13 games for 11 wins and 2 losses

1st XV vs Timaru BHS won 37-16

The 1st XV played the only unbeaten team in their competition, Timaru Boys' High School, at School Park in Timaru. It was a cap game for tight forward Will Sparrow. The big Timaru pack was dangerous when they entered our 22 but our team was more skilful and expansive than the opposition. The final score was a very satisfying 37 – 16 in our favour. The player of the day was George Gunn. This game was the Centennial encounter between the two schools and was also the inaugural game for the O’Sullivan Cup which recognises the very significant links that this family has with the two schools.

Tries.: Shadrock Sevele 2, Ben Shipley, Tanner Stowers-Smith and Reilly Lucas. Conversions: Mason Allison 3. Penalties: Mason Allison 1.

2nd XV vs STC 2nd XV won 66-5

A very clinical performance from the team today after a match last week which, whilst still a good win, asked a lot of questions about how we are wanting to play. Though we had an opponent today struggling with form, it still took some good commitment and execution to come away with such a comprehensive victory. The team earned the right to score these points through good structure and discipline. Points were being scored relatively consistently throughout the game, with just a small quiet period in the second half. This performance bodes well going into the final game of the round against CBHS 2nd XV - the only other unbeaten team in the league. We feel the game next week will be an excellent yardstick to show us where we are as a team. Most players performed well today, but a standout would be Oliver Lawry at 10 who scored three tries and led the team around the field well. As did Captain Charlie Stenberg, who scored a good try and converted all but one of the team's tries. Also Roan Brown had a strong game both at wing and in the midfield. Roan scored a couple of tries and set at least one other up. The forwards toiled well and set excellent platforms, with big improvements in the lineout being particularly pleasing. 

3rd XV vs SBHS 2nd XV lost 14-15

It was well known that Shirley Boys' were at the top of the standings and were coming at the St Bede's 3rds this week following a big win last weekend. Shirley must have been surprised with the 3rds boiling hot start. Revel Mumuta scored an early try with a charge and step, to land him over the line.
Both forwards and backs were firing. Relentless first receivers Josh MacDonald and Hamish Rooney took the ball up into contact. Gem Inkster was in close driving support. Josh ran on the angle dragging half the opposition forwards with him while Hamish went direct, almost horizontal sometimes, over the advantage line.
The backs were hungry. Andre Robinson was punishing in defence with electric speed. Jimmy Hastings stepped and swerved and tackled his larger opposite into touch. Harry Friend was deft, deep from fullback making good ground putting his teammates on side. The backs were sharp and needed more ball.

Just before half time Shirley got some momentum. George Lawry made a textbook turnover that thwarted the Shirley attack. But they still came back and scored. St Bede's were just ahead 7 - 5 at the half.

Soon into the second half Shirley showed some clever back play and scored taking the lead 10 - 7. St Bede's came back. Sam McAfee drove over. Bede's now ahead 14 -10 were looking at a potential upset only to let a late try in minutes later to lose by 14 -15.

The 3rds played one of their better games. Everyone played hard and improved intensity on last week. Throughout the games so far though, there is a tendency to go from focused to complacent, boiling hot to a gentle simmer. When they're on, the 3rds could beat all the teams encountered so far.
Two big characters of the team, the aforementioned first receivers, spoke afterwards of the "Mighty 3rds". The Mighty 3rds will be looking forward to meeting the same opposition teams again in the next rounds as their pride, capability and consistency increases.

4th XV vs SBHS 3rd XV won 17-10

U75kgs "Red" vs StAC U75kgs won 24-19

After a good win a week earlier the St Bede’s U75kg Red team went into the game against 7th placed St Andrew’s with a lot of confidence. Unfortunately this confidence seemed to turn into complacency and in the first half the Bede’s team produced some of their worst rugby of the season. Through a combination of unforced errors and lacklustre defence the team found themselves 19-0 down against a physical St Andrew’s side playing with a lot of passion. St Andrew’s were unlucky not to score a few more tries and on several occasions were held up over the line thanks to some last ditch defence. The only highlight for Bede’s in the first half was near halftime when they finally put together a few phases then worked the ball out wide to Charlie Challies-Gibb who produced an excellent finish in the corner after beating two men on the outside.
The score at halftime was 19-7 and after the break Bede’s put aside the first half and played with a lot more purpose and enthusiasm. Early in the half the boys attacked the gain line and played with structure leading to a good break by Jack Grant who produced a great offload to Byron Geer who scored an unconverted try. Bede’s dominated possession in the second half, but found themselves up against a willing St Andrew’s team defending well and line breaks were not easy to come by. The deadlock was broken when Todd McDermott produced a chip through which he managed to fly-hack over the try line and pounce on before it rolled over the dead-ball line. With the scores at 19-17 and Bede’s with the majority of possession the boys kept attacking looking for the winning score. This finally came from player of the day Charlie Coakley who capped off a strong game by powering over the line from the base of the scrum with defenders hanging off him. With a few minutes left on the clock Bede’s made a few errors in their own half leading to a nervous finish, but the team managed to hold up a last ditch attacking effort from St Andrew’s and force the ball into touch to win the game 24-19.
The boys showed a lot of character to drag themselves back into the game thanks to a strong second half performance. However, there will be much for them to work on at training during the week.

