Annual Under 15 Boys' Tournament

As part of Winter Tournament Week, the annual Under 15 Tournament comprises sixteen teams from secondary schools (on an invitational basis) who compete in a Cup and Plate section for the Rex Kerr Trophy.

Annual Under 16 Boys' Tournament

Every year in the third term school holidays, the Council holds New Zealand's premier tournament for Under 16 players, comprising teams from all member Provincial Unions, competing in two divisions for the Don Broughton Shield, the Saracens Cup and the Manaaki Tangata Trophy.

Annual Under 18 Boys' Competition

Every year in September, the Council holds a competition for Under 18 teams from member Provincial Unions, competing for the TrustBank Central Secondary Schools Shield first competed for in the 1990's.

Annual Under 19 Tournament

This competition comprises teams from Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu, and a Hurricanes Heartland Team (comprising players from the Council's member Heartland Provincial Unions), competing for the Central Region Shield on a home and away basis.

Annual Under 20 Heartland Development Series

Comprising teams from the regions Heartland Provincial Unions, the Heartland Development Series is held annually over two weeks, with teams competing for the Hurricanes Under 20 Cup.

Girls' Rugby Development Programmes

Every year, with the support of New Zealand Rugby, the Council provides Development Days, an Under 15 Tournament and an Under 18 Development Camp for young women within the Hurricanes Region.

Annual Hurricanes Sevens Tournament

The best secondary school Sevens players in the region (in Boys and Girls divisions) compete for the Hurricanes Secondary Schools Sevens Cup, hosted by Wairarapa-Bush.

Wellington Samoans Win TBCSSS In Napier Nail-Biter

After leading by a solitary point at half-time (11-10), the Wellington Samoan RFU has won the Trustbank Central Secondary School Shield for the first time since 2016 and only for the third time in the 30-year history of the trophy, with a nail-biting 25-24 victory over Hawkes Bay at Tremain Field in Napier.

The home side were the first to score, with a penalty goal after 20 minutes. Wellington Samoan struck back, scoring an unconverted try from the restart, with a further two penalty goals before the break, in response to a converted try to Hawkes Bay.

In the second-half, Hawkes Bay started strongly, however a well-worked line-out move put the visitors further ahead with a converted try. The Magpies hit straight back with a superb rolling maul score to narrow the margin to one point, 18–17. A further converted try by the Wellington Samoans seemed to put the result beyond doubt with the score 25-17 deep into the second-half.

However as the game wore on, the visitor’s set-piece started to malfunction, resulting in a number of turnovers, one of which led to Hawkes Bay’s final converted try in the shadow of full-time. A yellow-card against Wellington Samoan with time almost up gave Hawkes Bay a final short at taking the Shield, but the Wellington Samoans hung on to win their first title in six years.

In the other play-off matches, Wellington Maori RFU defaulted to Poverty Bay. And Whanganui defeated Centurions RFC by 34 points to 29 to consign the Wellington side to last place in the 2022 competition.

In the preliminary rounds of the 2022 Under 16 Tournament played today, Manawatu defeated Hawkes Bay by 18 points to 10, Wellington Gold edged Wellington Black 17 to 16 and Wairarapa Bush comfortably accounted for Whanganui by 33 points to 5. Hawkes Bay Development play Poverty in Wairoa, tomorrow.

(Published: 24/09/22)