Wednesday 11 September 2024
Distance Running
NZSS Road Race Champs
Fine but windy conditions were what met the students who ran in the inaugural Road Race Relay champs held at Pakuranga Sailing Club. The King's team ran in the following order: Sam Rickerby (Year 11, Peart), Zara Ford (Year 13, Taylor), Ariella Grant (Year 13, Marion Bruce) and Redd Scampion (Year 12, Major). The team trailed the eventual winners St Kent's by 1min 20sec leading into the last leg but Redd could not run down the final runner to eventually finish 10 seconds behind them. A great event and the team ran very well in trying conditions.
Placing: 2nd in New Zealand
Cycling
Northern Tour, Auckland
Over the weekend 17 of our KC cyclists competed at the Northern tour based here in Auckland. Saturday racing included an individual time trial (ITT) at Pt England, followed by a time trial up the slopes of Mt Wellington. On Sunday, the racing concluded with criterium racing around the streets of a business park in East Tamaki. Notable results Include:
U20
Oliver Scott (Year 13, Peart) – 1st ITT, 3rd criterium, 1st overall
U16
Cole Feringa (Year 10, Peart) – 3rd ITT, 2nd criterium, 3rd overall
U15
Hugh Henshaw (Year 9, Peart) – 3rd hill climb, 3rd criterium, 2nd overall
Levi Atkinson (Year 9, Major) – 2nd B criterium
There were also numerous other top 5 places achieved by other riders throughout the weekend. As a reward for the awesome support of the riders for each other and the parents, KC Cycling won the prize for the best team spirit.
The final date on the cycling calendar is National Championships, to be held in Timaru from Sat 28 Sep through to Tues 1 Oct. Our Northern Tour results are a big step in the right direction and give the team the belief to train hard over the next 3 weeks before the signature event of the season.
Football
Boys First XI - Trident Tournament, Wellington
Game 1 - King's 6 vs 0 Cornerstone Christian School
From the opening minutes, King’s showed a superior style of play and level of ability, dominating possession, creating several chances, and remaining very stable and secure defensively. Frustratingly, we struggled to convert those chances into goals. We finally broke the deadlock just before halftime, with a great tenacious effort from Jack Hernon (Year 13, Selwyn), blasting from close range. Jack would score another three goals in the game, taking his total for the season to 20, and scoring his 6th hat trick for the College. Spencer Wharfe (Year 10, School) finally broke his goal drought, having returned from injury late in the season and improving match by match – he showed a bit of skill in a crowded box to also score from close range. Zar Heather-Rau (Year 12, St John's) scored a header off a well-delivered corner. Our defenders didn’t have much to do but showed good awareness to nullify any slim chance that CCS had.
Game 2 - King's 1 vs 0 St Peter's
A beautifully struck freekick from Lucca Stredder (Year 11, Parnell) in the first half was the difference between the two sides in a game that was significantly impacted by the strong winds and lots of freekicks from the referee, making for a really difficult and frustrating game to watch/coach. We struggled to adjust our play to the conditions and the referee, and let the quality slip. This wasn’t helped by the fact the wind made it almost impossible to communicate from the sideline to the players. Between the wind’s impact and a few poor decisions, we ended up giving away quite a bit of possession and had to dig deep in the second half with our defensive line and central defence midfielders covering a lot of ground defending against wind-assisted through balls but hanging on in the end, to secure the win 1-nil, in a match that really should have had a similar score to the first…
Game 3 - King's 3 vs 0 Hutt International Boys School
Another Wellington weather bomb had a significant impact on our only match of the day, against a well-organised HIBS side who were playing with nothing to lose! For the first 15 minutes, we were under the pump, with our ability to play/defend tested by the torrential rain, strong winds, poor playing surface, and tough opposition. Led by Morgan Wright (Year 13, Greenbank), and with valiant contributions from Angus Birchenough (Year 11, Marsden) and Josh Motion (Year 11, Parnell) both having excellent games, King’s managed to keep HIBS out. The closest of defensive scares came at the end of this long period of pressure when a wind-assisted cross found an unmarked HIBS player who blasted his shot onto the frame of the goal, otherwise having beaten the backline and Alex Bhatnagar (Year 12, Marsden) in goal.
