Boycott Auck college

was inevitable in some regards, and that it was a good thing people were now talking about it.

‘‘There’s been rumours going around about what this school’s been doing and what that school’s been doing. And I’m hoping what comes out of this is that some schools change the way we’re doing things.’’

Gisborne Boys’ High principal Andrew Turner said they were ‘‘keen to support a fairer, more transparent, egalitarian system’’.

‘‘It’s fair to say the landscape of 1st XV rugby’s changed in the last five to 10 years. As traditional boys schools, we’re just saying ‘hey, there’s got to be some lines in the sand’.

‘‘We’re not the United States of America, we don’t have massive pools of kids and money and all the other rubbish. We’re New Zealand, and we’ve survived for a long time and put ourselves at the top of the rugby world just by having homegrown talent.’’

For Tauranga Boys’ principal Robert Mangan, the matter is one which hits close to home.

"Being a school that has lost up and coming players at different levels of rugby, I think it’s good that they have been called out on the issue,’’ he said.

His latest example is Carlos Price, who was in the Tauranga 1st XV in Year 11, before moving on to St Kents for his final two years of school. He now plays for Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup, has represented New Zealand Under 20s and is in the Hurricanes’ wider setup.

Mangan and an official from each of Napier Boys’ High and Hastings Boys’ High challenged St Kents at the time around Price’s movements.

‘‘We didn’t really resolve the matter at all, so it’s nice to see that it’s actually coming out into the spotlight,’’ he said.

The principals all said their Super Eight competition had had no such poaching issues, and that their ‘‘gentlemen’s agreement’’ worked well.

‘‘What they also agree on is that they’d prefer New Zealand Rugby didn’t come in and run the entire show at schoolboy level, because they feel that the more control they can keep over their programmes, the better for the overall welfare of the students and the big picture of their schools.

But they do want to see a fair and balanced playing field.

‘‘It’ll be good to have some lead on from NZR on whether they want to grow grassroots rugby or do they want to establish sort of elite specialist schools that are finishing schools for prospective All Blacks,’’ Mangan said.

Through all this, Bovey said the lack of perspective people had around school sport was ‘‘disturbing’’. ‘‘People are competitive and we all want our kids to do well and have the opportunity to compete at a high level. But I think some have sold their soul to do it.’’ The numbers don’t lie – underfire St Kentigern College is the dominant force in Auckland first XV rugby.

At the end of 2010, St Kentigern had won the Auckland 1A title once, in 2001.

In the eight years since, it has won it five times, losing in the final in 2014 (to Auckland Grammar) and in the semifinals in 2016 (where Mt Albert Grammar went on to win) and 2018 (where St Peter’s went on to win). Using data from collegerugby.co.nz, it’s possible to look back at results from the past six seasons of the 1A competition.

Considering only roundrobin matches – where teams have identical schedules – St Kentigern’s record stands clear above all its rivals.