Success for the Senior A Sevens Team and Fletcher Carpenter

Seven’s season is over for the PNBHS team after the grande finale that took place in the Condors Sevens tournament in Tāmaki Makaurau, played on the outstanding venue of King’s College.

The season started during the last holidays during which our players started to work hard. Step by step, the players and management put things together and got rewarded quickly with a win in the Sir Gordon Tietjen’s tournament held in Palmerston North.

Following this performance, the Hurricanes tournament was played in the Wairarapa and another great effort brought our boys to the final which was lost by a try short.

Being a Super Eight school brings greater opportunities for our young players. For the first time in history, a Super Eight Sevens has been created, allowing our players to play against very good sides for a new trophy. Two games in the pool were won versus New Plymouth and Napier. The loss against Hamilton had no impact on our qualification for the Cup quarterfinal. On the next day, our players had a convincing win against Tauranga. The final saw us facing Hamilton again and after a tough game (playing with only 6 players for 4 minutes on 14 minutes game is always a challenge), we lost in the final by a small margin. The attitude and behavior of this group were outstanding.

A small but interesting event was played in Feilding with other teams committing to the grand finale in Auckland. Scotts College, Whanganui Collegiate, Feilding High School and St Patricks Silverstream, offered powerful opposition. Another final played and lost against Collegiate did not impact the spirit of the players and everybody focused for the last dance of the year.

The Condors tournament is known as one of the world's best tournaments for Sevens players of this age group. To prepare for it, we want to thank the involvement of Wesley Clarke, recent rugby World Cup winner with the Black Ferns and former Manawatu Sevens coach, for his time and pieces of advice. His knowledge helped our players to understand better the concept of recovery and some key points about on-field decisions were appreciated.

For this tournament, players and management stayed in the new Waipārūrū Hall, part of the University of Auckland. The facilities were perfect with a team room, kitchen, laundry, and individual bedrooms. Conditions were superb for the best preparation of the players.

The first day saw us winning all our games facing different teams with different strengths and mentalities. Gisborne was the first of this game and the passion of our opponents disturbed our structure but we managed to get the win in the end (19-10). The second game of the day was against Saint Paul’s Ponsonby and this game was the toughest of the day, facing skillful and structured players. Our players alternated between game plans and initiatives until a win (26-15). The feeling of good achievement led us to the last game of the day against Pukekohe High School, winning 36-5 with rotations within the squad.

Day 2 of the tournament is always a challenge, especially when playing the quarterfinal of the Cup against the best eight teams in the country. This year, four Super Eight schools teams faced four Auckland schools. Westlake was our opponent for the quarterfinal and the boys played a solid game advancing to the semifinal against… Hamilton Boys'. This game was a hard one and we could not keep up with the intensity of the opposition. After a big loss, team spirit and mana could have dropped but it could not happen with this group. To farewell the Year 13, playing their last game with the crest on their heart, our team climbed on a strong and pace Rotorua Boys team and won the game to finish third in the country, an outstanding performance.

The players within the group during the campaign and the last tournament showed outstanding character, on and off the field. This has been recognised by facilities management, tournament management and opposing teams.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Fletcher Carpenter was selected for the Condor 7's Tournament Team, a fantastic reward for his hard work and determination.

Pool Play:

v Gisborne Boys' High School - win 19 - 10

v St Paul's Collegiate (Auckland) - win 26 - 15

v Pukekohe High School - win 36 - 5

Quarter final v Westlake boys' High School - win 26 - 15

Semi-final v Hamilton Boys' High School - loss 7 - 43

3rd/;4th playoff v Rotorua Boys' High School - win 26 - 19, finish 3rd