Besides some excellent forays into attack, led primarily down the right wing by Dylan Naicker (Year 11, Parnell), who was dynamic and aggressive, no one ever quite managed to make their final touch count and score. The rest of the half was relatively even and uneventful. The second half was a different story, with the wind finally in our backs, and HIBS running out of energy and motivation, a very dominant and clinical performance ensued (well, as good as the conditions allowed). I’m very proud of the relentless attacking effort from our team as they fought hard throughout the half to earn all three points for our team. Zar Heather-Rau broke the deadlock, almost immediately after the break, a well-worked play, again down the right wing, being crossed in and clinically placed! The second not long after, with Zar receiving on the left side, before driving at goal, cutting inside, and placing his shot perfectly into the back corner of the goal!
With a healthy 2-goal lead, and full of confidence, King’s maintained a high level of play and dominated possession, but found it difficult to break through an increasingly 'parked' HIBS side who at times looked like they were playing a 9-0-1 formation. Late in the game, Jack Hernon came off the bench and added to the tally, with a wind-assisted strike from outside the box. The keeper got fingers on the ball, but not enough to keep it out, taking Jack’s total this week to 5 goals.
Game 4 - King's 4 vs 2 Heretaunga College
The first game of the day against Heretaunga was relocated to a turf field, which suited us nicely compared to the mud bath on Tuesday. We made full use of the loosened rolling sub-rule and rotated players throughout the match. While helping us stay fresh, it was a little hard to build momentum. Jack Hernon scored twice, bringing up his 50th (and 51st) goals for the Boys First XI, a fantastic achievement that has been a long time coming, and also putting himself in contention for the Tournament Golden Boot. Johnson Belle (Year 12, Selwyn) got his first goal of the tournament, an excellent well-placed strike, and Ryan Rickit (Year 12, School) showed great composure to slot home late in the game. We were on the receiving end of a couple of interesting referee decisions, including one leading directly to a goal, and as mentioned we struggled to build momentum. So not the most incredible or convincing match and disappointingly, lost our clean sheet streak. But we won, and we moved on.
Game 5 (Quarter-final) - King's 4 vs 0 Hutt Valley High
With an incredibly short turnaround, a uniform change, and a 10-minute drive to our new venue, things were rushed for the game. We did discuss a few things the night before, and earlier in the morning and had a rested and organised line-up, but still struggled to settle into the game with fatigue, some pressure or panic, and unfortunately again, some interesting referee calls disrupting our flow. We never looked like losing, but didn’t fully take control of the match until the 2nd half, where our increasingly dominant possession and territory finally paid off. Two goals in quick succession to Morgan Wright and Jack Hernon eased the nerves and took the wind out of HVH's sails. The game seemed destined to end 2-nil until a late flurry of attacks and pressure from Zar Heather-Rau, and Alex Young (Year 10, Major) saw them grab a goal each, and our lead extended to a 4-nil score-line, more reflective of the gap between the two teams. Special mention to Ben Lawson (Year 12, Greenbank), who played his 50th match for the Boys First XI in this match.
Game 6 (Semi-final) - King's 1 vs 0 Whanganui Boys High
We needed an early morning start to battle Wellington traffic to reach our venue for today’s semi-final against WBH, but the drive was worth it, with a brilliant day and a great facility to play on! Whanganui posed a significant physical threat with several boys over 6’3, so we knew from the beginning they would look to use their size advantage as often as possible. For the first 10 or so minutes though they didn’t have a chance, as our King's boys dominated the majority of possession and territory but failed to find a breakthrough. Sporadic WBH attacks throughout the half were limited to long balls and counterattacks, or very rarely, off a King’s mistake in midfield, but with the efforts of our backline, they never looked like scoring.
