As for the forthcoming Blues final, Westlake have bossed the best of Auckland 1A three times in the past four years, and notwithstanding the fact they will inevitably concede size to the Kelston pack \u2013 it will be light armoured vehicles against tanks \u2013 the Swans showed they are once again serious contenders to make the National Top Four with a resourceful backline and committed pack.<\/p>\n
For all that, the result was tough on Rosmini, who enjoyed some inspired spells. It is instructive to note that their tally of 43 points would have been enough to have won them 85 of 88 matches against Westlake over the years.<\/p>\n
And after having finished top of the round-robin standings, you could be excused for wondering if there was a parallel universe in which it was instead Rosmini facing Auckland Grammar School \u2013 top of the 1A round robin \u2013 for a place at the National Top Four.<\/p>\n
The first 15 minutes were particularly frenetic in front of a crowd of about 8000 at North Harbour Stadium and early on, the points came at the rate of more than two a minute.<\/p>\n
Westlake players salute their thousands of fans at North Harbour Stadium.<\/p>\n
In a blitzkrieg start, Westlake winger Flynn Holbrook nabbed three tries in nine minutes at one end, in what is believed to be the fastest hat-trick in a schoolboy final, while Rosmini hooker Ethan Bates banked the first of his two at the other.<\/p>\n
Holbrook, who ran a personal best of 11.69s in the College Sport Auckland Athletics Championships back in March, can now count this as a personal best on the rugby pitch after three times scorching down the left wing to score. <\/p>\n
All three tries came from inspired work by those inside. For the first, Westlake No 8 Adam Watson stepped the defence, ran 30m and kicked for the corner with the outside of his left foot for Holbrook to finish.<\/p>\n
The second was classically engineered by a scything burst from centre Matt Fleming, who drew in three defenders before passing, while the third owed a lot to a precise crossfield kick from first five-eighths Luke Waller, on the 22, for Holbrook to collect and muscle his way over.<\/p>\n
Waller also capped a fine game with five conversions, while fullback Nikau Opuariki chimed in with an excellent diagonal run to the corner for a try before halftime.<\/p>\n
Offsetting this was Rosmini No 8 Luchian Opperman\u2019s highly impressive bump-and-grind routine, which earned him a try either side of halftime to put his team ahead 26-19.<\/p>\n
No 8 Luchian Opperman about to score for Rosmini in the North Harbour First XV rugby final.<\/p>\n
Other Rosmini standouts were skipper Brodie Tofilau, often piercing with ball in hand and zippy halfback Elijah Wharepouri \u2013 also a 40-cap veteran of North Harbour competition \u2013 who was well deserving of his second-half try under the posts. First five-eighths Kayden Godbold harvested 13 points with his trusty boot.<\/p>\n
Westlake skipper and halfback Levi Leith capped a fine season by contributing two squirming second-half tries within three minutes of each other, mauling like a forward for the second one.<\/p>\n
Fleming had a quiet game by his own standards, but when he did finally cross for a try in the 55th minute to effectively seal the game \u2013 fed on the short side by Leith \u2013 the Westlake half of the grandstand spontaneously burst into a chorus of Happy Birthday to mark his 17th.<\/p>\n
Westlake blindside Jaxx Latoa-Levi was a cult figure for North Harbour grandstand supporters.<\/p>\n
Tries to Wharepouri, and then to second five-eighths Lachlan Murray two minutes from time \u2013 combined with a yellow card for Holbrook \u2013 gave Rosmini hope until the last. Westlake needed to be as resolute and unyielding as stadium gate staff with their resistance.<\/p>\n
In results since 1985, Westlake lead Rosmini 57 to 28 in all matches, while their North Harbour record in 2026 was 15 wins and one defeat, scoring 855 points and conceding 180. Since 2017, Westlake have won 128 of 140 competition matches.<\/p>\n
Rosmini won 14 of 16 games this season, scoring 742 points, conceding 140 and being the only team to beat Westlake. Since 2017, the year of their last title, Rosmini have won 86 out of 135 matches.<\/p>\n
Westlake wing Harper Wilson, son of All Black Jeff, in possession.<\/p>\n
Westlake have now won 19 out of 21 finals and Rosmini five of 19. <\/p>\n
The only times Westlake have ever really got away from Rosmini with big winning margins was an 83-7 embarrassment in 2019 and a 76-8 humiliation in the 2006 final, when future North Harbour first five-eighths Ben Botica scored 29 points.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the other Blues semi-final ran true to form, with Kelston beating Whang\u0101rei Boys\u2019 High School 64-10 away, piling on 40 unanswered points in the second spell.<\/p>\n
Westlake: Shea Watene, Morgan Seymour, Demetrius Sanft, Sami Vai, Mana Smith, Jaxx Latoa-Levi, Brody Kirkland, Adam Watson, Levi Leith (C), Luke Waller, Flynn Holbrook, Tuaine Rolleston, Matthew Fleming, Harper Wilson, Nikau OPuariki, Hadley Pethybridge, Chase Sharp, Fergus Mahan, Cohen Cameron, Kody Isgrove, Aston Fraser, Yisrael Tukania. Coaches: Rob Mildenhall, Dillon Hunt, Luke McAlister.<\/p>\n
Kopelani\u2019s Leap: St Andrew\u2019s stun Southland Boys\u2019 High to reach National Top Four<\/p>\n
It was the greatest Presbyterian escape since Cargill\u2019s leap.<\/p>\n
