UC CHAMPIONSHIP
OPEN FIELD
There are potentially eight or 10 schools who start this year’s UC Championship as genuine contenders.
WHILE IT’S TRUE that local First XV history has been dominated by Christchurch Boys’ High and its 46 All Blacks, the 2016 champions have a pack snapping at their heels thicker than ever before.
So unpredictable has the UC Championship become that a swathe of teams could take it in 2017. No one, it seems, can agree on or predict with any confidence who will be at the top of the pile come mid-August.
Of the local Christchurch schools, Rob Smith, CBHS’ director of rugby suggested he could put a blanket over the competition. “Christ’s, St Andrew’s and St Bede’s all offer stiff competition,” he says. He promoted the three Tasman teams of Nelson College, Marlborough Boys’ and Waimea Combined all as valid dark horse contenders.
John Fox, First XV manager of Shirley Boys’ in various guises over the last 13 years, extolled the virtues of Marlborough being a force but added weight behind Timaru Boys’ saying they were rebuilding last year but are always tough at home.
Stephen Dods, director of rugby at Christ’s College, couldn’t go past the behemoth of CBHS or the twin northern threat of Nelson and Marlborough colleges. In a lolly scramble of teams, no one has a clear favourite.
Having more than half the 15 team competition as viable winners isn’t what you’d call a general consensus but the common theme is that the UC Championship has become a level playing field with a variety of factors at play.
After the major earthquakes, Shirley’s overall school roll shrunk by 20 per cent but uncertainty surrounding their battered school grounds has had a galvanising effect and they’ve reached the last two finals.
Christ’s College have invested in their rugby infrastructure and ended a lengthy playoff lull while St Bede’s golden run of six consecutive finals is in recent memory.
A wait-and-see approach among the coaches and managers has prevailed but at the least, each round of the season has huge match-ups, historic rivalries and fast-moving rugby from teams that across the board don’t possess the giants of the Auckland game.