Shortly before halftime, Johnson Belle broke the deadlock with a bit of razzle dazzle magic down the right wing, sending four defenders scrambling before cutting inside and placing his shot perfectly inside the far post much to the delight of his teammates! A goal very similar to the one he scored yesterday, while the camera was dead. The second half of the match started where the first half left off, with King’s dominating but not finishing off our chances, and in the final stages of the game, WBH became more desperate and started to build up a bit of hope. Our backline and keeper dealt well with the bombardment of longballs we faced, and pressure from set pieces, and we still had enough in the tank to reach the opposition goalbox and continue creating chances.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of resolutely defending longballs and corners, the referee's final whistle blew ending the game, and signalling our progression to the Trident Tournament Grand Final, winning 1-nil!
Game 7 (Final) - King's 1 vs 0 Tawa College
King's went into the final as slight underdogs, with both Tawa and King's in great form, but Tawa enjoying home advantage and crowd. A relatively nervy but evenly contested opening 20 minutes where both teams tested each other out but never looked like scoring. An unfortunate injury to Captain Jack Hernon disrupted King's momentum, and Tawa went into the halftime break looking the more promising of the two teams. Some subs, tactical adjustments, and the changing winds all had an impact on how King's started the second half and we began to improve in our confidence and quality, slowly exerting more and more pressure on Tawa.
About 10 minutes from the final whistle, Lucca Stredder confidently and creatively found some space on the edge of Tawa's box, and placed a marvellous shot into the far corner, sending the King's bench and his teammates into hysterics. For the final 10 minutes of the game, with a 1-0 lead to hold we threw everything into defence, and Tawa became more frustrated and desperate, eventually losing a player to a red card. After what seemed like forever, the final whistle blew, cueing hugs and cheers and screams and tears as King's was crowned Trident Champions for 2024.
Girls First XI - Kathy Seaward Tournament, Auckland
Game 1 - King's 3 vs 0 Western Springs
This game saw the Girl's First XI tournament campaign off to a great start. The player of the match went to Zoe Davis-Calvert (Year 12, Taylor) for her hattrick, although special mention goes to Ella Mayston (Year 13, Middlemore) for some brilliant setups and assists.
Game 2 - King's 1 vs 1 Waitakere College
This game saw a dominant performance from King's, holding possession throughout most of the game with multiple shots on goal. Zoe Davis-Calvert finally got one in the back of the net after a beautiful ball over the top from Ivy Stokes (Year 12, Middlemore) just before half-time. In the second half the girls continued to dominate with multiple more shots on goal and some great saves from the Waitakere keeper. Unfortunately, the girls learnt a hard lesson by losing focus just before the final hooter allowing Waitakere to score in the game's final seconds.
Day 2 at the tournament saw the team dominate possession throughout both games.
Game 3 - King's 4 vs 0 Birkenhead College
Four goals each to different players; Ella Mayston, Zoe Davis-Calvert, Lucy Hawes (Year 12, Middlemore) and Sophia Hoffman (Year 12, Marion Bruce). It has been hard to pick a player of the match due to so many of the girls performing so highly, however, the player of this match went to Sophia for the amazing job she does controlling our defence as a centre-back and her amazing goal, where she outran and outplayed the opposition from our backline.
Notable mentions go to captain Sophia Alexander (Year 13, Marion Bruce) for her efforts as a defensive midfielder and Bianca Norwell (Year 13, Marion Bruce) for all of her attacking runs on the right wing.
Game 4 - King's 7 vs 0 ACG Strathallan
The girls were hot on attack with three of our seven goals coming in the first eight minutes of the game. Our first goal is such a great example of the teamwork that our girls can display. It started with a strong run up the wing from Bianca Norwell, who passed the ball to Lily Double (Year 13, Taylor) who took a shot at goal which was deflected by the keeper. Lucy Hawes chased the ball and passed it to Zoe Davis-Calvert who scored in the opening minutes of the game. By the end of the game, Davis-Calvert had scored four with one each to Sophia Hoffman, Phoebe Wood (Year 11, Marion Bruce) and Stella Lamb (Year 13, Middlemore). Notable mention goes to Ella Mayston as at least two of the goals came off her beautiful corner kicks. The player of the match was awarded to Wood for her pure tenacity and determination throughout the game.