St Andrew\u2019s College conceded 33 unanswered points yet rallied from oblivion to sink slick Southland Boys\u2019 High School 41-40 in the South Island regional First XV final.<\/p>\n
Summoning the spirit of 16th-century preacher and warrior Donald Cargill, who outran tyrannical English troops by jumping across the River Ericht just north of Blairgowrie in Perthshire, Scotland, St Andrew\u2019s raised the middle finger to the exclusionary South Island Boys\u2019 Schools Network (SIBSN) fraternity.<\/p>\n
And they\u2019ve now rolled the top three SIBSN sides in successive weeks to reach the National Top Four for the first time since 1991.<\/p>\n
South Island champions St Andrew’s College celebrate their victory. <\/p>\n
Prop Lennox Kopelani\u2019s winning try with the last salvo, arching low and bustling through a bottleneck of battered bodies, sparked a jubilant pitch invasion that might incur the wrath of some health and safety wonk.<\/p>\n
Sod them. St Andrew\u2019s manager Mike \u201cScrump\u201d Johnston, who\u2019s been at Papanui Rd since before floppy disks and the Spice Girls, reckons only last-minute wins secured by Chris Lumsden (drop goal) and Sam Gilbert (penalty) against Christchurch Boys\u2019 in 2003 and 2015 respectively can rival the joy that enraptured Strowan.<\/p>\n
It was 40-24 with 10 minutes remaining, St Andrew\u2019s having blown a 24-7 lead. Southland struck first with a surgically constructed try to head prefect Mito Faalialia. Otherwise, trouble loomed after a 35m maul that threatened to push Southland back to Gladstone, Invercargill.<\/p>\n
With such physical impetus, St Andrew\u2019s tightened their approach. Giant prop Moleli Lagokamu, Kopelani and No 8 Leeson Tiakia charged straight as a die. Halfback Ollie Jackways had Southland scrambling with his briskness, and winger Jett Timbrell and fullback Jock Sidey were left plenty of room.<\/p>\n
Stymied Southland didn\u2019t panic, introducing greater width to their proven pattern. Tries to gallant lock Jack McKeay, No 8 Elliot Wilson and a 50m bust by winger Charlie Byrne lifted Southland to a 26-24 lead after 41 minutes.<\/p>\n
The next dozen minutes were a stalemate before a calamitous 90 seconds for St Andrew\u2019s. Byrne snaffled an intercept at halfway. Then St Andrew\u2019s fullback got into a tangle and centre Max Savory pounced, kicking a loose ball and scooping it up to sprint 40m.<\/p>\n
After an hour, St Andrew\u2019s were presented with a fleeting lifeline when Southland\u2019s industrious flanker Cruz Swain was sinbinned. A Jairo Senio try clawed it back to 40-29.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s zeitgeist, anything the Warriors touch seems to only bring cheer. In the 65th minute St Andrew\u2019s captain Seymour Stowers-Smith, brother of Warrior Tanner Stowers-Smith, showcased his penchant for the big time, warding off four tacklers with the fortitude of Cargill. Timbrell\u2019s fourth conversion made it 40-36.<\/p>\n
Winners of 14 consecutive matches, Southland quarantined possession until an unusual ruck infringement. \u201cTake the Crown\u201d (TTC) is the intangible theme underpinning St Andrew\u2019s. When the last lineout was secured, only a bayonet was going to stop Kopelani.<\/p>\n
It was a harsh loss for yet another superb Southland combination. Few coaches at this level are better than Jason Dermody, from a family that boasts a dozen first-class players.<\/p>\n
Since June 2, St Andrew\u2019s have beaten all the semi-finalists of the SIBSN competition as well as St Thomas of Canterbury College (twice), Marlborough Boys\u2019 College and Shirley Boys\u2019 High to become the first National Top Four qualifier in 2026.<\/p>\n
St Andrew\u2019s National Top Four history<\/p>\n
In 1991, the population passed three million; Gary Whetton was All Blacks captain; the \u201cMother of All Budgets\u201d was delivered; and Bryan Adams topped the billboard charts. Also that year, St Andrew\u2019s won 20 of 27 games, capturing the Christchurch Schools title. <\/p>\n
At the National Top Four in Gisborne, they lost to Gisborne Boys\u2019 High (13-4) in the semi-finals and St Augustine\u2019s College, Whanganui (13-7) in the third-place playoff in Gisborne. <\/p>\n
Andrew Tweedie coached, and Andrew Moore captained. Shane Butterick (later Wairarapa Bush\/Mid Canterbury) scored 208 points. Daniel Charteris (Canterbury\/Marlborough) scored 26 tries in 25 games. Glenn Delaney, a former professional who played in Japan and Europe, coached Canterbury to an NPC Premiership in 2016. His nephew Zac Hoshek is a loose forward in the current team.<\/p>\n
Five years earlier in 1986, St Andrew\u2019s lost to eventual winners Auckland Grammar (22-3) in the semi-finals and Napier Boys\u2019 High (31-8) in the consolation playoff in Pukekohe.<\/p>\n
Captained by Paul Scott, and coached by Alister Newtown and former All Black Scott Cartwright, they enjoyed a successful season with 19 wins in 22 games. They were unbeaten locally and in traditional interschool games. Future Canterbury, Otago, New Zealand Universities and Colts winger Michael Hanning scored 15 tries.<\/p>\n
St Andrew\u2019s won the national co-education tournament, which ran from 2007 to 2019, in 2015. The 2015 First XV won 16 of 18 games, including the Moascar Cup, and beat Christchurch Boys\u2019 High School, Christ\u2019s College, Shirley Boys\u2019 High School and St Bede\u2019s College in a single season for the first time in over a decade. <\/p>\n