HOLD UP!! You Have the Wrong School

So with the news of potential No.1 player in the country for 2018 Top 200 Rankings Isaiah Punivai from Christ College making a move to St Kentigern College next year has really made “On Lookers” of 1st XV Rugby upset. For some reason and I dont know why this always happens, but rugby supporters seem to think it is really unfair that Auckland have so much money and buy all the best players around the country. The “On Lookers” see this as being under that umbrella of unfair and sort of cheating. This move could actually make St Kents a whole lot better and maybe a lock for the No.1 Team in the country in 2018. So I kind of get it in away how people could feel like that, but the way I see it is there is WAY more then 23 talented players in the country, but that’s just me.

This all is because people still hate the fact that talented rugby players can be recruited to bigger and better rugby programs for the most part, and the “On Lookers” they feel that it’s taking away from their Rugby Programs success. If you have been following High School Top 200 for a while now you will know that I am all for Recruiting and will even help teams recruit players to their program if schools ask me. For me Recruiting is all about the “Player” not the “Program”. The “Player” on lasts 1 or 2 years in 1st XV Rugby if lucky and the Schools Program will never stop. If the player wants to take a scholarship that is offered to him, because he and his parents feel it is better for him then thats great, if he doesnt then that great too. When coaches start talking a kid out of a scholarship for their own benefit then to me that is wrong. With Isaiah Punivai moving to Auckland and playing with one of the best views a rugby field can provide, I feel like he made the right choice for him and what I think is a rugby based move. The conversation now has moved onto big Auckland rugby schools stealing talent or whatever and Auckland schools take a lot of unfair knocks for that reputation. What “On Lookers” look past and seem to skip over is the fact that kids continue to accept scholarships that are offered, so Auckland school’s must be doing something good for kids to keep going there.

Now Im going to fight for the City I was born and raised in till i was 8 Auckland and throw under the bus the City I live in and Love and support 100% Hamilton and the MIGHTY CHIEFS. Auckland does’nt have the best rugby team in the country or rugby program, so why are you “On Lookers” getting mad at them for? If anything you should really be mad at Hamilton BHS, who over the last 17 Years dominated the New Zealand 1st XV map and I would throw in the Chiefs Region with it. If you look at the Top 4 since the Year 200 I would argue that Hamilton BHS would be the best 1st XV Rugby Program in New Zealand and have the National Titles, Super 8 Titles, the huge number of NZSS players to prove it, all they do is win. Even when you go to the school you can just feel the Pride the school has for being the best and being winners, and not just for Rugby but also with their 7’s Rugby, Rowing, Cricket, Soccer and the high level of Academics that they have every year. Then you have a look at the rest of the Chiefs Region with Wesley College and Rotorua BHS both having won National Titles as well and featuring in many Finals. You really only have to look at the list of teams and it will jump out at you that Hamilton BHS and the Chiefs Region have dominated NZ 1st XV Rugby and not the Auckland or Blues Region, so why you so mad at Auckland for? Hamilton BHS should be the one that “On Lookers” should blame for being to strong and winning or being in the Finals for almost the past 10 years.

So just take this in and think about it for a bit before you start attacking Auckland Schools for taking players and dominating because that is just not true at all. The Chiefs Region from the Year 2000 which is 17 years have won the National Title 7 times and the Blues have won it 6 times. From those 7 Titles won by the Chiefs Region Hamilton BHS have won it or shared it in a Draw 4 times in 17 years, made the Finals 6 times, made the Top 4 10 times in 17 years and won the Super 8 Title 9 times in that same period. This is more then any other school in the country when it comes to National Titles and Top 4 appearances, Christchurch BHS and Rotorua BHS have won 3 Titles, MAGS and Wesley College have 2 each which makes that 3 Chiefs teams in those list of repeating Title winners over the past 17 years, So should we really get pissed off at Auckland Schools for dominating cause it doesn’t seem like its them dominating?

