Australian Schoolboys & National Championships 2014

[Hugh Jarse]

News from the Aust Schoolboys Rugby Union Web Site
http://austschools.rugbynet.com.au/default.asp

SCHOOLS RUGBY DATES FOR 2014 DECIDED

28 Feb Closing Date for applications for Selecting, Management and Coaching positions 2014
7 April Selectors, Managers and Coaches of Australian teams announced
11 April ASRU Foundation Fundraising Luncheon, Booking form available in the Resource Section of the ASRU web page
(http://austschools.rugbynet.com.au/...ralian_Schools_Luncheon_2014_Date_Claimer.pdf)

NOVOTEL NATIONAL SCHOOLS RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS
29th June to 5th July 2014, St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, Sydney.
The Australian Schools Rugby Team to tour NZ will be selected at these Championships. A player must participate in the Championships to be eligible for selection unless precluded by injury.

29 June Division I teams assemble for the Novotel ASRU Championships
30 June Division II teams assemble for the Novotel ASRU Championships
4 July Division II Teams depart
5 July Division I Final, Australian Team announced, Division I Teams Depart
There will be no incoming tour to Australia and, as a consequence, an Australia A team will not be selected in 2014.

TOUR TO NEW ZEALAND AND TRI-NATIONS TOURNAMENT
20 Sept ASRU Team Assemble in Sydney after players fulfil school commitments
23 Sept ASRU Team depart for New Zealand
26 Sept Australia v Fiji Wellington NZ
30 Sept Australia v NZ Barbarians Wellington NZ
4 Oct Australia v New Zealand Wellington NZ
5 Oct ASRU Team return home

Edit: Post amended based on updates to ASRU website in Feb 14.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Who are the front runners to make the NZ tour?

A breakdown of the players who have represented Aust Schools or Aust A in 2013 is:

(Confirmation needed for Interstaters.)

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS TEAM TO PLAY FIJI & NEW ZEALAND
(Colts 2014)
Joshua ANDERSON Oakhill College NSW 1
Lachlan CANNELL Newington College NSW 1
Andrew DEEGAN St Joseph’s College NSW 1
Junior FAKAOSILEA St Patrick’s College QLD 1
Ned HANIGAN St Joseph’s College NSW 2
Harry JONES Barker College NSW 1
Andrew KELLAWAY The Scots College NSW 1
Jack McCALMAN The Kings School NSW 1
Taane MILNE Newington College NSW 1
Tepai MOEROA Newington College NSW 1
Matthew SANDELL St Joseph’s College NSW 1
Faaope SATUI Trinity Grammar NSW 1
Mitchell SHORT The Scots College NSW 1
Mitch THIRD The Southport School QLD 1
Rahboni WARREN-VOSAYACO Endeavour Sports High NSW 1
Brad WILKIN Iona College QLD 1
Fereti SA'AGA Thornbury High VIC

(2014 Status To be confirmed)
Adrian HENLEY St Peter’s Lutheran College QLD 1
Connal McINERNEY Erindale College ACT
Moses SOROVI St Peter’s Lutheran College QLD 2

(Back in 2014)
Vunipola FIFITA Newington College NSW 2
Henry HUTCHISON St Ignatius College NSW 2
Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1

AUSTRALIA A SCHOOLS TEAM TO PLAY FIJI & NEW ZEALAND (Colts 2014 or Unknown)
(Colts 2014)
Sam CLIFTON The Southport School QLD 1
Tyson DAVIS Barker College NSW 2
Adrian DELORE Whitebridge SHS, NSW CS
Evander GUTTENBEIL The Southport School QLD 1
Ollie KAMP The Scots College, NSW CS
Nick KOUTSOUKIS Waverley College NSW 2
Joey LUSSICK Newington College NSW 2
Doug MACMILLAN Anglican Church Grammar QLD 2
David MORRIS Newington College NSW 2
Mesui TUFUI Newington College NSW 2

