14 Jun 2021

Monday 14 June 2021

A wrap up of the weekend's games. 

Kc1stxvdls120621 078

 

1st XV vs DE LA SALLE COLLEGE:
WIN 33 – 25

The King’s College First XV maintained their unbeaten start to the 1A competition with a 33-25 win over De La Salle College on Saturday.

The match was played in sunny conditions at King’s as both sides showed their attacking enterprise.

The bonus point victory ensured King’s remained at the top of the table, one point ahead of Kelston Boys’ High School who are the only other unbeaten side in the competition.

King’s welcomed back co-captain Chicago Doyle who made a timely return from an arm injury and he played a key part in the victory with his reliable goal-kicking.

The home side made the early running with tries to lock Matthew Monaghan, and prop Bradley Fifita who was back in action after missing the recent win over Dilworth School due to a shoulder complaint.

Wing Maikel Tuala also grabbed a five-pointer for King’s as they extended their lead but the visitors fought back with their second try as the halftime whistle went.

King’s entered the second spell with a 22-10 advantage and they didn’t take long to build on that as Jonty Willis scored out wide following an attacking lineout.

That would be the last try King’s managed as Doyle kept the scoreboard ticking over with two more penalties and at 33-15 with less than 10 minutes left, the game looked safe.

But King’s made things hard on themselves throughout the match as their ill-discipline proved costly; they gave away too many penalties and had a player sent to the sin bin in each half.

In the final stages De La Salle scored two more tries but it wasn’t enough.

Goal-kicking proved troublesome for De La Salle as they missed all five of their conversion attempts, although many of them were from out wide.

Doyle, who booted two conversions from four attempts alongside two penalty goals, looked like he hadn’t missed a beat, despite his time on the sideline.

“A bit tired. The lungs have had it a bit but it’s good to get out there again,” the fullback said.

Looking ahead, Doyle said the team had a few things to work on from the win over De La Salle.

“We were in our own 22 too much so just get it out of our 22 and cut down our errors and penalties and besides that it should be sweet hopefully.”

In their next match, the First XV will host Sacred Heart College on Saturday 19 June.

Rugby First XV Sponsor Lockup V1

Thanks as always to our sponsors for their generous support of the First XV

 

2nd XV vs SACRED HEART COLLEGE:
LOSS 7 – 34

After training hard during the week, the players were keen to put on a good performance.

We had the inclusion of two 1st XV players this week, Alfie Taufa and Te Kiwa Whatuira, who looked set to add some value to the team.

Kick-off was at 9.15am at King’s on the No. 1 Field, conditions were great but it was a bit slippery handling the ball in the early stages of the game. It was a close contest in the early exchanges with both teams trying to analyse each other’s game.
A box kick from Tom Ogg at the ruck saw a good chase line from King’s, however winger Daniel mistimed his tackle on an opposition player in the air who fell awkwardly to the ground. The referee gave him a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, taking King’s down to 14 players for 10 minutes.

Sacred Heart capitalised on our shortened defence line, leaving King’s struggling to hold off Sacred Heart College [SHC]. Missed one on one tackles from King’s saw SHC go in for the first Try. SHC dominated the next 15-20min with strong running and good ruck clean outs, which saw them score another 3 tries before halftime, closing at 24 – 0.

Some staunch words at halftime came from the coaches; trust and belief in each other were the messages given. King’s started to build some really good phases from set piece but just couldn’t complete and execution let the team down. SHC went out to a further 34-0 lead with about 10 min to go, the players knew they needed to finish well. From a lineout at the 22m our forwards were playing some good rugby in the right end of the field, getting close to the line with their pick and go’s from ruck and eventually dotting down for a well-deserved try from Seb Su’a, converted by Harry Sinclair. With 5 minutes left in the game, King’s were left defending their try line yet again, but with some desire and determination the lads held off SHC and prevented more points to the scoreboard.

Despite valid opening and closing 15 minutes of our game, we have lots of room for improvement.

Special mentions to the boys’ parents for putting on a light refreshment for the lads and getting to know each other off the rugby field.

Looking forward to next week against Kelston BHS, over there.

1R vs SAINT KENTIGERN COLLEGE:
WIN 22 – 16

The 1R squad maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard earned victory away against St Kent’s.
The home side applied some consistent pressure during the opening exchanges by kicking well. This meant King’s spent the first quarter of the game on the back foot defending inside their own half as they struggled to play in the right areas of the pitch.
Some smart interplay allowed King’s to finally string some phases together following some elusive running from fullback Ed Elworthy-Jones which eventually allowed tighthead prop Will Tingey to score the first try of the game from close range. St Kent’s then hit back following some sloppy play to take the lead going into half time 10-7.

King’s stepped up the pace of the game up in the second half and played some better rugby in the right areas of the pitch, however some enforced errors allowed the home side to stay in the game. Centre Moziah Latu scored an excellent brace of tries mid-way through the second half to give King’s the lead going into the final 10 minutes. A penalty from fly half Tom Paranthoiene extended the lead for King’s to six points as St Kent’s pushed for the winning score, however, the King’s defence which was immense all game and held strong in the closing minutes to seal a memorable victory. MVP: Moziah Latu.

