All senior school teams record wins

1st XV vs Christ's College won 23-16

Our 1st XV was hosted by Christ’s College in the second round of the Crusader’s region competition. The game was especially significant for the team as it was Captain Mason Allison’s 25th game for the 1st XV. For this he was awarded a black tassel for his cap as opposed to the red tassel on the cap that is awarded to player upon reaching 12 games.

As is usual in 1st XV rugby, it was a very physical game with Christ's College trying to punch their way down the centre of the field with their big forwards. The determined defence of our team was impressive. Two of our three tries came from set moves which is also always satisfying.

It was pleasing to score these 3 tries to College’s 1. This resulted in a final winning score of 23 points to 16. The team travel to Nelson next Friday for what should be another challenging game.

Tries: Campbell Allison, Cam Rawlings and Isaac Hutchinson. Penalties: Mason Alison 2. Conversion: Mason Allison.

2nd XV vs Cashmere HS won 43-7

The team put another good performance together today. The first half was exceptional and closing in the type of play and dominance the team is looking to make permanent. This accuracy and effort saw the team leading 31-0 at the halftime break. Unfortunately, the accuracy fell away slightly which somewhat allowed Cashmere back into the contest. The penalty count blew out in a combination of poor discipline and potentially a referee seeking to even the contest. Defence remained stalwart only leaking once at the very end of the game. All in all another promising performance where there is plenty that can still be improved upon. Standout performance came from midfielder Ben Hanrahan, who was everywhere in the first half scoring three tries. 

3rd XV vs Merivale Papanui/Belfast U18 won 22-17

The message "never give up and keep going" was heard by the 3rds late in the afternoon at Hagley Park. Their small 10 -7 half time lead quickly slipped away as Merivale Papanui scored two early second half tries and looked to remain in control. But something turned the Bede's boys. Maybe the return of Revel Mumuta to the field led the inspiration. Revel as we've seen already this season plays with such competitive go forward spirit. His break up the middle followed by a string of clean phases by the team took Bede's to 5m. A line out win and great forward drive took strongman Hamish Rooney over the line. Sam Keno made a remarkable conversion. They were back in the game. 17 each.

The fire blazed and two minutes later in 68th min Sam Nolan drove over off the back of a maul with arm outstretched to dot down and take the lead. Very exciting for both team and supporters.

The Merivale Papanui resolve was determined for much of the game. But fitness and the beginning of trained structures were to Bede's advantage. The scrum was strong. Front rowers Josh MacDonald and Wills McIntyre had good body position. Aiden Viney at 9 combining with 10 Flynn Bainbridge and 12 Sam Keno looked in sync, hitting the ball at pace and slicing through the opposition. Jake McIntosh looked dangerous on the wing given a sniff of space.

A reminder for both teams as the competition season begins, was that the referee always has the first and last word in their voluntary task to adjudicate the sport. Both teams were marched back. From the sideline, continued chatter was audible. It probably also coincided with periods of scrappy distracted play and technique. Discipline and focus as always are key.

4th XV vs Haeta Community Campus won 32-31

U75kgs Red vs Christ's College won 47-21

After some difficulties with pre-match preparation the St Bede’s U75kg Red team made a laboured start against Christ’s College and were quickly down on the score board. The team managed to doggedly stay in touch and score some important tries leading to them being only 14-12 down at half-time.

Christ’s College scored quickly after the break and with St Bede’s 9 points down it looked like the game could be getting away from them. However, an excellent charge down by Neil Kamat led to him regathering the ball and scoring under the posts. This proved to be the catalyst which sparked the team into life. Some strong ball carrying by player of the day Lachie Daly led to him scoring a brace and put the team on the front foot. There was some creative play from the backline with Harvey Scott showing sharp footwork and pace, and St Bede’s constructed some good tries in the second half leading to a well taken hat-trick from Charlie Challies-Gibb.

The final score line of 47-21 flattered St Bede’s a little, but showed what the team is capable of when they get things right and bodes well for the rest of the season.

U75kgs "Black" vs CBHS U75kgs "Black" won 38-5

After a close first up win last week the U75kg Black team were looking to continue improving for this week's game against a feisty CBHS team. On a perfect day at Straven Road the team was into their stride straight from the kick off with a perfect start through some fantastic team work by forwards and backs and were rewarded with a try early on after multiple phases which set the tone for the game.

With some straight direct running and off loads in contact by both backs and forwards, providing quick clean ball this set the platform for some great tries throughout along with some strong defence with CBHS only getting over for one try in the second half.

Overall a great team performance as a second up game and looking forward to another strong showing next week.