(2014 Status To be confirmed)
Carlin ANDERSON Ipswich Grammar School QLD 2
Joel BROWN The Southport School QLD 2
Matt GIBBON St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 2
Landon HAYES Ipswich Grammar School QLD 1
Maclean JONES St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1
Liam JURD Toowoomba Grammar School QLD 2
Keith MORGAN St Edmunds College ACT
Blake PHILLIPS Clarkson SHS WA
James TODD Ipswich Grammar School QLD 1
Jason TOMANE St Edmunds College ACT
James TUTTLE St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1
Joshua BOWEN-BOWYER Brisbane Boys College


(Back in 2014)
Angus CRICHTON The Scots College NSW 1
Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College NSW 1
Siuta TAI Marist College Canberra (2013 AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS NH TOUR )

So from NSW the frontrunners for the 2014 Touring party would be (assuming that they remain injury free and fit, and they retain their 2013 form):

1. Vunipola FIFITA Newington College
2. Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College or Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Angus CRICHTON The Scots College
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Henry HUTCHISON St Ignatius College
14.
15.

16. Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College or Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

Additional replacements (30 man touring party?)
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Edit: corrections based on feedback below

 

[Getwithme]

I'm 99% sure Alex Mafi is repeating. With Hosea also there still I'm not sure where he will slot in

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Bump.

Any of last years Aust Schoolboys/Aust A players from ACT or QLD back at School this year?

 

[Stephen Roland]

Siuta Tai will be back this year playing for Marist college in the ACT under 18's competition. Though he will be the only ACT player returning this year. Expect a number of standout ACT players especially from Marist College, Grammer Boys College and St. Edmunds College to be making a run for schoolboys selection this year.

 

[Monty Python]

Hugh, I found the list below a bit confusing re who is who, and who's going where. But I've quoted a grab from your list of "who's coming back in 2014 from all the Australian Schoolboys teams at the 2013 champs, further below.

Anyone have any predictions for where these boys will land this year in the schoolboys teams?

Who are the front runners to make the NZ tour?

A breakdown of the players who have represented Aust Schools or Aust A in 2013 is:

(Confirmation needed for Interstaters.)

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS TEAM TO PLAY FIJI & NEW ZEALAND
(Colts 2014)
Joshua ANDERSON Oakhill College NSW 1
Lachlan CANNELL Newington College NSW 1
Andrew DEEGAN St Joseph’s College NSW 1
Junior FAKAOSILEA St Patrick’s College QLD 1
Ned HANIGAN St Joseph’s College NSW 2
Harry JONES Barker College NSW 1
Andrew KELLAWAY The Scots College NSW 1
Jack McCALMAN The Kings School NSW 1
Taane MILNE Newington College NSW 1
Tepai MOEROA Newington College NSW 1
Matthew SANDELL St Joseph’s College NSW 1
Faaope SATUI Trinity Grammar NSW 1
Mitchell SHORT The Scots College NSW 1
Mitch THIRD The Southport School QLD 1
Rahboni WARREN-VOSAYACO Endeavour Sports High NSW 1
Brad WILKIN Iona College QLD 1

(2014 Status To be confirmed)
Adrian HENLEY St Peter’s Lutheran College QLD 1
Connal McINERNEY Erindale College ACT
Fereti SA'AGA Thornbury High VIC
Moses SOROVI St Peter’s Lutheran College QLD 2

(Back in 2014)
Vunipola FIFITA Newington College NSW 2
Henry HUTCHISON St Ignatius College NSW 2

Probably back in 2014
Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1

AUSTRALIA A SCHOOLS TEAM TO PLAY FIJI & NEW ZEALAND (Colts 2014 or Unknown)
(Colts 2014)
Sam CLIFTON The Southport School QLD 1
Tyson DAVIS Barker College NSW 2
Adrian DELORE Whitebridge SHS, NSW CS
Evander GUTTENBEIL The Southport School QLD 1
Ollie KAMP The Scots College, NSW CS
Nick KOUTSOUKIS Waverley College NSW 2
Joey LUSSICK Newington College NSW 2
Doug MACMILLAN Anglican Church Grammar QLD 2
David MORRIS Newington College NSW 2
Mesui TUFUI Newington College NSW 2