Game 5 - King's 1 vs 0 Paraparaumu
This morning's game was quite different to the previous two days, quite frankly it was the hardest and most competitive game that the girls have played all season. Both teams were able to string some great passes together on the attack but were shut down on defence. The game came down to each team having only one shot on goal each. King's opportunity came just before halftime when Zoe Davis-Calvert had a one-on-one with the goalie and managed to get past her to go into halftime 1-nil. Paraparaumu had their shot in the final minutes of the game where they made it past our line of defence and it was one-on-one with our goalie Gabriella Harris (Year 13, Taylor). The shot was bottom left corner, which saw Harris dive at full stretch to get her hands on the ball which she quickly scrambled to pick up as the attacker followed up their shot and was close to getting a toe on the ball. Sophia Alexander was awarded our player of the match for her consistent effort as defensive centre mid.
Quarter-final - King's 5 vs 6 One Tree Hill
This morning's game was a very physical battle which resulted in four players being injured. By the end of the first half, King's were able to take the lead 1-0 thanks to Ella Mayston. She took a beautiful long shot from about 30 yards out that just dropped in over the top of the keeper. The girls continued to fight throughout the second half until an unfortunate own goal happened. The girls were defending a corner where one of our girls took the ball to the side of the head and it deflected into the goal resulting in a 1-all draw.
With the game needing a result it was straight to penalties. After the first five players, it was a 4-all draw with Ella Mayston, Zoe Davis-Calvert, Bianca Norwell & Emily Stanton (Year 11, Taylor) all successful with their shots. It then moved to sudden death where unfortunately our 6th shot was saved by the goalie giving One Tree Hill the win. The player of the match was awarded to Sophia Hoffman.
Semi-final (5-8) - King's 4 vs 5 Green Bay College
With a depleted bench, it was clear to see that the remaining girls were tired and holding off injuries. However, this didn't diminish their spirit and they were still determined to put up a good fight. They fought well throughout the game to hold a nil-all draw and went into penalties for the second time that day. Our first four players were all successful with their shots; Ella Mayston, Zoe Davis-Calvert, Sophia Hoffman and Bianca Norwell. Unfortunately, our 5th attempt was blocked by the goalie giving Green Bay the win. Player of the match was awarded to Ella Mayston.
7th/8th playoff - King's 1 vs 0 Marist College
To conclude the final game of the tournament, the Girls First XI picked up a well-deserved 1-nil win to finish in 7th place out of a total of 24 teams. This is an achievement that the girls should be proud of, adding to the already impressive season. These results bode extremely well for next year. Thank you to the girls for the commitment throughout the season and to the parents and coaches who have contributed so much time and effort.
Golf
NZ Secondary Schools
Final over two days:
1st Rotorua Boys High School (280), 2nd King's College (281)
The King's College golf team, led by captain Grace Zhan (Year 13, Marion Bruce) and featuring Ryan Xie (Year 12, Averill) and Rianne Li (Year 13, Marion Bruce), competed at the Manukorihi Golf Club in the NZ Golf Secondary School’s Final. Saturday's practice day was challenging, with wet and stormy conditions testing the players' resilience.
On Sunday, the team ended the first day just one shot behind the leaders (one of their players scoring 2 on a par 5). Despite Ryan Xie's exceptional performance on Monday, where he recorded the lowest individual score of the day and a remarkable 7 under par over the two days, King's College finished in second place, narrowly missing out on the win by just one shot to Rotorua Boys High School. Grace Zhan finished the two days even, an impressive feat in her final game for King’s College.