U75kgs "Black" vs CBHS U75kgs "Gold" won 70-7

With another trip to Straven Road to play against CBHS Gold the team was ready to put in a strong performance. After a good start by St Bede's the early possession and territory were shared evenly until we were able to have Josh Fraher crash over for the first try and Cam Howison converting after some excellent build up work by the forwards.

CBHS struck back and it took some determined defence by St Bede's to hold their line after repeated efforts by CBHS to score. It took an excellent turnover to get out of our defensive line and from then on it was one way traffic as St Bede's took control to play some of their best rugby of the season.

The forwards continued to dominate with Christian Gilbert and Matthew Glen going over next for well deserved tries. With the team combining through strong carries through and the forwards providing quick ball for the backs to allow them to show their skills, some fantastic team tries were scored allowing Daniel Ballie, Luke McBrydie, Cam Howison, Fraser Brown and Josh Fraher to score. The team all showed some excellent inter-passing and offloads throughout which they have been working on.

With a halftime score of 44 – 0 the game continued in the same way in the second half with further dominance and some great lineout work by Olly Meates to get a number of lineout steals. In the last quarter the forwards and backs swapped roles which provided all with some appreciation of other roles, where we may have found some new positions for some players. Rawiri Pachnatz scored following a determined run and Rheubyn Hunter showed great pace as he crossed for two tries in succession after excellent build up while Fraser Brown crossed for the final try following a strong carry.

With the final score of 70 – 7 the team put in a fantastic display of running rugby and continued improvement in all facets of play will keep them in good stead for the weeks ahead.

U65kgs vs SBHS U65kgs won 65-0

Straight from the kick off the boys showed their intent to run direct and hard at Shirley Boys'. Man of the Match Mitchell Murtha ran strongly through a number of players which resulted in a ruck in Shirley’s 22, quick ball and Dominic Knill scored the opening try. Mitchell replicated the same run from the restart and Billy Lewis’ quick thinking from a penalty saw him cross the line. 5 minutes in and St Bede's were 10 points up. The pressure on Shirley Boys' continued from Joey Pawson with a lovely miss pass in the backs putting George Watson in to score in the corner. Again from the restart Mitchell took the ball at the Shirley team and from the resulting ruck Billy Lewis carved through the opposition to score. Not to be out done Mitchell Murtha took the ball on the half way line to run in a much deserved try. Joey Pawson shortly afterwards kicked through and collected to score. As the first half drew to a close the pressure that Shirley were under started to take its toll and they had a player sin binned for a head high tackle. At the close of the half Luke Norton scored. The first half was a wonderful example of what the team can do when they play as a team.

Early into the second half Shirley were down to 13 men as they had another player sin binned for a head-high tackle. Although Shirley were down to 13 to their credit they became more focused and the match got a lot tighter. George Watson finished off a team try that had the backs and forwards combining to stretch the shortened Shirley defensive line. Sadly for Shirley as they gained back a player, after his 10 minutes, they lost another to a red card for a dangerous tackle. St Bede's added 3 further tries through the two Lukes, Luke Norton getting one and Luke Wayman getting 2. The game finished 65:0

The boys controlled the ball perfectly throughout the match and coupled with their quick recycling and direct running provided a convincing win.

U15 "Red" vs StAC U15 "A" won 39-17

A very pleasing result - a good turn-around after a loss last week to Christ’s College. St Andrew's scored first and then the St Bede's team came back well with a try of our own.

The work-ons from last week showed early in the game with St Bede's securing position for periods of time and the clean-outs at ruck time went extremely well. We also secured good ball from our scrums and line-outs, which both worked well with us winning most if not all put-in off our ball. We also managed to upset their rhythm by taking a number of their line-outs on their throw.

Some positives to take out of the second half was that we lifted our momentum after a slow start and went on to score some good tries. We were able to build phases and put pressure on St Andrew's.

The boys are growing in confidence in each their positions which is making a real difference to the way they play the game.

We had no injuries today, except for a black eye to Macca (Makahni Kerr) and it is not thought to be serious. Other players who have injuries are on the mend and we hope to have most if not all of them back after the school holidays.

Makahni was also the recipient of our player of the day award.

