T hey’re already calling it the

“pool of death” and on a day

when Bruce Pulman Park looked

more like an aquatic arena, it

was Tokoroa High School’s turn to fuel

the Pool B feeding frenzy at the NZRL

National Secondary Schools Tournament.

After dropping their tournament opener

to Tamaki College, the Waikato boys lifted

themselves off the canvas to topple Monday’s

giant-killers, Papatoetoe High, 18-12 and

keep everyone’s hopes alive.

All three, plus reigning champions Kelston

Boys High, now sit 1-1 entering the final day

of pool play, with just 12 points covering the

points for/against spread.

“To be honest, we thought our first game

would be a bit easier,” admitted Tokoroa

coach Tama Teaukura

“We knew they’d all be tough, but we thought

we could build towards a big game on

Wednesday against Kelston. Results have

shown that Tamaki are strong and we had to

lift to another level for Papatoetoe.

“Whether they were still excited about their

win yesterday or it was a matter of us playing

with a bit of pride, I’m not sure what the

difference was.”

Tokoroa found themselves in a very similar

position last year, when they upset 2013

runners-up Mt Albert Grammar in pool play,

but were headed by Aorere College for a spot

in the semi-finals.

“We’ve been here before,” says Teaukura.

“We know what it’s like to beat the big teams.

“It just shows that, in a tournament like this,

any team can beat another on the day.”

Kelston now lead that pool on points

difference, but even if they prevail today, they

must hope for a thriller between Tamaki and

Papatoetoe, if they are to progress to the next

stage of their title defence.

Elsewhere, favourites St Paul’s College had

their hands full with Manurewa High School,

but remained unbeaten, despite losing three

players to the sin bin. Otahuhu College and Mt

Albert were relatively untroubled in keeping

their records intact, defeating Whangarei Boys

and Aranui High respectively.

Wesley College continued their march through

the development grade, unleashing another

50-point assault on Howick College, with

Wetere Pompey crossing for four tries.

Debutants Trident High Schools and Manukura

School both secured a taste of victory from

their first tournament. Trident of Whakatane

accounted for James Cook High 24-12, while

Palmerston North’s Manukura headed Rosehill

College 16-0 in the premiership.

2 nzrl.co.nz facebook.com/nzleague twitter.com/nzrl_kiwis

Vodafone Warriors development

manager & former Kiwi Duane Mann

casts an eye over the NZRL Schools.

“Let’s talk about Otahuhu College v

Whangarei Boys High …

“We get to see Otahuhu a lot through the

season and it was disappointing to see how

they fell out of the Auckland competition.

“Phoenix Hunt, at hooker, does a great job

pushing his team through the middle of the

park. Alfred Smalley played on the wing

today and continued to make lots of breaks,

while Henry Pei is six foot tall and scored a

couple of nice individual solo tries.

“But I was also interested to see Whangarei

and they have two young halves, who

showed a lot of skill.

“In the end, the score-line didn’t really

reflect how good Whangarei Boys were.”

Results & standings

Pool A

St Paul's Collge 16 (James Manoa 2 & Christopher Sio tries; Beau Cordtz 2 goals)

Manurewa HS 10 (Uati Aso & Kenese Kenese tries; Nanga Iola goal)

Manukura School 16 (Rakei Hina, Tamahan Rowe, Tokanui Sofa & Te Oranga Hina tries)

Rosehill College 0

Standings: SPC 2-0, MHS 1-1, MS 1-1, RC 0-2

Pool B

Kelston BHS 14 (Eddie Wulf 2 & Carlos Henry tries; Tupu Lisati goal) Tamaki College 6

(Lepa To'a try; Raven Takarei goal)

Tokoroa HS 18 (Toru-Atua Tuakana-Natua, Zak van den Berg & Dylan Clark tries; Josiah

Vaevae 3 goals) Papatoetoe HS 12 (Lusa Crouch, Foga Autagavaia & Oliveti Kata tries)

Standings: KBHSE 1-1, THS 1-1, TC 1-1, PHS 1-1

Pool C

Mt Albert Grammar 32 (Isaac Lulia 2, Kenzel Fa'afo, Joseph Po'oumila, Isaac Ah-Kuoi