Hockey
Boys First XI - Rankin Cup, Tauranga
The Boys Hockey First XI are third in New Zealand winning the bronze medal at the Rankin Cup, New Zealand Hockey’s Premier secondary schoolboys tournament, with a commanding 3-0 victory over Westlake Boys High School in their third-place play-off in Mt Maunganui. Goals from Charlie Middleton (Year 11, Averill), Tarquin Johnson (Year 11, School) and Ralph Farrands (Year 12, Averill) gave the team victory and King’s College’s fifteenth medal at the Rankin Cup.
King’s dominated the bronze medal match from start to finish, imposing their free-flowing hockey on a tiring Westlake team. They took the game to their opposition and never gave them a chance to settle.
It was an excellent team performance throughout the tournament – a gruelling seven matches in six days – and a credit to the team’s positive attitude and work rate that they achieved their success. The team secured their bronze medal with a series of good performances coming through a tough group which included two regional champions in Palmerston North Boys High School and New Plymouth Boys High School.
For King’s College, it was the first medal at the Rankin Cup since 2015.
Game 1:
King's 4 vs 3 Palmerston North Boys High School
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun, Ben Wigmore 2, Ed Irvine
Game 2:
King's 3 vs 2 New Plymouth Boys High School
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun 2, Charlie Middleton 1
Game 3:
King's 10 vs 3 Bethlehem College
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun 2, Ben Wigmore 2, Tim Hamilton 2, Tom Migounoff, Tom Hageman, Tarquin Johnson
Game 4 (Preliminary Quarter-final):
King's 3 vs 1 Hastings Boys High School
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun 2, Oliver Stewart
Game 5 (Quarter-final):
King's 3 vs 2 Hamilton Boys High School
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun, Ben Wigmore, Tim Hamilton
Game 6 (Semi-final):
King's 1 vs 5 Timaru Boys High School
Scorers: Scott Illerbrun
Game 7 (3rd/4th play-off):
King's 3 vs 0 Westlake Boys High School
Scorers: Charlie Middleton, Tarquin Johnson, Ralph Farrands
The team:
Harry Gordon, Ben Woodhams, Henry Fletcher, Jono Webster, Tom Migounoff, Edward Mitchelson, Ed Irvine, Ben Wigmore, Charlie Middleton, Ralph Farrands, Scott Illerbrun. Tarquin Johnson, Tim Hamilton, Noah Hamlin, Oliver Stewart, Thomas Hageman, Freddy Abeysekera, George Foster.
Coach: Keith Rowley.
Manager: Mark Johnston.
Video: Brendan Boreham.
Girls First XI - Marie Fry Trophy, Hamilton
The Girls Hockey First Xl finished tournament week on a high winning their bronze medal match in the Marie Fry Trophy section. The match went to a shoot-out after a scoreless draw. Heroines on the day were goal-keeper Mimi Moore (Year 12, Middlemore) who saved all of the opposition shoot-outs including two penalty strokes and Zara Preece Twose (Year 13, Middlemore) and Jemma Nesdale (Year 12, Taylor) who made no mistake with their shoot-out opportunities.
Unfortunately, during pool play, in their second match, the team lost for the remainder of the tournament key central defender Amelia Alston (Year 13, Middlemore) (facial injury) and pivotal midfielder Phoebe MacGill (Year 12, Middlemore) (broken finger). The eventual loss prevented the girls from progressing further in the Federation Cup.
However, with adversity comes diversity. The players relished the opportunity to show their resourcefulness in playing through multiple layers when required and rose to the challenge when asked to put in monumental shifts.
The teams’ attacking menace was always a threat to other sides. It was no surprise they finished with 19 goals for the tournament, a record for a King’s First Xl girls team. This placed them 4th in terms of goals scored of 32 teams, the three teams ahead of them finished with 20.
