First XV gathering for preseason training. The boys were in for a hard slog to get up to speed on our game plan with help from Tipu Luke, Mase Pakau-Wallace, Darryl Nepia and Kristin Wilson.

First up the boys entered the 7’s tournament in Levin during our pre season which was good to air the lungs out. With a big win over Nua, it was a great start. Super 6’s were held back in March where we came up against the home team, Horowhenua College 1st XV. This should have been a tough game for us but we out ran them convincingly in the end to come up with a comfortable win and keep them scoreless at the same time.

Things were looking good for the season ahead, especially after we won a friendly pre-season clash against a Sam McCool coached Boys' High Colts' team. Next step, grading. We played two grading games, one against QEC which was won 24-12 and then up against St Peter’s College with a comfortable win of 34-0 thanks to three tries from Shay Syme borrowed from the Under 15’s. These two victories put us in Premier Two which was going to be a tough challenge for a fairly young and green side.

Our first competition game was against Manakura 2nd XV where we traveled to their home ground with only 17 players, which unfortunately became a common occurrence throughout the season. Due to this we took a bit of a beating in this game and were unable to put any points on the board. This was the beginning of a tough season ahead. In saying this we showed plenty of character and never gave up at any stage during any games, so a huge congratulations should be given to the boys.

Opunake was a highlight for us this year as it was the turning point in our season. Travelling up to Taranaki we managed to put in a hard fought effort being down only 10-5 just after half-time. Unfortunately we were over-run 29-5 in the end, with the help of some interesting calls from the ref! A huge mention must go to Dion McErlean who played the whole second half with an injured ankle (that he failed to tell the coach about!).

As a first time coach I would like to thank all of the people involved in rugby at Manawatu College. A huge thank you must go to Waynne Napier, Elizabeth Reid, Nathan Webb, Kylie Kauri, Bruce McIntyre and all of the supporters who came to our games each week, for all the kind words and encouragement given to not only me but the whole team. All in all it was an extremely well played season by everyone and we know exactly what we need to do to win next year, so let’s do it boys!

Scott McGhie, Coach