(2014 Status To be confirmed)
Carlin ANDERSON Ipswich Grammar School QLD 2
Joel BROWN The Southport School QLD 2
Matt GIBBON St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 2
Landon HAYES Ipswich Grammar School QLD 1
Maclean JONES St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1
Liam JURD Toowoomba Grammar School QLD 2
Keith MORGAN St Edmunds College ACT
Blake PHILLIPS Clarkson SHS WA
James TODD Ipswich Grammar School QLD 1
Jason TOMANE St Edmunds College ACT
James TUTTLE St Joseph’s Nudgee College QLD 1
Joshua BOWEN-BOWYER Brisbane Boys College


(Back in 2014)
Angus CRICHTON The Scots College NSW 1
Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College NSW 1

2013 AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS NH TOUR (not previously mentioned above)
(2014 Status To be confirmed) but likely to be Colts.
Siuta TAI Marist College Canberra

So from NSW the frontrunners for the 2014 Touring party would be (assuming that they remain injury free and fit, and they retain their 2013 form):

1. Vunipola FIFITA Newington College (his name has been linked with Randwick Colts on their website, but he in at NEW in Yr 12 in 2013)
2. Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College or Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Angus CRICHTON The Scots College
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Henry HUTCHISON St Ignatius College
14.
15.

16. Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College or Alex MAFI St Joseph’s Nudgee College
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

Additional replacements (30 man touring party?)
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

This following quote from Hugh in the Aust Schoolboys 2013 thread:

Where will they go?

"I'll be back"
Yr 11 2013 NSW I
2. Hosea FOTUKAVA St Ignatius College
6. Angus CRICHTON The Scots College
17.Matt SERHON Newington
19.James LOUGH St Augustines College

Yr 11 NSW II 2013
3. Vunipola FIFITA Newington
8. John WALKER St Augustines College
13. Henry HUTCHINSON St Ignatius College
18. Francis BROWN McKillop College Warnervale
19. Andrew VATUVEI Sarah Redfern High
21. Stephen KIRKBY Barker

Combined States (NSW) Yr 11 2013
2. Ed CRAIG Epping BHS
1. Peter IVIC Hunter SHS
14.Simon KENNEWELL Newington College

Edit: Updates made based on posts below.

 

[Iluvmyfooty]

Is Vunipola Fifita any relation to Andrew Fifita

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Is Vunipola Fifita any relation to Andrew Fifita

IIRC Vunipola Fifita arrived at NEW in Year 10, direct from Tonga.

Is Fifita a common family name like "Smith" in Tonga?

What does a "minor" need to do to gain PR in Australia? We need some good fatties here, and Vuni was impressive on the UK tour and during the Knox "Tests" last year.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS TEAM MANAGEMENT 2014 - 2015
J ROWNES, Manager, Knox Grammar School – NSW
S PHILLPOTTS, Coach & Selector, Brisbane Boys’ College – QLD
M WALLACE, Assistant Coach & Selector, The Southport School – QLD
N GARDNER, Assistant Manager, St Edmund’s College – QLD
TBA, Physiotherapist
Dr C THOMAS, Medical Officer, QLD
A. THOMPSON, ARU Pathways Program Co-ordinator, ARU - QLD
TBA, Strength & Conditioning


COMBINED STATE TEAM MANAGEMENT 2014
K SMITH, Manager, Dubbo College Senior Campus – NSW
D. IDSTEIN, Coach, The Kings School – NSW
H. ENGELE, Assistant Coach, Trinity Grammar School – NSW
TBA, Physiotherapist

ASRU SELECTORS 2014
A. THOMPSON, Chair of Selectors (non-voting), ARU
S PHILLPOTTS, Selector (Coach), Brisbane Boys’ College – QLD
M WALLACE, Assistant Coach & Selector, The Southport School – QLD
G CRONAN, Selector, Ipswich Grammar School – QLD
P LANGTRY, Selector, St Edmunds College – ACT
M SUTHERLAND, Selector, ARU

Source:http://austschools.rugbynet.com.au/default.asp

 

[I like to watch]

Can't see NSW dominating selections this year.....