Game 1:
King's 2 vs 4 Wellington Girls College
Scorers: Sophia Head, Jemma Nesdale
Game 2:
King's 0 vs 2 Christchurch Girls High School
Game 3:
King's 5 vs 1 John Paul College
Scorers: Jemma Nesdale 2, Zara Preece Twose, Kate Illerbrun, Sophia Head
Game 4:
King's 7 vs 0 Columba College
Scorers: Jemma Nesdale 2, Eleora Lau, Maddie Paterson, Zara Preece Twose, Te Aria Nathan, Luca Morton
Game 5:
King's 5 vs 0 New Plymouth Girls High School
Scorers: Kate Illerbrun 2, Eleora Lau 2, Zara Preece Twose
Game 6:
King's 0 vs 2 St Andrew's College
Game 7:
King's 2 vs 0 Napier Girls High School
Scorers: Zara Preece Twose, Jemma Nesdale
The team:
Amelia Alston, Amelia Elsmore, Amelie Moore, Claudia Spencer, Eleora Lau, Frankie Wright, Jemma Nesdale, Kate Illerbrun, Luca Morton, Maddie Paterson, Olivia Barron, Phoebe Driscoll, Phoebe MacGill, Sammi Edgar, Scarlett Morris, Sophia Head, Te Aria Nathan, Zara Preece-Twose.
Coach: Andrew Massey
Manager: Anne MacGill
Girls Second XI Tournament, Dunedin
This year’s tournament for the Second XI Girls Hockey was held in Dunedin, it started with a very bumpy flight!
King's 0 vs 8 St Cuthbert's College
King's 0 vs 5 Christchurch Girls' High School
King's 0 vs 2 Rangi Ruru Girls School
King's 0 vs 2 Villa Maria College
9th/10th play-off:
King's 0 vs 4 Diocesan School For Girls
Led by our only Year 13, Captain Sophie Stening (Middlemore) did an amazing job in motivating and setting an example for the girls. It was a tough one with new players in the team the girls had to work quickly to form new bonds. It was a difficult week for the girls having unfortunately lost all their games. However, the improvement noticeable at the end of the week was outstanding the girls got better and better every day. Although the girls faced some hard games, there was never a moment when they weren’t happy or cheering. They may not have placed first in the tournament, but they blew all the other teams away and came first in team spirit. A big thank you to all of the parents who came all that way to support the girls.
The team:
Alex Mace, Charlie Foote, Charlotte Ray, Claudia White, Freddie Hatton, Georgie Wilson, Holly McCormick, Lauren Taylor, Mila Gasan, Molly Farrands, Nina Blyth, Sadie Hunn, Sophia Rogers, Sophie Stening, Violet Liu, Zoe Driscoll.
The coach: Rebekah Massey
Manager: Tammy Marais
Parent helper: Kristen Russell
Netball
UNISS Tournament, Auckland
Our Premier Netball team headed to West Auckland for the Upper North Island Secondary School tournament.
Our first day was challenging with two difficult games. However, the girls regrouped, had their team talk, and came back ready to go for the rest of the tournament where the team went on to draw one game and win six of their eight remaining games. The week was physically and mentally demanding for the team but we are proud of how they all came together and showed resilience and determination throughout the week, with smiles still on their faces (even when we made them do their daily ice baths!).
The results (below) mean that we placed 18th out of 32 schools in our grade and hold our place in B Grade for next year too. A great achievement considering the challenges with injuries that this team have had throughout the season. We had many comments about how well the girls conducted themselves and how pleasant they were when interacting with others, which made us very proud.
Finally a HUGE thank you to Leah Salt (who makes all this happen), Hayato Yoneto (master of the ice bath) and Leah Morrison (physio extraordinaire) for their amazing hard work to make this week, and season, a success for the girls. Also a big thank you to all the staff for the support we receive throughout the year. We truly appreciate it and it has a huge impact on the girls.
