Tauranga Boys’ College First XV have made the best possible start to their Super 8 campaign after impressive, back-to-back victories against Rotorua Boys’ and New Plymouth Boys’.

What makes the wins at their home fortress of Nicholson Field even more significant were the margins of victory.

Perennial bogey team Rotorua were put away by a record 57-14 total last Wednesday, with New Plymouth defeated 48-17 on Saturday.

The early season form follows on the outstanding season in 2023 that saw Tauranga represent the Chiefs at the Top Four playoffs after knocking over perennial finalists Hamilton Boys’.

The ability of this Tauranga team to score tries is never in question. Any backline that features the attacking talents of Kele Lasaqa, Judah Draiva, Ethan McManemin, Dylan Henderson and Aaron Riley – to name just a few – will keep the scoreboard operators busy.

Mobile props Ioapo Kupita and Nickolai Te Huia made repeated charges into the increasingly brittle New Plymouth defence, with flanker Jay McQuoid and double try-scoring No 8 Aidan Spratley prominent around the park.

Tauranga scored four tries to lead New Plymouth by 29-12 at the break and added three more spectacular efforts in the second spell to finish the game off in style.

But Saturday’s victory was built on another substantial contribution from the hard-working forward pack and impressive goalline defence. Tauranga old boy Sam Cane made his career on offensive tackling and he would have been proud of the defensive effort shown.

Coach Aidan Kuka, enjoying his third season in charge of Tauranga’s First XV, was most pleased with the defensive heart shown by his team.

“We put a lot of emphasis on our defence, particularly on the intent with how we move into our defence. I’ve been really happy in that area. It is nice to score tries but I think it is even better to stop them,” says Aidan.

“These young men that get the opportunity to play in the First XV, the flagship team, they really have to be on top of walking our values and being good role models around the school. That challenges them to be good trainers and to be able to go out there and execute a game plan.”

Halfback Charlie Sinton is thriving on his leadership role as captain and being an outstanding link between the forwards and backs. He was part of the team that came close to making the Top Four final play-off match last year, before Tauranga had to settle for fourth place.

“That was a bit of heartbreak for us not going all the way last year. We have a lot of boys back from last year, so it is quite an experienced team and we know this is our year to really go for it,” he says.

Sinton rates the pre-season trip to Argentina highly for being a unifying factor in the senior rugby squads at the school. The tour meant the First XV started the Super 8 in top form.

“That really brought a lot of the boys together and made a lot of connections, so we were really tight going into the start of the season. That shows in the points we have put on but also when we dig deep for each other defending our line.”

Tauranga Boys’ next game is against Napier Boys’ in Napier on Saturday, June 22.

Tauranga Boys’ College 48 (Aidan Spratley 2, Aiden Roy, Charlie Sinton, Aaron Riley, Ethan McManemin, Dylan Henderson tries; Mason Verster 5 cons, pen) New Plymouth Boys’ High School 17.