During tournament week, the HBHS U14 rugby team attended the annual Colquhoun U14 rugby tournament in Palmerston North. 
 
Our first game was against our friendly foes Gisborne BHS.  The game was a very hard fought encounter but Gisborne took an early lead and never relinquished it to take the game 29-7.

In the afternoon game we played tournament favourites Tauranga Boys College.  They were a much bigger side but Hastings put up a valiant effort and only a few late tries blew the score out to 22-7 to Tauranga. 

The following day started with morning game against Wellington College.  We had a very good start taking an early 10-0 lead only for Wellington to come back and lead 15-10.  A last minute try to Hastings levelled the game at 15-15 which was probably a fair reflection of the encounter.  The afternoon game again provided a very difficult opponent in Palmerston Nth BHS.  The game was played in difficult conditions with Palmerston Nth scoring a let try to take the game 12-5.
 
The final game of the tournament was against Rotorua BHS.  The first half was a real battle for both teams with Hastings taking a 3-0 half time lead.  With only five minutes left in the game Hastings scored a match winning try to seal the victory 10-0.

Congratulations must go to the team who performed with distinction especially the 5 players who had played 7 games in 5 days.  Of special note were consistent outstanding performances from Cody Tamati, Joseph Walding-Karaitiana and Luke Petherick.

Jason Bird
Coach