Second-half comeback boosts Fraser’s chances

SCHOOL SPORT Waikato high schools are battling for division one places, Kashka Tunstall reports.

Fraser High School produced a thrilling last-minute comeback for a 20-19 win against Taumarunui High School last weekend to bolster their hopes of qualifying for division one of the Waikato secondary schools rugby competition.

Taumarunui dominated the first half and went to the break with a 19-3 lead but the strong-willed Fraser lineup persevered and engineered their comeback through forceful scrums, wellexecuted backline moves and copybook tackles.

Fraser scored three successive tries to grab the lead by a point with 10 minutes remaining and held out their rivals to score their second win this season.

It was an impressive victory but Fraser now need to oust Morrinsville College from the top of the pool C table with a win in their fixture on Saturday if they are to make the top division.

Sixteen Waikato teams are competing for limited spaces in the top Waikato division. Split into four pools for the three qualifying rounds, the sides play each team in their pool once and the top team in each pool at the end of the three rounds progresses through to the division one competition.

St Peter’s School 1st XV and Cambridge High School 1st XV automatically qualify for the top division, which plays off for the Ian Foster Shield, as they were the top two schools last year.

Morrinsville sit at the top of pool C after beating Taumarunui and Fairfield College.

After two rounds, St John’s College top pool A after a brutal 81-5 win over St Peter’s School 2nd XV in round one and an easy 68-12 victory over Hillcrest High School last Saturday. They will go up against Hamilton Boys’ High School 4th XV in the final round this weekend. HBHS have posted a 17-17 draw against Hillcrest and a 51-7 win against St Peter’s.

HBHS 3rd XV are the current pool B co-leaders after beating Forest View High School 81-5 and Te Kuiti 56-12. They sit on 10 points along with Matamata College, who have beaten Te Kuiti High School 40-5 and Fairfield College 54-17.

The two table-toppers will meet at HBHS and the fixture looks to be the most challenging in final round meetings on Saturday.

Tokoroa High School lead Te Awamutu College in pool D after impressive outings against St Paul’s 2nd XV (24-12) and Putaruru College (67-22). Te Awamutu not only have to beat Tokoroa but will have to pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries or more if they are to top pool D for the final division one spot.