Finals round approaches

1st XV: Won 94-0 vs Mid-Canterbury Combined Schools

St. Bede’s began the game knowing that they needed a bonus point win to keep their chances of making the Top Four alive. With four teams vying for three spots the pressure is on. While the team started slowly and only lead 5-0 after 20 minutes they soon got into their work. St. Bede’s were able to maintain their pattern throughout the remainder of the game. Despite having a number of key players out and some players who have had only limited exposure this year the St. Bede’s lead by 33-0 at half time. The second half proved to be one-way traffic as St. Bede’s continually stretched the Mid-Canterbury defence. Eto Bainivalu scored five tries and Kynan Stowers-Smith converted 12 of the eventual 14 tries scored. He added a try for personal haul of 29 points. Other highlights included a long-range try by tight-head prop Tadeo Andriani and lock Dominic Brankin’s burst of speed to outflank the Mid-Canterbury defence for his first try of the year. St. Bede’s now go into the final round with a must-win match up with St Andrews at home. Final score 94-0.

Tries : Eto Bainivalu (5) Kynan Stowers-Smith, Tadeo Andriani, Dominic Brankin. Angus Grant, Ashton Fraser, Niata Fifita,Logan Roberts, Iuvale Pulega, Mac Meredith, Cons Kynan Stowers-Smith (12)

2nd XV: Default loss to CBHS 2nd XV

3rd XV: Default win over CBHS U18 Black

4th XV: Lost 7-39 to Merivale-Papanui U18

U16A: Won 32-10 vs CBHS U16 “B”

This was effectively our 4th game in 11 days. With a midweek battle against Campion having taken a toll on the squad it was touch and go as to whether we could field a team. Injuries had left us stretched in the tight five so some players had to battle on and play full games when they were probably due a rest. With the help of Joe Groters and Yuki Sawada from the U16b team we took to the field looking to avenge a loss from earlier in the season and hopefully secure a home semi-final. After the recent rain, conditions under foot weren’t great but that didn’t stop us playing our structure. A couple of early handling errors put us under pressure and we spent more time in our 22 than we had hoped. Dogged defence saw off several Boys High attacks and as soon as we could clear we headed down into their territory. With our first proper raid into their territory a barnstorming Deakyn Fraser crashed over for our first try. This was followed pretty quickly by a second try to Deakyn. A try to CBHS on the stroke of halftime kept them in the game. The second half continued the see-saw battle of possession and territory until Will Sparrow burst through the opposition defence outside their 22, put a step on their fullback and crashed over under the posts for a very well received try. A try to Ronan Bigelow made the game safe and then a last minute try to IRP player Yuki Sawada sealed the deal and made him a very happy boy!! Our Pink Hat Performers were Harrison Bruhns-Croy and Ronan Bigelow.

U16A: Won 27-5 Campion School 2nd XV (midweek)

With the help of many parents, St. Bede’s hosted two visiting rugby sides from the Campion School in London. Our U16A side played their 2nd XV team on Wednesday making it our 3rd game in seven days. After a couple of stunning days, Christchurch turned on a more typical winters day which unfortunately made for a less than pleasant experience for our visitors. That said the U16 boys were excited and fired up for a clash with a bigger and older opposition. The weather conditions dictated that this would be a forward dominated affair and so when we kicked off and Campion ran the ball back to us via a 6ft 3 125kg prop, the tone was set. As it’s said though, the bigger they are the harder they fall. St. Bede’s put on a tackling clinic which stopped Campion in their tracks. We had decided pre-game to attack into the strong wind in the hope that we could compete, and then turn with the wind in the second half. The boys did more than compete, they dominated a much bigger opposition and went into the half ahead two tries to one. Smart tactical play in the second half and continued rugged defence saw us again dominate and continue to add points. The U16s came away with a hard fought and well deserved 27-5 victory in what were appalling conditions. Our Pink Hat Performers were Lachie Williams who topped the tackle count and Jack Goodin who controlled the game and a very slippery ball!! A very big thanks to Jem Lilburne, Byron Antal and Elijah Cullen-Reid for helping us out.

U16B: Lost 5-65 vs Hornby RFC U16

U15A: Lost 19-5 vs STC U15 “Blue”

Saturday saw a top of the table clash with the U15s welcoming St. Thomas who have been unbeaten all season. The first half saw Bede’s dominate possession and territory against a much bigger St. Thomas side. The boys demonstrated discipline and line speed on defence especially in the last five minutes of the first half.

