For the twelfth time in thirteen years Hastings Boys’ High School has won the HB Secondary Schools Senior Boys’ Touch title.  After convincing wins against Te Aute College and Napier Boys’ High School in the semi finals and finals our team qualified for the regional tournament which was to be held in Ashhurst on Sunday 27 March.  Expectations were high and with the team goal of making the finals for the tournament, four pool games to get through including a game against  2010 regional winners Hato Paora  to make the final it was going to be a tough day.

The team started well with a big win over Wanganui City College 8 – 0.  The team gelled well and was able to execute both their attacking and defensive policies. This provided a great confidence boost for our second game against Francis Douglas Memorial College. In this game junior players Mataeus and Hunta Marsh combined well to prove a handful for the middle defence of the Francis Douglas team. The team came away with a comfortable 9 – 1 win.  

Hastings Boys' Senior Touch Team:
Regional Champions 2011

Game 3 was against a very confident Otaki College side. This team was a lot bigger than us and the game was very physical.  At half time the score was 4 – 3 to us. We talked at half time about the importance of sticking to our own game.  The second half saw our team put in a huge attacking effort.  Standouts were Ash Robinson, Jade Araia and captain Tyson Johnson.  The team came away with a very satisfying 8 -3 win.  By this stage the team was really playing well and the sense that we could make the final was starting to become a reality.  The next game was against Hato Paora. In cold, wet conditions both teams traded touch downs and at half time the scores were locked at 3 - 3.  Tyson Johnson and Jade Araia again showed their class and led the team from the front by displaying a focus and skill level that inspired the rest. At the conclusion of the game the score was 5 - 5.  HBHS was granted a finals berth because of their superior points differential.  At this stage of the tournament the team had only conceded 12 touch downs and it was this statistic, combined with scoring 30 touch downs that saw us go through to play fellow Super Eight School Palmerston North Boys’ High for the regional title.

The final was a tough game. After travelling down early that morning and playing 4 pool games in atrocious conditions the players were tired. But the satisfaction of achieving the goal of making the final and the realization that we could win, the final was all that was needed to get the team back to playing with focus and passion. Once again Tyson Johnson, Jade Araia, Ash Robinson and Mataeus Marsh stepped up to the challenge and lead from the front.  In a game that saw our team cross the line 3 times and have all 3 touch downs denied added a lot of frustration and unneeded tension.  A solid defensive policy was the difference between the two teams and HBHS ended up winning the final 6 – 5.  The last time the school had held regional touch titles was back 1998 – 2003 when Nui and Anaru Bartlett the uncles of the Marsh brothers and Ash Robinson were playing for school.  The team will now meet again in August to start preparing for the Super Eight Touch Tournament which we are hosting in October. From there it will be a steady build up to the NZ Maori Tournament in Hopuhopu and then to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tournament in Hamilton in December.

Senior Touch Captain Tyson Johnson