U65kgs vs StAC U65kgs won 34-14

The boys lined up at St Andrew's College with a clear blue sky but strong cold southerly wind, St Bede's won the toss and chose to play with the wind to their backs. From the kick off the St Bede's boys played with great intensity fuelled by the loss earlier last month as motivation. Their early pressure saw them pin StAC in their own 22 and narrowly miss a try as they spilled the ball short of the line. However, they continued to pressure StAC with their first tackles and aggressive, quick recycling of the ball and this resulted in a try to Hamish Meates in the right corner off a great missed pass. With a theme that developed through the game, the Bede's line pressure forced a turn over that saw Josh Shaw score one of his two tries under the posts and George Watson taking a great line and score a solo try to end the first half. The second half started with the same theme with St Bede's putting pressure on the StAC line and loose play, but a 5-minute period where the boys missed their tackles saw StAC score two tries in quick succession. Composure was returned and also the intensity with Dominic Knill finishing well in the corner and then Mitchell Murtha followed suit shortly after closing the game out for St Bede's. This was a fired-up team performance by the boys with Billy Lewis receiving man of the match for his tackles and huge work rate. This was a great game to watch and the boys are building a great team spirit for the season.

U15 "Red"  vs STC U15 lost 26-33

The sun was out with a very firm pitch on the St Thomas number one field, setting the scene for a good game of running rugby. Not long into the game after a good set piece from a scrum, Conor Crosbie sliced through the centers to score a great 50 meter try.

We were looking dominant throughout the first 20 minutes, looking like we could really open the game up. Unfortunately, St Thomas stayed in the hunt and at times, made very easy meters from our poor mistakes and passive defending.

In the second half it began with St Thomas scoring early, without having any forward reserves to bring on, the boys did tire a bit and lost some of the momentum and intensity that was needed to be dominant against a big St Thomas side.

Stijn Lutters was very impressive over the ball and won us many penalties. The boys also won several counter rucks, which we had been focusing on during the week. The team continues to get better which augers well going into our first competition game next week. We can come away from this game with some good insights and belief that we can match any team in this competition.

U15 "Black" vs SBHS U15B won 38-21

The U15 Black team started slowly and struggled to get possession in the first half. However when they were on attack they structured their play, including the pods, very well and led at half time 19-7.
In the second half they took greater control of the game and the backs had some good flowing movements on attack. Tactics-wise SBC were superior and did well (mostly) controlling the big Shirley ball runners. Back of the day - Logan R, Forward of the day - Theo L  Player of the day - Max K

U15 "White" vs CBHS "Blue" won 14-12 & vs Burnside lost 5-24

U14 "Red" vs CBHS "Red" lost 5-55

A big game for the U14 Red team v CBHS U14 A- a very good team. We lost 55-3 but look forward to meeting them again once we have had more time together, thought more about how we play and how to play as a team.
This is only the beginning.
Practices this week are Wednesday and Thursday... mouthguards and drink bottles are required. If you cannot attend please see Mrs Pitcaithly, Mr Ryan or Mr Davidson as soon as possible

U14 "Black" vs STC lost 0-89

U14 Black came up against a formidable St Thomas U14 'Blue' team today. The final score was 89-0 in their favour, however our boys showed determination and resilience by never giving up. They made some good line breaks, and are determined to come back stronger with strengthened tackling and defensive positioning next week. 

U14 "White" vs CBHS U14B "Blue" lost 5-57

It was a tough grading game for the boys, but they kept their heads up the whole time. We saw some great moments especially Nash’s runaway try and some fantastic defence. Definitely a lot to be hopeful for with this team moving forward and gelling together.

U55kgs vs StAC U55kgs won 26-14

St Bede's were playing the first half with a strong southerly wind behind us. Which meant we spent long periods of attack in the early stages of the game and due to that pressure, St Andrew’s struggled to get out of their own half. The early pressure was rewarded with tries to George, Preston and Cash and a couple of good conversions to Lewis and Joseph saw St Bede's go into half time 19-0 ahead. At the break, we talked about the need to be accurate at the breakdown and our support play and urgency to the ball was going to be crucial playing into the wind. Sure enough, the pressure from St Andrew’s came on and even after long periods of sustained defence by our boys St Andrew’s managed to score two tries, clawing the score back to 19-14.The pressure from St Andrew’s continued right through the second half but every single player from St Bede's rolled up his sleeves and the “never say die” attitude from our boys led to Mac scoring our 4th try of the match, this was converted by Joseph and the score at full time was 26-14 to St Bede's. The player of the day went to Jack Sparrow and Tackler of the day was awarded to Jimmy Ferguson. It was another outstanding display of team rugby by these young men who all had to dig really deep for this result.