Grammar is appearing in the final<\/a> for the first time since 2015.<\/p>\nIt is understood Grammar\u2019s concerns about ticket prices were outlined in discussions involving people at the highest levels of the school and rugby union earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Two sources close to Grammar raised the possibility the school might want to relocate the final, although one conceded this was never likely to be a serious or viable option.<\/p>\n
With concerns bubbling away, Thompson stepped in. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am personally,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWe\u2019ll use the company name to [be] the benefactor of it. I\u2019m a life member of Auckland Rugby, I sponsor Auckland, we sponsor the secondary schools … I can understand why Auckland Rugby have to put a charge on, but it\u2019s hard on the schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just coming in as a way to help them get the team along, promote rugby, and hopefully people will stay to support the Auckland and Hawke\u2019s Bay [NPC] game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Barfoot]()
Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson. Photo \/ Ted Baghurst<\/p>\n
Thompson did not want to give details of the arrangement. \u201cThat\u2019s just something between us and Auckland Grammar, and I know they\u2019re offering it to Kelston, which I\u2019m happy for. There was a late-night call last night, and I prefer to keep the details of that quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said the potential outlay was confidential. \u201cIt really depends on the day \u2013 the weather can vary, depending on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson said the arrangement was to encourage supporters who had been following the teams through the year to head along to the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a quick call, and I\u2019m there to support rugby and try and get as many people interested in the game by helping them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Auckland]()
Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O’Connor. <\/p>\n
In a statement to the Herald today, Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O\u2019Connor said the school was looking forward to the \u201cprivilege of playing Kelston Boys\u2019 High School in the 1A Auckland rugby final at Eden Park this weekend\u201d.<\/p>\n
His statement did not address questions about Grammar\u2019s earlier concerns or position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have worked closely with Kelston Boys\u2019 High School and Auckland Rugby on the logistics of playing at Eden Park to ensure that as many supporters as possible, from both communities, can attend the match free of charge. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely grateful to Barfoot & Thompson for their sponsorship of both schools and Auckland Rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an email to parents this afternoon, O\u2019Connor pointed out that because the match was taking place at Eden Park, it was a ticketed event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to Auckland Rugby, students interested in attending have been provided a link to download a free ticket to join us while wearing navy blue and gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents, Old Boys and friends of the school interested in joining us are also welcome to access free tickets, courtesy of Barfoot & Thompson. We are grateful to Peter Thompson, CNZM \u201976 and Barfoot & Thompson for their generous support of both school communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
He provided a link for those supporters.<\/p>\n
![\"Eden]()
Eden Park will host this weekend’s Auckland 1A secondary schools rugby final between Grammar and Kelston Boys’ High.<\/p>\n
Auckland Rugby Union event director Cody Neilson said discussions with Grammar had been positive. \u201cI don\u2019t think we were ever facing the possibility of the game not being played at Eden Park. We definitely had some discussions and have come to a really satisfactory place for both.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the union was distributing 8000 free tickets to the four schools involved in the two finals \u2013 Grammar, Kelston and 1B finalists Howick and Otahuhu.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe there are any issues here, and we\u2019re really looking forward to celebrating a good day of rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked why Thompson had needed to come forward to subsidise other tickets, he said: \u201cYou\u2019d have to ask Auckland Grammar that question because that\u2019s an arrangement that they\u2019ve come to with Peter Thompson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if Auckland Grammar had hit the roof about the original $10 charge, Neilson said: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say hit the roof. We had some really good conversations and came to a really good resolution. We\u2019re both very comfortable that we\u2019ve looked after our stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his conversations with O\u2019Connor had been positive. The union did not believe there had been a controversy \u201cor even a story\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gates open at Eden Park at 12.15pm before the 1B final at 12.30pm, the 1A final at 2.50pm and the Auckland versus Hawke\u2019s Bay NPC match at 5.05pm. <\/p>\n
Rugby fans who are not affiliated to the schools and want to watch the matches, including the NPC game, will be charged $20 per ticket (a ticket for a child under 13 is $5).<\/p>\n
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland Grammar fans celebrate during last weekend’s semi-final against St Kentigern. Photo \/ Photosport Grammar is appearing in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[47085,1443,1975,51,1848,6255,10709,268299,8142,5904,5504,78926,2959,76863,111,139,69,8143,12937,6327,4062,213,37136,42327,20420,1961,10507,167346,23366,27982],"class_list":["post-566540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-1st","tag-about","tag-at","tag-auckland","tag-boys","tag-businessman","tag-concerns","tag-defused","tag-eden","tag-final","tag-following","tag-grammar","tag-high","tag-kelston","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-park","tag-prices","tag-rugby","tag-school","tag-sports","tag-standoff","tag-stepped","tag-supporters","tag-this","tag-ticket","tag-versus","tag-weekends","tag-xv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566540","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=566540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}