U15 OPEN vs AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL:
LOSS 3 – 15

The King’s College U15 Open came up against a very strong Grammar team.  We have only been able to train twice with low numbers in the past fortnight and with only 18 fit players this game was always going to test our depth and character.

This game was a very even battle, nothing between both teams, the difference was Grammar were able to convert their opportunities and scored a couple of soft tries. King’s showed fantastic spirit and did not give up trying, it was basic fundamental errors at key moments that allowed Grammar to kick their way out of pressure, all key learnings for the team moving forward. King’s tried to speed up the game to move the big Grammar forward pack around.  This week showed that our team can compete with the best teams throughout Auckland; with more available numbers and the bounce of the ball this could have easily been a win to King’s. 

Again our starting loose forward trio of Hawaiki Morrison, Bailey Harris and Henry O’Leary toiled away all game and they were well supported by Taniela Ngata, Alex Hawkins, Qortezz Tuala and Daniel Pulotu-McCarthy. Young Sione Manuopangai had a very strong game and is showing great promise as a Year 9.  In the backs Levi Saipele, Kahu Cotterill and Nicholas Withers played well.  Zion Heiloa Savaka is another Year 9 who is showing great potential and had a strong game. The team looks forward to the return of six players from camp and injury but then will have to dig deep with eight key players away on camp for the next four weeks.  

U14 OPEN vs SACRED HEART COLLEGE:
LOSS 7 – 32

This week, the U14 open team came up against a well-drilled and technically sound Sacred Heart team with a good number of games – more than most – under its belt. Under pressure in our half, Sacred heart scored two tries in the first 20 minutes of the first half. King’s managed to gain some territory in the 25th minute resulting in an attempted try by Keneti Fanuatanu which was turned over on a penalty. Sacred Heart finished the half by scoring off a lineout drive just before half time, leading by 17 – 0 at the break.

The second half saw the same disjointed play prevent our boys from gaining momentum or stringing phases together. Sacred Heart took advantage of our mistakes, and with sustained attack scored two tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Captain Saia Manu led by example with a couple of individual line breaks. Good concentration and sustained attack saw Saia score near the posts, then convert his own try. Sacred Heart came back with gusto to score in the next five minutes. The match ended not long after, 32 – 7 to Sacred Heart.

There were lots of positives in the game that can be built on going forward. Loose forwards Johan Schaumkell and Charlie Burns’ high work rate in both attack and defence were again outstanding. This game left the boys disappointed, but the team will dust themselves off and go back to the drawing board with a good knowledge of what they need to work on for next week’s away match against De La Salle.

 

5A VS AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL:
LOSS 5 – 17

The 5A rugby team came up against a determined and well organised Grammar opponent. From the kick-off, having missed four tackles in the first play, we knew it was going to be a demanding match.

Grammar deservedly led 10-0 at halftime, much to do with our own errors contributing to their points. A poor pass was swooped on to start the scoring and then a poor exit saw a driven lineout try. Further bad luck was losing winger Mattias Crawford to a serious knee injury, he unfortunately will not play again this year.

After a stern halftime talk about ‘fronting-up’ the second half was vastly improved with some excellent defence and much better endeavour. The team was rewarded in the latter half with lots of territory and Charlie Hunn fought his way over after prolonged pressure on their line.

The final score 5 – 17 was a fair reflection of the Grammar accuracy in their forwards.

6A VS MOUNT ALBERT GRAMMAR SCHOOL:
LOSS 7 – 22

The game was played on the MAGS No. 1 field which was a bonus for both teams. The conditions were excellent for a good game of rugby. And it was a very good game of rugby.

The first half was evenly contested. King’s was playing very well making strong tackles to halt the MAGS team from making big gains territorially. The forwards competed strongly in the breakdown area winning possession for the backs to use. Dominic Lunjevich directed the team around the field linking the forwards and backs to make some good territory only to lose it with silly errors by giving away penalties or losing possession. There were also some strong runs made by Robbie Noble from fullback. Nick Rupert was unlucky not to have taken an intercept as the game progressed. Jack Geldard also made some strong bursts near the breakdown and during broken play. MAGS eventually scored late in the half to take the lead.

In the second half King’s began very strongly driving well, getting numbers to the breakdown and pressuring MAGS in their 22. However, after a sustained period in their 22, MAGS managed to break out and make their way into King’s territory. After applying some pressure, they cracked King’s defence to score. King’s was not able to respond and began to play a little loose which allowed MAGS to dominate for a period of time which led to two more tries being scored by them. Nick Rupert again missed an intercept. Henry Wagstaff played strongly, running the ball well and working hard in the breakdown area. Defence is an area that is still a concern especially in the second half. 

After being given a pep talk and encouragement by one of the parents (Mike Harding) the team owned the last 10 minutes of the game. They hustled and threw themselves into everything – tackles, ball carry, breakdowns – which eventually led to a try which was converted by Robbie Noble.

The final score was 22 – 7. There have been some  great improvements being made each week in different areas like the scrums and lineouts as well as the cohesion in the backs.