Wins for St Paul's and Boys' High
1st June 2011 08:16AM
By Hamish Forsman
St Paul’s have come from behind to beat Cambridge High School 15-7 in round three of Waikato secondary school 1st XV rugby.
After trailing at half time St Paul’s lifted in the second half to outscore a gutsy Cambridge side three tries to one in an even contest at Memorial Park, Cambridge.
St Paul’s struck first when wing Aaron Crow showed a good turn of pace to score in the corner, as both teams started positively and tried to keep the ball in hand.
Cambridge replied just before the break with a try to halfback Brogan Bayliss, and fullback Jared Fletcher converted for a 7-5 half time lead.
St Paul’s came out fired up after half time and were quickly back in the lead when they turned down a shot at goal and fullback Jonty Rae scored from the resulting scrum.
St Pauls’s looked to be taking control of the match but Cambridge kept working hard, led by the impressive loose forwards duo of Mitch Jacobson and Isaac van der Valk.
However a Cambridge sin binning put more pressure on the home side as they tried to stay in the game, and just a minute later St Paul’s captain Hadleigh May scored to stretch the lead to 15-7.
Cambridge responded well and had good periods on attack moving the ball around with intent, but they could not cross the St Paul’s line as the visitors defence held strong.
Hamilton Boys’ High School 1st XV have warmed up for the Super Eight competition with a thrilling 22-19 win over Auckland Grammar – their sixth consecutive win in the traditional fixture.
Boys’ High had opened up a 15-6 lead shortly after half time thanks to two tries from hard running captain Alex Suttie, and a penalty and conversion from first five Josh O’Flaherty.
Grammar responded with two long range tries to hit the front with just ten minutes remaining.
Then after a period of constant pressure halfback Ben Finau burst clear from a ruck to score the winning try, converted by Te Raina Richards-Coxhead.
The game was an excellent spectacle of attacking rugby, providing a good hit out for Boys’ High ahead of their Super Eight campaign which gets underway today with an 11.30am home game against New Plymouth Boys’ High School.
