To be defended vs Christ's College 25 July

The Trustbank Cup began life as the trophy for the New Zealand Schools Champion – then gifted to the South Island to be our version of the Moascar Cup – unlike the Moascar this is played for every game between 1st XVs, home or away.

The first match was played between Southland Boys and Otago Boys on the 8th of June 1994 at Littlebourne. The match was won by OBHS 34-10.

Since then it has been played for 300 times with the recent St Bede’s College vs Shirley match being the 300th match.

The most defences: OBHS (84), CBHS (64) and St Bede’s College (55)

Longest winning streak: St Bede’s College (27) - 28/6/08 to 8/5/10, CBHS (26), OBHS and St Bede’s (19).

Most times taken - OBHS (12), CBHS (11) and Southland Boys (8).

Number of South Island Schools that have held the trophy (14).

Crusader Region Schools: TBHS (8), CBHS (64), SBC (55), MBHS (8) Nelson College (16) Christ’s College (9) Rangiora (1) St Thomas’ (1) STAC (1)

St. Bede's has played for it (defending or challenging) 69 times since 2007 and our record is 59-10.

Venerables

For those of you who don’t know, or are new to the club, we have an internal Supporters Club called “The Venerables”. The Venerables provide some key attributes to the overall St Bedes Rugby experience. Primarily The Venerables are the conduit for social activities and fund raising. We have an annual Golf Event and provide regular opportunities to meet socially.

This year we will be having Venerables events before and after the following home games:

25/7/20 Vs Christ’s College

8/8/20 Vs Roncalli College

22/8/20 Vs CBHS

This will involve a few beers and food before the game, along with a short visit from one of the coaches for a quick chat.

During the year, all members will receive a message prior to the 1st XV game describing the opposition and all of the info required for attending games. This will be augmented with score updates as the match progresses.

We are also lucky enough to have a substantial liquid sponsorship from the Elmwood Trading Company. We will be meeting at The Elmwood after all Christchurch games from around 4.30pm.

Under normal circumstances we would be seeking a membership fees of $50 but this year we recognise that things are not normal and as such, the payment is voluntary. Should you wish to make a donation to the Venerables, the account is as follows: 03-0855-0333935-002. Please include your name. All paid members will be receiving a monogrammed scarf and the money will be going towards a rugby exercise that will be beneficial for every player in the club. The money from last years membership is going towards specialist instruction from Mike Cron and John Haggart. All teams will be available to access this instruction. Please note that the Venerable Beanies and Scarves are also available to buy at $20.00 apiece.

The key thing is that everyone is welcome and ultimately the boys will benefit from us having a good time.