An academy of excellence
Before 1995, you could play for the All Blacks even while based in what are now called ‘‘Heartland’’ teams. Not now – it has been 22 years since that happened, and 32 since a rural-based footballer won a test cap. Rugby colossus
never left King Country, All Blacks captain stayed in Wairarapa, while two others in their all-conquering 1967 team came from rural provinces; Stan Meads from King Country and
from Marlborough.
King Country and Hurricanes prop
was made an All Black in 1996, though he never played a test, the last Heartland test caps were won in 1986, by Wairarapa-Bush pair
and
Meads
Phil Clarke
Coffin Brent Anderson Marty Berry.
If it were still 1993, All Blacks halfback
might still be hairdressing in Feilding, playing for his club and Manawatu. Chiefs pivot
Smith
Brian Lochore
Damian McKenzie
would be smiling for Southland and
would be nice and warm (and poorer) in Fiji.
Naholo
MPhil
Aaron
"We've worked really hard on that, saying to the boys 'you know what you're going to have here, it's a safe environment'."
Chris Pollock
Waisake
oney Ball will look at how the balance of schoolboy rugby power is ebbing out of the provinces, with once powerful rugby schools such as Gisborne High School or Matamata College no longer the forces they once were.
Key schools have rugby academies and train up players for Super Rugby. Many of those barely see club rugby. Clubs, once the nursery of New Zealand rugby, have lost that role to schools. There are tensions between schools, with dark mutterings that some are buying in players to win titles.
Follow our series as Stuff looks at changes in our national sport, ones that have turned this country into a breeding ground for brilliance.
Something had to change at Hastings Boys’ High School after their first XV went without a win between 2006 and
2011 in the Super 8 competition – the premier first XV rugby competition for boys’ schools in Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty.
That change would be an academy at year-nine and 10 level, the brainchild of former director of rugby Tony McBride.
These days its aim is to ‘‘provide aspiring young rugby players with the opportunity to combine professional training with their academic studies’’. And it has worked.
Over time, the HBHS first XV has improved to the point where it has lost only one game since the start of
2016. That was the national championship game that year, but they avenged that loss in 2017 by claiming their first national title.
With that success came a bit of finger pointing from some people. HBHS had seven year-14s in their squad, while they also imported players from the Pacific Islands, most notably winger Kini Naholo, the brother of All Black Waisake Naholo, who scored 40 tries in 20 games in 2017.
Former international referee Chris Pollock was HBHS director of sport for almost four years before he left at the end of last week.
He said last year’s unbeaten first XV was a special group of players.
‘‘We had seven year-14s, six of which were young year 14s, still under 18 at the start of the year and eligible for the New Zealand Secondary Schools (NZSS) team.
‘‘To highlight how special a group they were last year, we had seven make the final NZ secondary schools team and we also had two that were probably going to make it but got injured at camp. Nine in a squad of 23 from one school kind of shows you how special that group was.’’
While earning selection for the NZSS team was a big motivator for the year 14s to come back, Pollock said six of the seven were also there to earn university entrance or complete NCEA level three.
Pollock was very open about the recruitment of Pacific Islands players.
‘‘We don’t have a hostel, but each year we get between two and three overseas players. We homestay those guys. The last couple of years we had Waisake Naholo’s brother out of Fiji, two Tongan guys, at the moment I think there are three Fijians.
‘‘You can only play two in your first XV at any one time. So we always try to go two in year 13 and one in year 12, so the one in year 12 will come in at year 13 and potentially get in at year 13.’’
But they weren’t recruiting players within New Zealand, which was becoming a big issue.
‘‘We are a very different school, compared to – and I’m not having a shot at them – King’s [College] and Saint Kent’s, who can offer things that we’d never be able to offer to some families that come from some pretty disadvantaged backgrounds.
The last player HBHS lost to another school was Ajay Mua, who left for King’s in 2015.
Pollock said that was because they had created an environment where players didn’t want, or feel the need, to leave.
‘‘We’ve worked really hard on that, saying to the boys ‘you know what you’re going to have here, it’s a safe environment’’
That all started back at the academy where the core values of ‘‘teamwork, work ethic, discipline and respect’’ were drummed into them.
The values they are taught at that early age should help better prepare the players for the quick jump into the professional game.
Pollock said 12-15 players in the first XV last year had agents. They needed them too, because six went on to sign contracts with Hawke’s Bay, two went to Bay of Plenty and couple of others signed development contracts.
‘‘Guys that are leaving school are going straight into provincial union contracts.’’