July 2009 Southern Skies Tournament – Team Mgmt Feedback and Reflection
It was terrific to finally have boarded the plane to Brisbane and know that all the effort was rewarded when you saw the excitement in the boys faces. The disappointment in doing so was firstly having to leave Gary Addi behind whom despite desperate efforts by family and Gordon could not get his pending citizenship vs. passport sorted in time, secondly was that due to the economic climate the rugby competition was reduced to only 6 teams in the U18 division and no teams in U16s. This immediately meant the boys were up against formidable foe, particularly the two Brisbane sides (College & Grammar) and Hato Paora (Fielding NZ), so our focus was on gaining as much respect as possible in these encounters (with as little damage!) and taking out Rangiora and Tauhara colleges!! We believed we could be a match in forwards but were very weary in the backs with only 7 in the squad including young Rikki!
The week went as follows (all games 20 mins each way, game am and pm):
o 17 all draw with Rangiora in first game – we should have won this if we had controlled the ball for the full 40 mins!
o 29-5 loss to BBC, backs struggled in first half, we dominated last 10 mins – response from their coach (the famous Kiwi “Craig Green”) the next day was that our forwards were a typical tough Kiwi pack and one of, if not the best pack there!
o Team a bit flat after the morning given the lost opportunity bit picked up pm, we lost Hendrick to a knee injury however!
- Day 2 – the Big day with HP and BBG!!
o 31-5 loss to Hato Paora, competed really well first 20mins with forwards holding their own and backs tackling like demons – lift to the team was seeing little Rikki take one of their big wingers right round the ankles. Down 12 nil at half time they picked up two quick tries in second half but we came home strong last 5 minutes incl a try!
o 5 nil loss to BB Grammar in afternoon, helped by playing well to the drizzly conditions, we dominated the forwards and the experiment of Josh at 2nd 5 worked well for our D line. We could have won this and unfortunately the game was very clouded by a bolshy, “bigger than the game”, whistle happy, South African/Aussie ref! (sorry Edgar bit give a SA’can a whistle!!!) The final straw was when he red carded Ryan with 2 mins to go for supposedly kicking a player in the head, when this was clearly wrong - a bigger story to this one – a different offender and offence!
o End of day two – very satisfied, lots of respect generated but tired and very sore with it!
- Day 3 – day out at Dreamworld & White Water World, great fun although the wind was cold!
- Day 4 – Last pool game against Tauhara am, Seeding game pm.
o Lost 10-3 to Tauhara, bitterly disappointed as this was our focus game but our forwards couldn’t get going and also no bonus point as we did not score a try (meant we would end pool play 6th due to lower number of tries overall!) Didn’t help that we lost our pivot Dylan to injury early to a blatant forearm!)
o Lost 34-5 to BB Grammar in seeding game (3 vs. 6), disappointing first half, rallied for first 10 mins 2nd half and scored, then BBG finished with 2 tries.
o This left us 6th, playing off for 5th & 6th the next day.
- Day 5 – Playoff with Tauhara, lost 24 nil, poor way to end with the boys not really up for it although in saying that second half was scoreless for the first 17 mins.
Final standings – HP 1st unbeaten, BBC, BBG, Rangiora, Tauhara, Hillcrest.
Overall the boys peaked on day 2, playing above and beyond and were unlucky not to have a significant scalp. The development in back levels was significant while our forwards showed they could be the best pack there. The School can be very proud of the way the boys presented and behaved themselves throughout, while the mgmt team clicked and worked together well to make it a generally very enjoyable trip (apart from one referee). Thanks also to Edgar for setting the scene and expectations clearly beforehand – and his general full support for us through a very busy term.
Again disappointed by number and lack of international mix of teams and that goes for all the codes that were at the tournament (Netball, Hockey & Soccer) – I believe apart from Aussies and Kiwis there was the one netball team from Ireland and that was it!
It was terrific to have the Henderson family there through the week with Mark running numerous errands for us, while also having Mike Tashlykov’s family there late the week was also great.
Accommodation, meals and amenities were fine (once we worked out how to warm the dorms up), while staying at the playing venue was a real time saver.
Additional comment from Gordon: “ Hillcrest High rugby players proved that they do have the ability and skill to play at a level that is higher than the current Hamilton competition the 1st XV plays in. The boys now have to carry that knowledge into the remainder of the domestic season.
Hillcrest High School management can be very proud of the 24 boys who represented the school on this trip. The way everyone bonded, no one was “left out” of the socialising. With the wide variety of ages, the interaction between all the boys was great to see.”
We would like to acknowledge all the behind the scenes planning fundraising and support.
Look out for an article from the players to follow this soon!
Cheers
Danny Farr on behalf of the Trip Mgmt & Coaching Team
