Rugby 1st 15 Report 2015

The team goal this year was to make the top eight and to maintain a cultural within the team laid down by past players and coaches of excellence and pride in performance.

The year started with a preseason trip to Auckland playing St Peter’s college in “The Cage”. A well drilled STP side were too good but some positives emerged from the game especially the defensive patterns that were well executed. Crossing the Bridge the team played the North Shore champions Rosimini College and came away with a gutsy win. This game highlighted the depth in the loose forward combinations and the emergence of Moresby Peseka, flanker turned midfield back into a very effective played. No significant injuries. The team travelled south to St Kevin’s College to play in a tournament and beat an accomplished team from St Edmunds College Sydney. The emergence of Harry Kirk at half back certainly paid dividends for the team and Harry went onto to be selected for the Junior Crusaders squad and was subsequently awarded the player of the year trophy for 2015.

Playing in the UC Cup requires a high standard of consistent play our first game was against Christ College a game which ended in a draw 19al, a game of two halves and game we should have closed out for a win. Waimea College in Nelson. In a camp situation experience has shown that our teams always seem to go up a notch or two and this being the case against Waimea and the team drew away in the final quarter after a close confrontation during the early parts of the game. The next several weeks saw the team play the big four in consecutive games, CHBH, St Andrews, St Bede’s and SBHS. The game against St Bede’s was a very competitive and brave performance by the boys.

The second half of the season saw good wins against the traditional College foes St Kevin’s and Roncalli College. A highlight for the year was the match against Timaru Boys High School. The team travelled to Timaru on the Friday evening and settled well into Camp conditions. The team visited the Stadium sneaking in through a hole in the fence. Dinner was held at the Southern Cosmopolitan Club which certainly lowered the average age of the member’s considerably. A team conference later that evening cemented the game plan for the following day. Conditions in Timaru were extremely cold with snow down to low levels. An 11.30am kick-off saw the team arrive early at the stadium on a brisk morning with a medium Nor-west wind off the snowy peaks immediately behind the stadium. The team led 15-7 at the break with a significant penalty count favouring the home team. The last twenty minutes saw an extradinary sequence of events. TBHS missed a penalty from in front, from the ensuing 22 kick-off, they counter attacked and STC gained a welcomed penalty. The kick failed to go out and TBHS attacked the line continuously. Enthralling defence kept them at bay until a yellow card was given against Adrian Els. From the ensuing penalty out wide the referee deemed Patrick Elia off side and a second STC player received a yellow card. Down to 13 players the team still held the line until a TBHS player on the ground crawled over the line in an obvious double movement and with the conversion going over, six minutes remained before Els could resume his place back on the field of play. STC battled away with good field position and with 3 minutes to play resumed with their full complement of players with final whistle going and a win to STC 15 – 14 with congratulations, hugs and handshakes all around.

The team made the top 8 a remarkable achievement and a major reason being the conditioning of the players preseason enabled the team to play with set combinations due to a lack of injury in key positions. In the play-offs STCC were beaten by Burnside High School who were the better team on the day.

The strength of the 1st 15 not only rests with the players and their preparation and talent, the fact mainly lies in the settled and experienced coaches and management associated with the team which maintains continuity with the culture within the 1st 15. We are lucky to have staff who voluntarily and willingly give up their time. It is not easy sometimes to make selection decisions in a small community or establish a team pattern without some controversy. The coaching staff of Steve Hart, Hamish McCombie and Paul Burton certainly put in the hard yards in their preparation and mapping out game plans for various opposition teams. Also especially with the time consuming video analysis where players these days can’t hide going down the fat man’s track or hide their skill and defensive deficiencies. The old firm of Brian Roughan and Marty Taylor’s management skills certainly eased the burden for the coaches. Finally a big thank you to all the parents who contributed behind the scenes with helping prepare the aftermath functions and Ngaire Lester and Ted Roughan for their contributions in ensuring that there were smooth logistical operations prepared well, necessary to operate a team in the South Islands Premier 1st 15 competition.