GAME CHANGER
North Harbour and Counties Manukau colleges look set to challenge for promotion to Auckland’s 1A division
Major changes to Auckland First XV rugby are in the pipeline, with a proposal all but agreed to create a city-wide second-tier competition that will enable schools from North Harbour, Counties Manukau and Northland to win promotion to the elite 1A division.
Opening the 1A to teams in the wider Auckland region would be one of the most significant changes in the competition’s 129-year history. But the Herald understands there is a strong view among principals of nearly all schools in the city that the game is in crisis and more needs to be done to retain participants and keep rugby as the No 1 sport for teenage boys.
The plan has been under consideration for two years and is being driven by fears the current set-up of operating in geographic leagues is negatively impacting participation by failing to provide adequate and appropriate competition.
The Counties Manukau First XV landscape has effectively collapsed, leaving heavyweights Wesley College to play in the Central North Island competition against schools as far away as Masterton, Hastings, New Plymouth and Whanganui, while Manurewa High joined the North Harbour competition.
Westlake Boys’ High, last year’s national finalists, have become too strong for the North Harbour competition.
The Auckland 1B has also struggled to be competitive and there are concerns the lop-sided and noncompetitive nature of the Counties Manukau, North Harbour and 1B schools competitions are putting some boys off playing rugby.
If this new proposal is agreed, the Auckland 1B will become a regionwide competition with 24 teams split into three pools of eight in geographic zones.
The top two in each pool will move into an elite conference, with the top two teams from that then winning the right to face off against the bottom two teams from the 1A.
The proposal is now in the final stages of being drawn up and is understood to have the support of all the schools likely to be impacted by the change.
College Sport chief executive Mark Barlow says he is expecting to receive something shortly.
“We are aware there are discussions going on with principals in the Auckland region but we have not received a formal proposal,” he says.
He says if a proposal is lodged, it will be presented to the College Sport board — who next meet at the end of this month — and a process of consulting with the schools will begin.
He cannot say if the change is approved whether it could be implemented to start this year — the schools rugby season will kick off after the Easter break — but it’s understood there is a desire to fast-track change for 2024 and certainly no later than 2025.
Auckland’s 1A principals are understood to be supportive of the proposed format, as they see it as a fair means to alter the existing pathway without penalising schools currently in the 1A or 1B competition.
There have been previous attempts to broaden the 1A into a greater Auckland competition, most notably in 2013 when former New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey and former All Blacks coach Graham Henry met the principals and laid out a plan to place schools directly into the competition.
That effort was rejected by the 1A schools, as it would have required schools already in the 1A to be kicked out, and it would also have gone against the ethos of providing pathways and opportunities to all First XVs in Auckland.
One of the strengths of the 1A principals are determined to keep is that it provides less renowned rugby schools with an opportunity to play in an aspirational competition.
The competition has been dominated by traditional schools such as Auckland Grammar, Mt Albert Grammar, Kelston Boys and the feepaying King’s College and St Kentigern College but the likes of De La Salle College and O¯ tāhuhu College have won titles and created incredible experiences for their students and wider school communities.
By effectively merging the top Counties Manukau and North Harbour competitions with the Auckland 1B, no school is being asked to forfeit their place in the 1A, while the pathway to the elite competition remains open to all.
The top two 1B teams currently have an opportunity to play off against the bottom 1A teams, although some schools from the lower competition opt against taking part in the promotion fixture as they don’t think they can adequately compete should they be elevated.
Changing the model to an Auckland-wide 1B will potentially come with additional travel costs, as Whangārei Boys’ High will be included, but it is believed all 24 schools likely to be involved have said they are prepared to accept the logistical challenges presented by expansion.