The 42nd Sebel Australian Schools Rugby Union Championships start on Monday, 4 July 2016 at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview in Sydney.
The National Schools Championships are the highest level of U18 year-old state representation and competition in Australia and are administered by the Australian Schools Rugby Union. The ARU and ARU High Performance Unit are involved through the program including funding, programs scheduling, refereeing, coaching and selection.
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Division I – there are two teams each from Queensland and NSW, and one each from WA, Victoria and the ACT. An eighth team, Combined States, has been selected from players who were not chosen in the other teams. The teams play three matches in two pools, and on Finals Day the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed teams in one pool play the corresponding teams in the other pool.
Division II comprises teams from SA, the NT, the indigenous Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team and Tasmania. They all play each other and the winner is decided on table points. Usually a President’s Merit XV is selected from the four Div II teams and announced at the conclusion of the Division II games.
On Finals Day, the selectors will announce the Australian Schoolboys Team and an Australian Schools Barbarians Team (formerly known as Australia Schoolboys A) with the Schoolboys squad of 26 players touring to Samoa and New Zealand to play matches in late September and early October against Samoa Schools in Apia, Fiji Schools in Hamilton, and NZ Schools and NZ Barbarians in Auckland.
The Barbarians will be playing a match against the touring Tongan Schools team at Newington College, Sydney on 17 September.
History
The National Schools Championships were first run in 1975 with Queensland beating ACT in the first ever final. Queensland I (or Queensland) have won the tournament 14 times, with the Queensland II winning twice, the latest in 2010. NSW I have the best record with 20 previous victories and 12 silver medals.
NSW II have won the tournament twice, 1977 and 1979. ACT have taken the Gold Medal three times, mostly in the days when the fathers of the boys playing today were Schoolboys, (1978, 1986 and 1988). Breaking a seven-year run of Queensland victories in 2012, NSW I have won the last four championships, with the two of those four Grand Finals being all-NSW affairs (2013, 2014).
The teams
NSW I will fancy their chances of retaining the BH “Jika” Travers Shield, for their fifth consecutive victory. However unlike previous years, when they have had a few Australian Schoolboys returning, this year the Blues have only “Bulldozer” Opeti Helu returning from the 2015 Barbarians campaign. He will be supported by seven other players attending their second championships .
With some monsters in the engine room and lightning fast pests in the loose forward department, they will be looking to unleash their pacy backline with good front foot ball. Flyhalf Adam Doueihi will steer the backline division that will ask questions of the opposition. Look out also for speedsters Jackson Mohi and sensational Yirribi Jaffer-Williams, the Skyscrapers making up the Sydney CBD (Frost, Brown and Fenn) and multi-talented Swiss Army knife Jack Ongosia,
Prediction: Champions
NSW II may not have the height of the Sydney CBD but they have some turbo-charged bulldozers up front, with a front row that is probably equal to that of the NSW I team. They have some fleet-footed steppers and get our stopwatches out when Lightning Luke Rixon gets the ball in space. Opponents will also need to keep an eye out for Charles Rorke, Ben Gleeson and Mila Hingano, returning for his second year.
Many of the NSW II lads would not look out of place in the Ones. After their impressive trial performances, trainspotters should watch out for: Tyzac Jordan, Jack Veitch, Willy Manu and Jacob Bristowe.
Prediction: 2nd
Queensland usually get a good wrap from me as they always seem to have a monster tight-five backed up with nimble loosies and a pacy backline of ball runners and distributors. There is usually a fair bit of brash confidence oozing out of the various schoolboy forums from Queensland about their chances.
This year it is different. In response to some trolling on the forums from down south about their chances this year, the responses have been pretty tame and resigned. Queenslanders are not confident because they know little about the 2016 crop of players because their season hasn’t started yet; and, like NSW, they have only one Aussie-selected boy returning.
Sifting through the forums for information from the northerners some opinion has been gleaned:
I do not think Queensland will have the strength in the forwards to challenge.
It doesn’t help when the premier QLD schoolboy comp hasn’t even started yet and they’ve picked the Queensland team.