U15 "Black" vs CBHS U15 "B" won 29-12

Feature article:  https://hail.to/st-bedes-college/article/T6q0d77

U14 "Red" vs Otautahi U14 won 64-21

A good day for the U14 Red team beating Mauri Otautahi 64-21 and retaining the Challenge Shield.
A good start for both halves was great to see.... the boys having listened at practice, put the plans into place on field. Kymani and Charlie stormed in with three tries each. Ngakau was everywhere on the field, tackling, breaking lines and scoring.
Still some fine tuning to do but a good day for St Bede's. It was good to see the sportsmanship of our team too when an opposition player was hurt.. well done boys.

U14 "Black" vs Hillmorton HS U14 won 55-27

In what was likely to be a tough encounter at Hoon Hay vs a determined Hillmorton side, we had a sleepy start to the game with an early split ball resulting in a try to their winger from the scrum. This seemed to stir us and from there we were able to put some good phases together along with some strong runs. Ball retention was key with the soft conditions and slippery ball and we were able to contest well at the breakdown. After a sustained period of play inside their 22, Oscar Cox was able to crash over in the corner. This was followed shortly by some slick backline passing putting Max Morris into space and he finished strongly with Joel Harris converting the try. Hillmorton then spent a fair amount of time attacking our line and despite some resolute defence, were able to score from a pick and go drive. A sustained period of looking after our ball meant we were able to make big inroads into Hillmorton’s defence and the half finished with further tries to Luke Spanjer, Noah Whitfield and Max M.

The second half saw an early turnover by Connor Carroll and the resulting ball saw what the team can be capable of with some nice draw and pass work. This put Harry Gorman into space who finished well with some work to do. The game see-sawed from there with Hillmorton not giving up and they scored some good tries putting us under some pressure. We responded well with a tight-head on their 10 metre mark which allowed Oscar to run strongly from the back of the scrum to score a try that the tight five should be proud of. A couple more tries to Danny Boyce and Harry towards the end allowed the score to blow out a little.

Overall we are happy with the continued progress with big thanks to Bram and Aidan for that. As always there is plenty to work on but really pleasing to see everyone making a contribution on and off the field. Special mention to Max M and Noah for taking on positions in the backs and to Oscar for Forward of the Day and Joel for Back of the Day.

U14 "White" vs Merivale Papanui/Belfast U14 won 44-0

A comprehensive team effort from the Under 14 White team saw them come out as comfortable winners against Merivale Papanui at St Bede's on Saturday.
Dominating from the kick off, St Bede's found themselves dominating territory and possession in the early stages and this resulted in two quick tries which opened up a 10-0 lead. Merivale Papanui then found their rhythm and enjoyed a good period on attack. On a number of occasions they were unlucky not to cross the St Bede's tryline but they came up against some pretty staunch defence and good turnovers from both the backs and forwards protected the lead. St Bede's finished the first half off with 3 quick tries which saw them go to halftime with a 25-0 lead.
The 2nd half started off the way the first half finished, with 3 tries in the first 5 minutes increasing the lead and putting the result beyond doubt. The cohesion between the St Bede's forwards and backs was great to watch and tries kept coming at regular intervals. To their credit, Merivale Papanui never gave up and were rewarded with a well-deserved try halfway through the second half. St Bede quickly hit back with a number of tries and given the one-sided nature of the match, the referee called it off early.
It was a confidence building effort from the St Bede's team and the way they are improving from game to game is encouraging. Backs and forwards are working well together and despite being outsized by a lot of teams they are up against, they aren't afraid to get stuck in and have a real go.
Player of the day was Santana John who ran straight and hard and tackled strongly all day. Fraser Baker produced the tackle of the day in what was a very good team effort. Well-done boys.

Unofficial score post end of scoring and taking off one of our backs 54-5.

U55kgs vs CBHS U55kgs "Blue" lost 12-22

Prior to the game we spoke about the need to improve on last week's game, we needed to see improvement in the contact area and retaining possession of the ball for periods of time. We also talked about the need of reducing the number of penalties at the breakdown and staying on our feet along with making our first up tackles. Another big aim for today’s game was to be more active off the ball and have a bigger urgency in our support play.

From the first whistle Bede's were put on the back foot with some good determined forward play by Boys' High. This determined forward play by Boys' High and repeated infringements by Bede's in the breakdown area meant we struggled to get any sort of continuity with ball in hand. We spent almost the entire first half on defence and it was only due to the entire team pulling together and making countless tackles that saw us go into half time only 5 - 0 down.

The second spell saw us with a bit more ball in hand and two outstanding tries to Malachy Murphy and Patsy Fowley saw Bede's come back, just 15-12 behind with only minutes to play. Unfortunately it wasn’t our day and more infringing at the breakdown by Bede's and a runaway try by Boys' High saw the final score Boys' High 22 - St Bede's 12.

A real positive about this encounter was our tackling on defence and refusal to give in, something the whole team should be proud of.

Tackler of the day went to Will Fahey for the effort he put in on defence consistently throughout the match. Once again Jimmy Ferguson had an outstanding game and was deservedly nominated as Player of the Day.