2011 Competition Winners

1st XV - Winners Highlanders 1st XV Competition
U15 Whites, U14 Blues and U13 Blues

7 February

Last year a squad of our senior players attended the Condor Sevens in Auckland.  A link which shows some of their participation in the tournament can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUnsK0PPhuc&feature=share

3 February

A fundraising evening for the rugby boys travelling to Samoa at the end of the term is being held on Wedneday 8th February. Renowned local cook Judith Cullen, and old boy and owner of Harbour Fish, Aaron Cooper are combining their talents to present a "Summer cooking Made Easy'  demonstration. The venue is the Otago Boys' High School Auditorium with the doors opening at 7-00pm and the demonstration starting at 7-30pm. Raffles will also be run during the evening.

Tickets which cost $20-00 are available at the School office or by contacting Carla Laughton at carla.laughton@obhs.school.nz

1 February 2012

To coin a phrase 'its time to kick it in the guts Trev' and resurrect the site.  A new year, the start of a new term and within weeks the rugby season will kick into action as well. Already prospective members of the senior teams, the 1st's and 2nd's, are been given a bit of physical exercise by coach Ryan Martin. This is in part due to the impending tour to Samoa by a squad of senior players at the end of this term.

While fitness and skills are important for the players so is the need to fundraise and several initiatives are under way. The following article appeared on the OBHS foundation site but is reprinted here in the hope that others may wish to become involved.

"The 1st XV are touring Samoa in April 2012 and as part of their major fund raising efforts they are going to auction a set of 1902 replica OBHS 1st XV jerseys. The jersey has the original club emblem and the lace collar used by the 1902 team

Old Boys who were in the 1st XV will have an opportunity to bid for their jersey number (1-15).

Bids will be made on an internet auction site and the organisers will have the address ready for the site by the end of December. Keep an eye on the Foundation's website for more details as they come to hand. In the meantime, any enquiries can be directed to Ryan Martin - 1st XV Coach - at the School on 0-3-477 5527."

20 December

Sekonaia Pole, Matthew Ellis, Jermaine Ainsley and Shay Kerry have been invited to attend the National Under 17 training camps being held next season. The majority of the 100 players named are North Island based so it is quite an achievement to have four from the one school. Well done guys.
Another Otago player, Gavin Stark from Blue Mountain College has also been selected.
Southland Boys have three players, St Peters College one player and Menzies College one as well, to complete the Southern Contingent.

20 November

With the current discussion as to whether it should be Sir Ritchie I wondered who might rank as perhaps the top Sportsman produced by O.B.H.S. An impressive list of candidates can be built up and the following is in no way inclusive - just some who come to mind as having excelled at the highest levels in recent years.
Richie McCaw (rugby) , Hamish Bond (rowing), Russell Coutts (yachting), John Davies (athletics), Greg Henderson (cycling), Glen Turner (cricket), Greg Turner (golf),  Glen Thomson (cycling)

19 November

The Michael Collins story continues! The following is part of an article published in the Otago Daily Times.

Rugby: Schoolboy back signed by Otago

Otago Boys' High School First XV captain Michael Collins has been signed by the Otago union and named in the squad, the first player signed by the union and named in a senior squad straight from school. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

A schoolboy, two brothers and a lack of a halfback are features of the list of Otago contracted players announced yesterday.

The squad will begin training shortly in preparation for the ITM Cup, which is due to start in mid August next year.

Otago Boys' High School First XV captain Michael Collins has been signed by the Otago union and named in the squad, the first player to be signed at that level straight from school.

Otago Rugby Football Union chairman Wayne Graham said Collins' signing was great.

"We're thrilled to have contracted him. He is obviously an Otago boy and we are glad to be able to keep him here. To be able to secure him when there were a few after him is great. He is a talented player who we feel has the skills and talent to play at this level," Graham said.

Collins, a midfield back, was the only South Islander selected in this year's New Zealand Secondary Schools side.

The following link to Channel 9 Television shows an interview with Michael.

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/dunedin-schoolboy-signed-otago-rugby-football-union

8 October

Michael Collins was subsequently named in the NZ team to play Australia A in Sydney on October 5 - wiining 53-11.
He was then named in the reserves for the Test match against Australia Schools played in Sydney on October 8th. Australia winning 26-19 to avenge last years defeat on Littlebourne.

29 September

A report on the NZ Secondary Schools versus Waikato U20's in preparation for their game against Australia can be found at :
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/sport/5700661/NZ-schools-come-from-behind-to-beat-U20s/
This includes a photo and reference to Michael Collins.

27 September
OBHS- Otago Secondary School Sevens Champions 2011

Otago Boys’ High has qualified for the National Secondary Schools ‘Condor Sevens’ championships by winning the Otago regional tournament held in Middlemarch. The team played 3 pool matches and a final, results were:

St Kevins ( 72-0 win)

Kavanagh ( 40-5 win)

Kings (27-15 win)

Grand Final- vs Kings (58-5 win)

With only 2 weeks of training the team came together well for the tournament with superior conditioning and skill level being the difference. Players to stand out were- Brodie Hume, Sean Conner, Eti Slater, Josh Casey and Aleki Morris. The team will now prepare for the Nationals to be held in Auckland on the 4^th of December.