Game 1 - Mahurangi College 30 vs 18 King's
Game 2 - Lynfield 40 vs 28 King's
Game 3 - Long Bay 16 vs 26 King's
Game 4 - Elim 25 vs 31 King's
Game 5 - Kaitaia 24 vs 24 King's
Game 6 - Kaipara 23 vs 35 King's
Game 7 - Kerikeri 18 vs 24 King's
Game 8 - Albany 21 vs 28 King's
Game 9 - Pakuranga 19 vs 22 King's
Game 10 (playoff 18th/19th) - Kaipara 33 vs 21 King's
Rugby
First XV - Independent Schools First XV Tournament, Hamilton
Game 1 - King's 19 vs 11 St Andrews College
Saturday 31 August saw the King's First XV play St Andrew's College - a must-win match for our First XV Coach. The first half was full of errors with King's blowing five try-scoring opportunities. Johan Schaumkell (Year 12, School) scored the only try in the first half to have a half-time score of 5-5. St Andrew's kicked two penalties to lead 11-5 with 20 minutes remaining.
King's finally got on the board again with Calvin Harris-Tavita (Year 11, Parnell) scoring an intercept try and Taylor Bai (Year 12, Parnell) finishing a well-worked team try. Both tries were converted by Marco Miln (Year 12, Selwyn) to have a final score of 19-11 to King's. Bai, along with Johnny Wilson (Year 12, Parnell), Noah Moss (Year 10, Parnell), Ricoh Wilson (Year 10, Greenbank), and Finn Thompson (Year 10, Marsden) all made their debut for the First XV.
Game 2 - King's 33 vs 47 Christ's College
Sunday 1 September saw the team travel to Hamilton again with a different-looking team that the day before to play Christ's College. It looked like the boys were still sleeping on the bus as we were down nil-35 after 30 minutes! Christ's attacked with the ball with efficiency, power and very good off-loads to carve through the King's defence. Marco Miln (Year 12, Selwyn) scored a well-taken individual try in the 33rd minute which he converted to make the halftime score 7-35.
The comeback started immediately into the second half with Hawaiki Morrison (Year 13, Parnell) scoring with Miln converting. An intercept try by Christ's took them further into the lead but the King's boys did not give up. They were playing a lot better rugby now and two tries to Johan Schaumkell along with a conversion by Miln had the team seeing possibilities of a comeback. However, Christ's managed to go over for a converted try with 12 minutes remaining. Captain Flynn Hamilton-Muller (Year 13, Averill) scored after a fantastic run where he beat three defenders with the try being converted by Miln to take the score to 33-47 with 8 minutes to play.
King's kept attacking but could not breach the defence any further to leave a final score of 33-47 in favour of Christ's. Not the result the team wanted and the first 30 minutes of the game was something that they needed to learn from as several players from the Second XV got taught a lesson by the Christ's team.
Game 3 - King's 32 vs 12 St Paul's Collegiate
Tuesday 3 September saw the team leave King's early for their final game of the season. They played St Paul's Collegiate but were once again guilty of too many errors with at least four try-scoring opportunities being blown in the first 20 minutes of the game. St Paul's scored the first try from a counterattack. This seemed to wake the King's team up with Flynn Hamilton-Muller scoring a good try after a strong run that was converted by Marco Miln (Year 12, Selwyn) to make the halftime score 7-5 in favour of King's. The second half began with a more direct and accurate attitude from King's with tries to Johan Schaumkell, Saia Manu (Year 12, Averill), and Kahu Cotterill (Year 13, School) one of which was converted by Miln taking the score out to 24-5 after 7 minutes of the second half.
However, play became disjointed again for a period and St Paul's scored another converted try with 15 minutes to play. A fantastic pass by Sione Manuopangai (Year 12, Peart) put Jamie Ludbrook (Year 11, St John's) into space to score a great team try and Miln finished with a converted try after some great interplay and a sniping run around the ruck by him that saw him sprint 25 metres to score.
This saw the end of the King's College playing careers for some great servants of the game at King's. Captain Flynn Hamilton-Muller (44 games) Hawaiki Morrison (46 games), Harrison Martin (33 games), Connor Empson (35 games), Robbie Noble (24 games) and Kahu Cotterill (18 games) have been integral parts of the team and have shown sound leadership skills to help the younger players around them.