No big boppers like Luka, Swain, Vui , Hocking as in years gone by. Locks in particular lack size.
Players to watch out for: Fraser McReight, Jeral Skelton, Justin Sikementi, Willie Malala, and Len Ikiatau.
Prediction – So, if you can’t talk yourselves up Queenslanders, then I’m not going to do so either. If you are right in your comments you will be playing off for third and fourth place.
ACT have an experienced team with ten players returning from their 2015 squad and once again there are nearly as many Lonergan’s playing for this as there were Whitelocks in the Canterbury Crusaders.
Many forwards are returning to Riverview; so expect to see a reasonably well-balanced and clinical game plan that favours set piece play. They may struggle at the breakdown and in the lesser structured aspects of the game, and their opponents will be looking to exploit this.
There is not a lot of gossip coming out of their isolated misty mountain principality but from past performances at Riverview, players to watch may be Brumbies Development and U20 player and 2015 Barbarian Ryan Lonergan, big Thomas Ross at THP, playmaker and 2015 Barbarian Siaosi Pulefale and the younger bro – the Happy Hooker, Lachlan Lonergan.
While they have a tough pool this year, they’ll be looking to improve on their 2015 6th place finish. Many of this squad played in the 2015 U17 Junior Gold Cup winning side so they are not strangers to performing well in tournament play.
Prediction: 5th.
Victoria will be looking to improve on their fifth place last year, and try to emulate this years Vic U20 team which ground out a victory over the favoured NSW U20s. Last year’s side produced one Australian Schoolboy and one Barbarian, with Robert Leota picking up a development contract with the Rebels and playing for Australia at the recent Under 20s World Championships.
This year’s team has five veterans returning from 2015, including slippery Nicholas Donghi on the wing, Killisimasi Aholelei driving the scrum around, nippy Elliot Turner at scrumhalf, and big No8 Sunia Finefeuiaki. With this in mind, it is expected to see them play their traditional aggressive and physical game, complimented with some flair and pace from the back three, especially if they are given any space.
Watch out for 17-year-old Kenneth Leota, backrower or short lock, who played against the NSW U20s in the game mentioned above – he’s a goer.
Prediction: 6th.
Western Australia seems to be in a development mode, with only a handful returning for their second championship.
They will be hoping that the recent successes that WA have been having with the Junior Gold Cup program will benefit their Open Schools team. The JGC has provided their more talented players with a raft of more challenging games that the local school and club competition could provide. It is a long term investment and they have a long way to go to catch up with their counterparts on the Eastern Seaboard.
There is not a lot of intel available from the usual snouts about this team but in recent years, WA has been serviceable on attack but struggled in defence particularly when confronted with the pace and structure of the top teams. Their fitness has let them down after after being competitive early and this is likely to be a recurrent theme until the squad gets more regular exposure to tough competition games.
Prediction: 7th
Combined States – This CS team made of the best players in the country who were not selected in the other teams. They are usually from NSW and Queensland who have the biggest pool of players, but this year there are a couple from the ACT.
Far from being rejects and misfits, many of them will blossom later, especially if they are in their U17 year.
Many have gone on play at a higher level such as Jake McIntyre (Reds) and Tomas Robertson (Waratahs); Will Skelton has played for the Wallabies.
It is difficult to choose anybody from this years CS team who will emulate them at this point, but it will be an excellent exercise for rugby’s trainspotters and “clipboards” wanting to prove a point.
Look out for the accuracy of Nick Shannon’s boot, the ruck work of Waverley’s Ben O’Sullivan, and the finishing skills and goal-kicking of Lachlan Day. It’ll take some energy to move powerful Bo Abra – and Matt Orpen plays a very precise and surgical game. Tom Serhon knows where the tryline is and the dancing shoes of Pat Pellegrini make their second appearance at the National Championships.
That’s just the blokes from south of the Tweed. Then there are some young’uns with good credentials riding the pine.
Prediction: 8th
2016 team lists and draw
Skelton photo by Shane Sullivan – others by Lee Grant
