{"id":104131,"date":"2025-10-27T22:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104131\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T22:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:18:12","slug":"first-xv-rugby-inside-new-zealands-most-successful-schoolboy-rugby-academies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104131\/","title":{"rendered":"First XV rugby: Inside New Zealand\u2019s most successful schoolboy rugby academies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTuesdays and Thursdays is not enough to be able to do that,\u201d Foe said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a need for it. We\u2019re not just doing this because first XV is the main goal … it\u2019s [about] growing the whole rugby programme.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Nelson'sNelson’s Wiremu Makea looks to pass against Marlborough Boys’. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

The senior class, Cochrane said, gets put through coaching courses so boys can attain National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) credits, as he added \u201cthere\u2019s always an academic component to their rugby development\u201d.<\/p>\n

Westlake\u2019s academy<\/a> runs across Years 9-11 and is run by former Kiwis captain and New Zealand rugby league legend Hugh McGahan.<\/p>\n

The academy caters exclusively for rugby union players, with McGahan saying from a player-safety perspective, the school doesn\u2019t allow boys to play both league and union, but \u201cdoesn\u2019t care\u201d which one they choose.<\/p>\n

The academy process begins before boys have even set foot on Westlake\u2019s grounds, as McGahan goes through a meticulous trial process, not only assessing skill level but character, and even going to schools to ask \u201cwhat type of people they are\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Westlake Boys’ High School First XV perform their pre-match haka. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

From there, all year levels have two field sessions in class time a week, with another one in the gym working on strength and conditioning. The senior class is put through refereeing and coaching classes, with many having two extra gym sessions thanks to being part of the First XV.<\/p>\n

McGahan said the academy has helped bridge the gap between age-grade rugby and the First XV environment and as a result is looking to create classes for Year 12 and Year 13 students.<\/p>\n

He also referred to his overall goal with the academy: to create a \u201csnapshot\u201d for their boys in what it\u2019s like to be a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be that, this is what is required from you, plus more. You\u2019re going to get paid from those people, they\u2019re going to expect a lot more from you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alongside the successes of these academies, however, remain schools who stand strong against incorporating in-class sessions purely designed for rugby.<\/p>\n

\"KingsKings College celebrate after beating Saint Kentigern College in the Auckland Rugby First XV 1A Final. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Kings College<\/a> director of sport Kerry Baker said a Year 10 athletic performance class is the extent of in-class sport extension, which spans across multiple codes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re different from other schools … I\u2019m a big advocate of guys not specialising if they can help it,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to how he can see \u201cguys getting burnt out\u201d even within Kings\u2019 rugby set-up. Baker says he wants to prolong kids\u2019 love of the game past their high school careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they lose it, that\u2019s another population age group that that\u2019s gone from the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] another generation that will just go \u2018nah don\u2019t enjoy it, don\u2019t want to do it, not going to do it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Kings\u2019 head of athletic development monitors dual coders in terms of their workload, and Baker himself meets with the specialist sport heads to make sure no one\u2019s \u201cbutting heads over kids\u201d.<\/p>\n

The over-professionalism of schoolboy rugby has been a hot talking point this year and while many are quick to blame the schools, McGahan said young players making professional debuts at 17 or 18 \u201cwouldn\u2019t be happening\u201d without environments like rugby academies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other schools, if they don\u2019t want to invest in it, that doesn\u2019t mean what we\u2019re doing is bad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like McGahan, Foe said he incorporates professional aspects to the academy to aid the transition from high school to high-performance environments.<\/p>\n

He added that while some may perceive the academy as promoting \u201celitism\u201d, it helps not only accommodate all levels of rugby ambition, but keeps boys in school, funnelling them into trades and further study post-secondary school.<\/p>\n

\"NelsonNelson College product Harry Inch has signed a deal with the Warriors. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cThe programme sells itself … [it] creates a little bit of excitement, fire and desire to want to be in the First XV. It\u2019s important from a coaching and management point of view that we accommodate to whatever the needs are.\u201d<\/p>\n

A byproduct of these academies, Foe added, is the opportunity created in other codes, exemplified by Nelson College old boy Harry Inch\u2019s move to the Warriors<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a product of the programme that we\u2019ve created and the things we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re not going to do it half-arsed, we\u2019re going to go all in.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTuesdays and Thursdays is not enough to be able to do that,\u201d Foe said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a need…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[75547,16717,57817,1888,75549,75550,2944,296,3025,117,111,43,139,69,59742,12886,75548,6327,18429,6649,544,2022,14907,210,102,27982,80,2963],"class_list":["post-104131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-academies","tag-becoming","tag-environments","tag-first","tag-highperformance","tag-inclass","tag-inside","tag-into","tag-most","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pathway","tag-professional","tag-replicating","tag-rugby","tag-schoolboy","tag-schools","tag-some","tag-sport","tag-successful","tag-through","tag-with","tag-xv","tag-zealand","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}