Ryan Martin - Coach

19 September

Yesterday the school was visited by Old Boy and England team member, Tom Palmer. He and fellow England team members conducted a coaching session with members of our senior XV's. The visit was widely recorded and can be view at:

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-world-cup/english-lock-goes-back-school-video-4408920

Another link worth viewing can be found at:

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/english-head-back-school

10 September

The School Rugby Club hosted a team from Chile University on Saturday. A School team consisting of players from  the 2nds, U16 and U15 Blue with a couple of 1st XV players won by 56-14 in a free flowing game played on Littlebourne - which was probably in the best condition it has been all season!  The Chileans were strong in the close-in forward contact area and scored two tries through them. The OBHS team were superior in the backs and with fitness also on their side were able to score some excellent tries. The signs are good for next season as the team only had two brief training runs prior to the game.

Photos of OBHS Selection versus Chile University can be found at : Chile University

3 September

As the season draws to its conclusion both for school and domestic rugby and with the World Cup about to kick off I wondered what sort of influence our school has in the greater scheme. We have Old Boys, Richie McCaw, Filipo Levi and Tom Palmer playing for NZ, Samoa and England respectively. Michael Collins is our most recent NZ rep in the NZ Secondary Schools, Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury), Hayden Parker (Otago) and Tim Boys (Southland) but not a lot of others readily come to mind.

What really got my interest going was when I  came across an article about Christchurch Boys' and their 2005 team. It is interesting to see who has gone on from that one team and the influence they have at provincial and national level.   Tim Bateman, Mason Pomare, Owen Franks, Michael Coom, Nasi Manu, Colin Slade, Reuben Fitzgerald, Michael Tuck, Ash Dixon, Matt Latham, High Reed, James Stevenson, Matt Todd, Will Sellwood John Legg, Ash Clarke, Ryan McLeod, Mark Jackman, Andrew Horrell, Will McAuliffe, Tim Jones, Russell Voice.

Why the difference - we play and often beat them at Interschool level; in fact we are arguably one of the best 1st XV's in the South Island and yet very few of our players go on to the higher levels. Scanning the weekly club lists does reveal that some do get to play Premier club rugby - but then what? How many recent Old Boys appear in the Otago Colts, Otago B etc - yet we have 14 in the U18 squad. How many of these names will appear in Metro or Otago teams next year.

Here is a list of Reps in the various Otago teams for 2011 ( apologies for any name overlooked):
Otago B - Matt Larson, Chris Bell, Cam Rutherford, Ben Nowell, Tom Davie, Ben Kent

Colts - Craig Miller, Henry Parker, Hayden Parker

U19 - Kurt Hammer, Liam Edwards, Will Scorgie, Lance Taylor

U18 - Ethan Harrex, Lachlan Landels, Hagan Free, Michael McKee, Troy Callender, Josh Dickson, Brodie Hume, Harry Schaumann, Josh Renton, Sam Ellis, Aleki Morris, Sean Connor, Eti Slater.  Michael Collins (selected but unavailable)

U16 - Jermaine Ainsley, Josh Dawson, Tim Medder, Shay Kerry, Byron Aitken, Luke Moeke, Sekonaia Pole, Matt Ellis, Corey Miller, Alex Faulkner, Jesse Porter

U14 - Christian Blackie, Brent  Dixon, Liam Howden-Wilson, Tokerau Joseph, Tamati Karetu-Taylor, Mitch Kelly, Tehei Matenga, Jamie MacDonald, Michael McKay, Matt McNamara, Scott Bezett, Joseph Cooke-Green

Metro U13 - Otto Dove, Clayton Woods, Liam Guthrie, Tor Demmers, Glenn Donaldson, Braydon Crombie, Mackenzie Faulks, Lloyd McGee, Dylan Walters, Daymon Houston.

Look at our representation in the age groups! Whose responsibility is it to ensure this talent is not lost? Are we overplaying our 1st XV players who then give it away when they leave school? I doubt we have this problem to ourselves. Without researching other local schools I suspect that Kings High School and the like could probably look at their recent 1st XV's and wonder where their players went.

In the longer term surely we want Highlanders and Razorback teams which are predominately made up of deserving and talented local players - the question is are we producing them or can we produce them?

PS. Hockey are currently doing better with two New Zealand reps, Hugo Inglis and Blair Tarrant while Kane Russell is also in the training squad for the London Olympics!!

Who  is Shay Kerry!! Shay is a Year 12 student who has spent the season playing football but has made the transition across to rugby with quite some success.

31 August

An article about rugby at O.B.H.S. was printed in the Weekend Herald on Saturday August 27. Although a little out of date with the Kings interschool having being played some time ago it still provides interesting reading. A copy can be found at Weekend Herald article