However, some inaccuracy’s inside the opposition 22 saw Bede’s only take a 5-0 lead into the break.

The second half started with St. Thomas applying pressure with some big carries and offloads bringing the score to 7-5. A yellow card for a high tackle saw the momentum shift in St. Thomas favour as they scored two unanswered tries with a one man advantage. The score finished at 19-5.

When the team shows patience and structure as they did in the first half than they can match any team. Improved attendance at training, communication with coaches and other players is the focus in the lead up to tournament. Player of the day went to Jonty Blacklow who worked tirelessly on defence making a number of crucial turnovers against much bigger opposition.

The boys look forward to welcoming Marlborough Boys on Tuesday and a home semi-final on Saturday.

U15 Red: BYE

U15 Black: Won 34-26 vs Hurunui Northern Raiders
It was a great even contest against a physically bigger side. St. Bede’s shut down the breakaways that had cost them in their previous matches against Hurunui. At half time it was 21-14 with two tries scored by Jacob Horton-Davey, both converted by Ashton Haigh.

The second half saw Hurunui score an unconverted try early in. From there, the boys dig deep and started scoring. Tries to Jake Terrel, Mitch & Jacob Horton Davey while keeping Hurunui from scoring after the 43rd minute. Once again, the boys did themselves proud as they held their composure and got stuck in to play rugby while the opposition lost their heads a little.

Tries to: Horton-Davey (3), Mitch (2), Terrel; conv: Haigh (2)

U14A: Won 41-17 vs Merival Papanui U14 “Cobras”

U14B: Won 102-15 vs CC U14 “B”

Spirit of the game shines through in St. Bede’s success

A spirit of sportsmanship was a feature of the St. Bede’s U14B 102-15 home ground victory against Christ’s College in a divisional semi-final on Saturday. The Christ’s College line-up fell short on the starting line and St. Bede’s players immediately offered to make up the shortfall with Ben O’Kane named player of the day for his performance in supporting the opposition team. Others to go across were Tom Lewis, Jacob Simpson and Darryl Harris. St. Bede’s B have matured into a well organised unit during a challenging season and Christ’s College had little chance of retaining possession

They had little chance against speedsters in the mould of Rheubyn Hunter and the battling Josh Hamer at No.8 who scored four tries for St. Bede’s in his first outing since returning from in jury. One sideline pundit noted if it were a mob of sheep they would be changed around a bit to provide a real game of rugby. Changes came at half-time with St. Bede’s players adding stability to the Christ College line-up and slowing the scoring rate. Muddied and satisfied with the result Hamer noted: “That was fun.”

U58kgs “Red”: Won 34-0 vs Christ’s College U58 kgs

Before our game last week we weren’t looking that good for making the top 4. We had won 1 game, lost 2, and been defaulted to, and had the top 3 teams to play in 1 week, and it had been 4 weeks since we had a game.
Last Saturday we had Burnside who were top of the table, and we beat them.
On Tuesday we played the other St. Bede’s team who out played us in the second half and beat us. Leaving us in a must win situation yesterday.
Our message yesterday was pretty simple, play as a team, you can’t beat College individually, trust each other and trust our systems and what we have trained.
We came out of the gate superbly, and college didn’t touch the ball for the first 10 mins, by which time they were 17 points down.
When they got their hands on the ball they mounted a fight back and it took another 15 minutes for us to score again, having us go into half time 22 nil. We set ourselves a goal of keeping them scoreless and that required some stout defence on a number of occasions.
We only managed to score 2 tries in the second half, finishing the game 34 - 0.
As a surprise at the end we found out College had the shield and so it was with great delight and pleasure Sam Woodgate our captain received the shield from their captain, allowing us to at least lock it away in the trophy cabinet.
I suspect we will be up against the St. Bede’s black team in the semi-final next week, which means we are guaranteed to have a team in the final, and also means there is going to be a cracking game of rugby next Saturday.
Good luck to both teams, you have worked hard all season to get here and both teams definitely deserve their top 4 spots.

U58kgs “Black”: Won 63-5 vs ChCh U58 kgs “Tomahawks”