Under-85kg Tournament, Wellington
For the third consecutive year, we participated in this tournament, facing numerous challenges along the way. Despite waterlogged and nearly unplayable fields, as well as tough competition, our team performed exceptionally, securing 7 wins out of 9 games and finishing in 3rd place overall.
Won: 7
Lost: 2
Finished: 3rd
Results:
Game 1:
King's 0 vs 5 St Patrick’s Silverstream
Game 2:
King's 41 vs 0 Hutt Valley High School
Tries: Johnny Wilson (3), Sacha Foenander (2), Matt Hargrave and Bruno Cettina
Conversions: Fraser Brown (3)
Game 3:
King's 50 vs 5 Onslow/Newlands Colleges
Tries: Sacha Foenander (2), Tommy Farag, Lucas Barron, Dom Lunjevich, Evan Nathan-Patuawa, Jackson Brown and Bruno Cettina
Conversions: Evan Nathan-Patuawa (5)
Game 4:
King's 22 vs 5 St Pat’s Town
Tries: Harry Taylor, Oli Bates, Evan Nathan-Patuawa and Jackson Brown
Conversions: Evan Nathan-Patuawa
Game 5:
King's 19 vs 7 St Bernard’s College
Tries: Bailey Harris, Johnny Wilson and Evan Nathan-Patuawa
Conversions: Jackson Brown (2)
Game 6:
King's 17 vs 5 Rongotai College
Tries: Johnny Wilson, Matt Hargrave and Lucas Barron
Conversions: Lucas Barron
Game 7:
King's 24 vs 7 Wellington College
Tries: Blake Hayes (2), Evan Nathan-Patuawa and Harry Taylor
Conversions: Dom Lunjevich (2)
Game 8:
King's 0 vs 21 New Plymouth Boys High School
Game 9 (3rd/4th playoff):
King's 12 vs 11 Rongotai College
Tries: Bruno Cettina (2)
Conversions: Dom Lunjevich
Under-15 Northlands Rugby Union Tournament, Whangārei
Game 1 - King's 51 vs 33 Kerikeri High School
On Monday we played Kerikeri High School (Winners of the Northlands U15 Championship), and won an end-to-end, try-fest, demonstrating great skills and discipline to emerge 51-33 to the good. The intensity and contact were fierce and the King’s lads set the pace, scoring some excellent tries. Kerikeri never gave up, but the King’s U15s moved through the gears to create clear space between themselves and the Northlands Champions by the end of the game.
Game 2 - King's 38 vs 5 Orewa College
On Tuesday 3 September, we played Orewa College, beating them 38-5, in a straightforward and decisive performance by the King’s lads. The King’s boys were too strong for the Orewa team, but some unforced errors saw a closer final score than was expected.
Game 3 - King's 36 vs 5 Whangārei Boys High School
This was the toughest game of the tournament, against a side who had won their previous three games, effectively making it the unofficial “final”. The King’s U15As came together, literally and metaphorically to deliver when it mattered, with the forwards “moving pianos” and the backs “playing pianos”. The combination of brute force and finesse made for sweet, sweet music and a virtuoso performance by a team who had previously, only come close to showing their true potential in the Auckland Competition this season, but had not quite played all the right notes, in the correct order…
Game 4 - King's 57 vs 0 Matamata College
Matamata were a beaten and bloodied side by the time this game rolled around, and a fourth game in as many days seemed one step too far for them. They had shown glimpses of true class during the week, pushing Whangārei BHS hard on Monday and drawing with the Northlands Competition Winners, Kerikeri High School on Tuesday; but they just did not have the cattle nor the fitness to match an effervescent King’s team on the afternoon of the final day. The King’s “U15 Honey Badgers”, lived up to their name and dug deep to deliver a final showing that they can both be proud of and look back upon, as the moment that they summited and took in the view from the peak.