Girls rugby 7s team

Girls sevens rugby play in their first ever summer tournament

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Boots on and mouth guards in, the girls were ready to go. The girls were eager to get on the field, with a game against Rangitoto College first up, followed by Sacred Heart College - Hamilton and Long Bay College to finish off the day.

The first game was up against one of the biggest schools in Auckland, so it was sure to be a tough one. The girls pulled out their best moves and played to an increasingly better level than they had at their previous tournament in Palmerston North. Although the game ended in a loss to St Paul’s, the team was happy with their performance and ready for more.

The second game was up against one of our neighbouring Hamilton schools, whom the St Paul’s team had previously won against in one of their Wednesday night games 15-5, so it was sure to be a very competitive and close game. The girls put on their best show and although there were three injuries along the way, managed to end with a close loss of 12-10.

The final game of the day was sure to be the toughest, playing against a team which had won all of their games. But the SPC team didn’t let this discourage them and went out and played good rugby, with some tactical skills coming in to play, regardless that there was only 10 players left to play with. The end result was 45-5.

The second day was sure to be just as tough as the first one. Trident High School being the first team we played that day. The St Paul’s team played skilfully and had strong possession of the ball for the first half, unfortunately in the second half, their experienced team managed to get up on St Paul’s and they won the game. The second game of the day was against John Paul College, a team with many more years of experience and bigger size of player. This was evident when playing, which was what resulted in St Paul’s taking the loss. However, the game was exciting, with St Paul’s managing to have some breakthroughs and playing their speed to their advantage.

The North Island Secondary Schools Sevens Tournament concluded the season for the St Paul’s girls’ seven’s team. There was undoubtedly a huge and rapid improvement in the girl’s performance as the season went along, and for a small team, with no experience at hand, the girls managed to set high expectations for the upcoming year. This is sure to be a very successful sport for St Paul's Collegiate School in the future. A big thank you to the coaches: Mr Gibbs, Mrs Lilley, Isaac Te Tamaki, and Chelsea Alley for allowing this team to happen and for supporting the players the whole way through in this new and exciting sport for girls of St Paul’s.