National Finals 2000-2017

2017 Hastings Boys’ High School 25-17 Hamilton BHS
2016 Mt Albert Grammar School 14-13 Hastings BHS
2015 Rotorua Boys’ High School 36-27 Scots College
2014 Scots College 26-26 Hamilton Boys’ High School
2013 Hamilton Boys’ High School 12-10 St Kentigern College
2012 St Kentigern College 31-5 Otago BHS
2011 Kelston Boys’ High School 24-14 Wesley College
2010 Mt Albert Grammar School 20-17 Hamilton BHS
2009 Hamilton Boys High School 17-0 St Bedes College
2008 De La Salle 6-6Hamilton Boys High School
2007 Gisborne Boys High School 36-24 MAGS
2006 Christchurch Boys’ High School 18-14 Auckland GS
2005 Christchurch Boys’ High School 23-10 Kings College
2004 Christchurch Boys’ High School 22-22 Wesley College
2003 Rotorua Boys High School 31-11 Napier BHS
2002 Napier Boys High School 6-6 Rotorua BHS
2001 Wesley College 53-32 Rotorua BHS
2000 St Peter’s College 20-12 Wellington College

Here is another way you should think about it as well and we’ll use the same 17 years from 2000-2017 period but I’ll focus on NZSS players. So I went through and looked at every NZSS selection from 2000-2017 and I wanted to see how many players from Hamilton BHS made NZSS selection then match it against the Top 8 1A Schools. The 8 1A schools I looked at was Auckland GS, MAGS, St Kentigern College, St Peters College, De La Salle College, Kings College, Kelston BHS and Sacred Heart College. I went looking within that time period and something was pretty interesting. Hamilton BHS from “2000-02” that 3 year period they had no NZSS players at all, and for the 1A schools for those 3 years every school had at least 1 player selected except for De La Salle who didn’t have anyone selected either. Then I looked at the others and St Kents and Kelston had 7 players selected each in 3 years, St Peters College and Kings had 4 each, Grammar had 5 selected, Sacred 3 and MAGS 1.

From then on everyone of the 1A schools went on long slumps without NZSS selections except for MAGS. St Kents had a 8 year slump of no NZSS selections, St Peters went 7 years and only had one player selected, De La Salle College are on a 8 year slump right now. Sacred Heart went 11 years with only 4 players selected, Kings 7 years with only 2 selections, Grammar 6 years with one player selected. Now to think that Auckland go out every year and buy the best players is just not true and actually far from the truth. If schools were to be buying the best players every year those long years of Slumps with no selections would just never be there. Here’s are all the schools and there selection Rankings….

1A NZSS from 2000-2017

Let’s look at Hamilton BHS and I mentioned that for the first 3 year they did not have one NZSS selection at all which was real surprising to me. Then Hamilton BHS went on a stretch that no other school could come close to and it starts from Shannon Hepi (R.I.P) who was this tough dude that just never back down from anyone him and his twin brother Shanley, they came from Raglan If I remember rightly. Shannon Hepi started this wave of selections into the NZSS and Hamilton BHS went went 13 years with NZSS selections from “03-15” missed out 2016 and had 3 players this year 2017. 13 Years straight with at least one Hamilton BHS player selected into the team, missed out last year which I think Quinn Tupaea should have been in there and then had 3 in this year, now that is hard to do and no one comes close to that record right there. Now for the overall number of selections of Hamilton BHS players have into the NZSS team? Hamilton BHS have had over the 17 Years 34 players selected into the NZSS team from Shannon Hepi to Quinn Tupaea 34 players, that is a huge number over 17 years. There were 7 times where they had 3 or more players selected at one time into the team.

So lets recap a little bit, everyone comes for Aucklands neck when they recruit a player saying “They just buy up all the talent and it’s unfair”. One hour down the road in “The TRON” Hamilton BHS over the last 17 years have 4 National Titles, 6 appearances in the Finals, 10 Top 4 appearances, 9 Super 8 Titles and 34 NZSS selections over 17 years, and you think Auckland Schools are unfair? Come on now? Auckland Schools are just an easy target because it’s Auckland and they have the most money and people but I think Hamilton BHS have been laughing this whole time at everyone. Hamilton BHS have won 4 National Titles over 17 Years and the 1A combined have won 6…….do you get it now?