 

[Hugh Jarse]

A very interesting read, moreso for those with a statistical bent, which investigates whether playing Aust Schoolboys was a precursor to senior representative Rugby, as well as looking at the influence of the type of school attended.

http://sydney.edu.au/education_soci...ysh/hmhce/resources/HMHCE_Article_01_2013.pdf

 

[Inside Shoulder]

A very interesting read, moreso for those with a statistical bent, which investigates whether playing Aust Schoolboys was a precursor to senior representative Rugby, as well as looking at the influence of the type of school attended.

http://sydney.edu.au/education_soci...ysh/hmhce/resources/HMHCE_Article_01_2013.pdf

Would like to see how the stats break down since professionalism

 

[Hugh Jarse]

On the money @Inside Shoulder. Much of the pre-2000 representative data represents a completely different rugby world that we will never be going back to.

It is as useful as looking at the colours on a 1900 World Atlas and making some observation about the geo-strategic power of England in todays age, based on the size of the British Commonwealth then and now, extrapolated equally over intervening 114 years.

The data looked at in the report also stops in 2008. The trend towards Non-government schools, and graduates of "elite" programmes has increased since 2008, although I don't have 17 pages of stats to prove this.

I wonder what the Author's eventual PhD dissertation will be on. Most of them are as dry as the Atacama Desert.

Edit: @Inside Shoulder If you are going to quote me, you could at least edit out my typo's.
govenrment indeed.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

The data looked at in the report also stops in 2008. The trend towards Non-govenrment schools, and graduates of "elite" programmes has increased since 2008, although I don't have 17 pages of stats to prove this.

I know (only because I've been told) that correlation does not equal causation but our performances at senior level have deteriorated at the same time as the elite programs have become, more or less, the be all and end all.

 

[Quick Hands]

A very interesting read, moreso for those with a statistical bent, which investigates whether playing Aust Schoolboys was a precursor to senior representative Rugby, as well as looking at the influence of the type of school attended.

http://sydney.edu.au/education_soci...ysh/hmhce/resources/HMHCE_Article_01_2013.pdf

All of which makes this obsession that some rugby people have with representative programmes (from the age of 10), look even sillier than it already is.

Trying to pick elite athletes at 10 is too ridiculous for words and it's not much more intelligent at 16 either.

 

[Quick Hands]

I know (only because I've been told) that correlation does not equal causation but our performances at senior level have deteriorated at the same time as the elite programs have become, more or less, the be all and end all.

Rote training, with everyone doing the same thing. No innovation, no competition - just one method of coaching with all coaches going through the same production line process as the players.

No wonder they can't react on the field (see Waratahs).

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Rote training, with everyone doing the same thing. No innovation, no competition - just one method of coaching with all coaches going through the same production line process as the players.

No wonder they can't react on the field (see Waratahs).

I'm not convinced that what they are rote learning is the stuff they need to learn.
After nigh on 20 years of professional rugby the Kiwis still do all the basics (catch, pass, tackle and scrum) better than us. Hell they even seem to produce quicker players than us (Dagg, Jane).
All programs should concentrate on the basics. When those have been mastered we can move onto a dummy switch.

 

[Quick Hands]

I'm not convinced that what they are rote learning is the stuff they need to learn.
After nigh on 20 years of professional rugby the Kiwis still do all the basics (catch, pass, tackle and scrum) better than us. Hell they even seem to produce quicker players than us (Dagg, Jane).
All programs should concentrate on the basics. When those have been mastered we can move onto a dummy switch.

I fairly sure of this too.

There's no logical reason why players in NZ end up with greater skills that in Australia other than the coaching and development system.

Catching and passing both ways, kicking out of the hand, throwing the ball into lineouts, scrums/front row play etc.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Don't think we are Robinson Crusoe there in being behind the NZers. They have a stranglehold on the #1 test ranking.

It's not a numbers game. There are 2 million rugby players in England who seem to struggle to compete with the NZRT skill levels as well.

When we acquired one of their own for our National Coach, he wasn't able to impart the necessary skills into Aust Rugby (players or coaches). It must be something in the water over there that can't be exported.

 

[Quick Hands]

True, but the players in England have a different mindset on how to play the game and therefore the coaching and development programmes emphasise different skills, whereas we purport to be trying to play the same type of game as NZ.