Atmore, Rawiri Short-Wilcox & Preston Riki tries; Isaiah Papali'i & Bostyn Hakaraia goals)

Aranui HS 4 (Zion Kamana try)

Southern Cross Campus 34 (Amini Latu 2, Fonitika Lolenga, Fuiva Takitaki, Asgar Lemafa,

Ivan Baker & Samluela Lauhingoa tries; Sila Ulugia 2 & Tevita Polaapau goals) Mt Roskill

Grammar 8 (Fiau Laupapa & Viliami Caffrey-Panuve tries)

Standings: MAGS 2-0, SCCC 1-1, AHS 1-1, MRGS 0-2

Pool D

Otahuhu College 20 (Henry Pei 2, Pahiva Fonua & Don Seuala tries; Komiti Vetemotu 2

goals) Whangarei BHS 6 (Wiremu Greig try; Dylan Brown goal)

Westlake BHS 18 (Moses Leo, Ethan Amos & Zae Wallace tries; Wallace 3 goals) Aorere

College 10 (Maka Fainga'a & Deirdre'e Fangupo tries; Tyronne Nathan goal)

Standings: OC 2-0, Westlake 2-0, Whangarei 0-2, Aorere 0-2

Pool E

Wesley College 52 (Wetere Pompey 4, Siope Tavo 2, Kalapu Palelei, Saia Lotu, Rueben Un-

ga, Ronan Lawrence & Pelei Motusaga tries; Pompey 3 & Nafe Helu goals) Howick College 6

(Sean Moli try; Dane Hill goal)

Trident HS 24 (Jonah Rakuraku 2, Jonty Nathan & Kobie Johnston tries; Liam Jones 3 &

Dayne Taniwha goals) James Cook HS 12 (James Chrichton & Samisoni Halalino tries;

Vaega Tautua 2 goals)

Standings: WC 2-0, JCHS 1-1, THS 1-1, HC 0-2

Pool F

Onehunga HS 40 (Josiah Brown 3, Shaun Purcell, Ben Lacey, Josh Tuaoimaalii-Paul, Josiah

Halaufia, Joseph Tangulu tries; Tangulu 3 & Charlie Glover gosl) Papakura HS 6 (Noble Tay-

lor try; Brodie Boyee goal)

St Thomas of Canterbury 18 (Taani Taufa 2 & Brodie Floris tries; Taufale Belford 3 goals)

Francis Douglas Memorial 14 (Connor Wilson, Jonathan Fidow & Chris Balson tries; Shaun

Phillips goal)

Standings: STC 2-0, FDMC 1-1, OHS 1-1, PHS 0-2

nzrl.co.nz facebook.com/nzleague twitter.com/nzrl_kiwis 3

10am St Paul’s College v Manukura School

Howick College v Trident HS

Papakura HS v Francis Douglas Memorial

Bruce Pulman 6

Bruce Pulman 4

Bruce Pulman 2

10.15am Kelston BHS v Tokoroa HS

Mt Albert Grammar v Mt Roskill Grammar

Otahuhu College v Westlake BHS

Bruce Pulman 3

Bruce Pulman 1

Bruce Pulman 5

11.30am Manurewa HS v Rosehill College

Papatoetoe HS v Tamaki HS

James Cook HS v Wesley College

Bruce Pulman 6

Bruce Pulman 4

Bruce Pulman 2

11.45am Southern Cross Campus v Aranui HS

Aorere HS v Whangarei BHS

Onehunga HS v St Thomas of Canterbury

Bruce Pulman 3

Bruce Pulman 1

Bruce Pulman 5

1pm School Visits South Auckland

schools

NZRL Museum must-see If you’re visiting Auckland and looking for something to do in your downtime, you should

consider a trip to the NZRL Museum at Rugby League House, 7 Beasley Ave, Penrose. This

facility stores more than 100 years of the game’s history, including the Four Nations

Trophy and the Bill Kelly Cup, win by the NZ Kiwis at this year’s Anzac Test. To book a visit,

phone curator (and former Kiwis captain) Don Hammond on 09 571 3857.