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Rugby - Under 15A
 
Photo by Brendan Biggs

Rugby - Under 15A - Coaches' Report

Brendan Biggs —

There is nothing that separates St Thomas’ from the rest of the top rugby schools in Christchurch.

U15A Rugby report

We started the season a bit shaken due to early injuries and attempting to match the level of rugby required in the age group. It took the team the first round to realise the importance of stepping up each week and fulfilling roles in the team. Playing the top schools in the section 1 competition was a step up for most of the boys and we took each game with a growth mindset. We embraced each game as a challenge with the want to play well as a team and target our key areas we wanted to improve in. Each game was foreseen as a learning curve and an opportunity to make each game better than the last. We focused on setting team goals that required 100% buy in from the squad and for all the boys to focus on the goals and be accountable for them.

Throughout the season, I have been impressed with the team’s willingness to want to improve and the culture that was established. We were hit hard with injuries early, but this didn’t stop certain members in the team fulfilling those roles.

There is nothing that separates St Thomas’ from the rest of the top rugby schools in Christchurch. I think too often boys walk in to those games with a fixed mindset that they have already lost. As a school and a rugby community, I think it is a great opportunity to embrace the challenge of being the underdog. We need to continue to establish the culture that big teams can fall. This can be easy said than done, as a change of culture doesn’t always happen instantly. This requires targeting every game as an opportunity to build on, improve on and reflect on. If we can continue to look at rugby with a growth mindset, the gap being St Thomas and some of the bigger schools will close.

It has been a privilege to coach alongside Andre Renata and Kieran Coll. The level of expertise we had within management, made trainings become more specialised and positional-based. This assisted in the coaches building on individual performance and monitoring areas for improvement. A big thanks to Kev Hattrill, who was an outstanding manager this year. Everything was always organised and he made our job so much easier, as everything was always done.

This year was about rebuilding the future development in the school. Looking into next year, I can see our school having a lot of depth within the senior teams. I encourage the boys to use the holidays as an opportunity to maintain fitness. With a large group heading to France next year, it is a perfect opportunity to start to set those individual goals. Thank you to all the parents for the ongoing support and being a part of our journey.

By Dean Smith