1st XV Rugby season swings into action

1st XV vs Cambridge High School – Saturday, 11 May 2019

The St Paul's 1st XV came up against Cambridge High School and gave an impressive performance in wet conditions. The theme of the week was for the team to be 'clinical'. This was shown as the boys started well and got on the score sheet early with a great run resulting in five points from John Hustler, beating defenders left and right. This was followed up by a brilliant box kick from halfback Ben Strang that put space in behind the Cambridge defence to free up Captain Tepaea Cook-Savage. The boys were then able to get even more points on the board with tries from Travis Cashmore, Campbell Robb (x2), Tepaea Cook-Savage (x2), Tino Tahitua, Temple Beauchamp (x2), Mattheus Pio, Declan O' Sullivan and John Hustler (x2). This game marked a special occasion for one of the team leaders - Temple Beauchamp, as he has now played 30 times for the 1st XV. Two great run away tries were just a small highlight as to why Temple is such an asset to the squad. Final score 74-7 to St Paul’s.

1st XV vs Francis Douglas Memorial College – Saturday, 18 May 2019

The CNI season has begun! After a long bus ride down to New Plymouth, the boys in the 1st XV were not ready to give up the Rick Francis Memorial Shield easily. A midday start saw the conditions and the weather perfect for rugby. Both teams initially came out of the gates firing, a tightly contested first half saw the score at 5-3 after a try from Tepaea Cook-Savage and a penalty kick from Francis Douglas. The second half was no different, starting with the same intensity, Francis Douglas put the boys under the pump when they scored and converted a try early. A few brutal runs from Temple Beauchamp and exciting line breaks from Mattheus Pio and Ben Strang gave the boys confidence. Two further tries late in the match (both scored by Matthew Johnson) gave St Paul’s a 15-10 win and saw the Rick Francis Memorial Shield return to Hamilton.