The 2019 season gets underway!

1st XV: Won 47-5 vs Timaru BHS at Alpine Energy Stadium

The St Bede’s 1st XV opened the season with a good win against Timaru Boys’ High School. Traditionally these games are usually close and for parts of the game this proved to be true. After a slow start the St. Bede’s forwards began to get on top of their opposition and this allowed the backs room to attack. The opening try was a well worked move resulting in Shadroch Sevele scoring the first of his three tries. Good lineout play and a superior scrum saw St Bedes’ up 26 -0 at half time. The other highlight of the half was a very good individual try by Eto Bainivalu showing his how dangerous he can be when given space. Despite a mounting penalty count the team again dominated the second half only conceding points in the final moments of the game. The final score was 47 -5 with the accurate goal kicking of Kynan Stowers-Smith and the two tries from hooker Flynt Preston being noteworthy. The Billy Harmon medal (given to player with the biggest contribution both on and off the field for the week) went to Logan Bainbridge , who was also celebrating his cap game. It was great to see such a large group of parents and supporters to travel to Timaru to support the team.

St Bede’s College 47 ( Tries: Shadroch Sevele (3), Flynt Preston (2), Logan Roberts (1), Eto Bainivalu (1) Cons: Kynan Stowers-Smith (5) Justin Evans (1) Timaru Boys’ High School 5

2nd XV: Lost 15-45 vs CBHS 2nd XV

Facing CBHS 2nd XV in our first grading game nerves got the better of us in the opening few minutes. A rolling maul saw CBHS score out wide, the try was unconverted. A couple of minutes under the posts gave Captain, Jack Ryan a chance to speak to the lads and get them to settle, this was clear from the restart.

This year’s team are lucky to have a number of players from the International Rugby Programme, amongst them is Tobias Williams from Milan, Italy, playing at 11. He showed promise with good positional awareness as he prevented CBHS finding touch from a penalty kick and then ran the ball up 20m. Again later in the first half he made a try-saving tackle moments after getting back to his feet after injuring his shoulder after making a very heavy tackle.

Our other players include hooker Masa Atsumi, and midline utility back Kentaro Nakase, both from Japan. Augusto Eynard from Argentina completes our international line-up.

At the 25 minute mark trailing 12 nil we gained territory and had CBHS scrambling on defence, a sly intercept and without defence cover out wide, saw CBHS run the ball out of their 22, a determined chase by Alex Cochrane stopped what looked like a run-away try taking the player into touch 18 meters out from the try line.

Determined play and great defence saw Bede’s grind CBHS back into their 22, a great offload set Josh Stenberg up for our first try in the corner to take us to 12-5.

From the restart however we were flustered, with our players forgetting they were allowed to tackle, and with just minutes to go in the half, CBHS scored and converted. We were lucky this wasn’t followed up by another try moments later and went into the half trailing 19-5.

A determined CBHS team emerged from the half time talk and stretched us out wide finding gaps in our defence running in three tries two of which were converted in a ten minute spell in play characterised by us standing under the posts looking glum.

The final twenty minutes saw the team return to some terrific defence, a great break by Kentaro, saw us within metres of the try line and score with a great offload as he hit the ground at the 64th minute. The Bede’s defence continued right up until the final play which saw CBHS score a runaway try, and break a twenty minute period in which they had not managed to score.

At the final whistle the score was 45-15. Player of the day was awarded to Josh Stenberg who got the team’s first try and yellow card

3rd XV: Won 44-0 vs CBHS U18 Blue

As a first outing for the season the team played exceptionally well. The team was able to score 4 tries in each half and to keep CBHS scoreless. The game was played in great spirit and the score did not reflect the game that was played. Quentin Monaghan scored two tries in the second half and Logan Burns showed great promise in his play around the ruck. A good forward effort set a solid platform for the backs to play the structure we are trying to embed with the team. A great start from the team and we look forward to the season ahead. Final score 44-0.

U16A: Won 43-17 vs CBHS U16B

In what can only be described as a “scrappy” game, the U16As started off their season with a solid 43-17 win over CBHS U16B. After conceding the opening try the boys got into their work and dominated in nearly every aspect of the game. They rose above the negative play of the opposition and started to utilise their strengths. Scorers: A Hammett 3 Tries, I Pulega 2 tries, C Hazeldine 1 try, L Potts 1 try, C Stenberg 4 conv. Player of the Day C Stenberg

U16B: Lost 5-20 vs CBHS Blue & Won 33-12 vs CBHSS HS Blue

The U16B team played two mini games on Saturday, both against CBHS teams. Both games were 15 minutes each way and for us were consecutive. The first game we lost 20 to 5 and the second we won 33 to 12. The first pleasing aspect of the games was how well our four IRP boys fitted into the team. The second was how much the team improved over the hour of rugby that they played. Ronan Bigelow was chosen as Player of the Day for his two scything tries and his hard work on defence. As a bench mark from which to improve, this was a promising start to the season.

U15A: Won 27-17 vs CBHS U15A

U15B: Lost 0-53 vs StAC Blue

U14A: Lost 5-39 vs CBHS U14A

A great start to the season... although we may have lost 39-5 to CBHS there was much to take from the game. The score line will be very different next time we play. All fit members of the squad took the field and Jamayne did a good job on the side-line. Keegan set the tone for the season with a mighty tackle 30seconds into the game and continued to do so for the rest of the match. The boys kept in the game with Christian scoring right on full time. Thanks to all the families on the side-line who supported so positively

U14B: Lost 7-63 vs StAC

U58kgs “Red”: Won 17-5 vs Burnside RFC

Under 58kg Red had an awesome game against Burnside.

We are struggling for front rowers, so a few other forwards had to step up to the exclusive front row club. Burnside did have it over us in the first few scrums, but the boys pulled together to make the scrums an even contest by the end.

We scored 2 tries in the first half to lead 12 nil, then Burnside got a try under the posts and missed the conversion, creating the opportunity for a repeat of the Crusaders draw. Fortunately we won the arm wrestle and scored with 2 mins to go finishing 17 to 5.

The Under 58kg grade has only just been reintroduced this year, and the quality of the game and competitiveness was testament to that decision.

Well done boys, a great first up effort.

U58kgs “Black”: Won 26-12 vs CC

The game started out slowly with both teams not making much progress into the opposition’s scoring zones however we managed to grab one try after 10 minutes. The game then remained scoreless and the boys finished the first half up 5-0, however the Bede’s boys were obviously dominant with some great try-saving tackles from our backs. Things started to heat up in the second half with Christ’s scoring right after kick off. This spurred the boys on and they went on to get three converted tries with Christ’s only answering one in return. The boys were happy to come away with a 26-12 win in their first game of the season and a red-and-black debut for most of them.