Auckland Sevens Competition
On 27th October St Paul's competed in the Auckland Sevens competition at Waitemata Rugby Club against schools from all of the rugby grades. The school was represented by Aiga Aj Aniterea, Francis Antonio, Quiann Feterika-Mafoe, Jeriko Filipi-Talisau, Malachi Filipo, Piripi Huia, AJ Jones, Lucky Kali, Sio Kali, Kainoa Keereweer, Levron La'Akulu, Judah Mann, Bevron Smith-Nansen, Sebastian Smith, and Jessiah Tanoa'i.
The day started with a great win against Botany Downs with some fantastic trys from Sio and Quiann and great linking plays from our backline put the opposition to the sword 39 - 0. The second game was our targeted game of pool play against 1A titans Mount Albert Grammar. The game started badly and we were 14 - 5 down at half time. Some great words of wisdom from JP and John Vui and the boys showed awesome grit to come back in the second half and draw the game 19 all.
The last game of the pools was against Green Bay and a big win was needed. With trys from Judah, Levron, Jeriko, Bevron, and Sebastian saw that big win, ending up 43 - 0. Pool play over St Paul's topped the standing over MAGS having scored 15 trys to MAGS 14 and amazing achievement for the group.
The quarter final was against St Peter's with a notable young man playing half back for St Peter's. The game started scrappy with them leading us at half time 19 - 0. The second half showed a different St Paul's team and with trys from Jeriko and Sio we were back in the fight. With the last play of the game we were right in it and looking to score to win the game but sometimes things don't go your way and we went down 19 - 14. That put us into play off positions, and with the top 5 schools qualifying for the Condors National Tournament in December, there was a lot to play for. After the agony of the quarter final loss, the team needed to bounce back. The young men showed true St Paul's character and dispatched a strong MAGS team in the semi 26 - 17 to face Kings in the final play off game for 5th place overall.
There were a lot of nerves on their faces knowing that this was the qualification game for Condors, but the boys rose to the challenge and with trys form Quiann, Sio, Jessiah and Jeriko the team was victorious 27 - 7 and have qualified for the Condors National event in December. This is the first time this has been achieved in over ten years and is a result of a fantastic rugby program that Mr JP Fa'amausili has put in place this year!
The team would like to thank the coaches, Mr Fa'amausili and Mr John Vui, for their wisdom and sense of fun they imparted on the team during the day. Lastly we would like to thank the parental support we had on the sidelines - this day couldn't have happened without you!
St Paul's were the talk of the tournament taking some big scalps and sending a clear message to the big 1A schools.
Condors is on 3-4th December at Kings College. Please come and support the team.
Mr Mike Jarvis, Manager
Junior Boys Volleyball
The Junior Boys Volleyball season is well under way, with our team making a good start with 3 out of 4 games won.
In our first week we beat Marcellin College 2-1 and then went on to play a very close game against Mt Albert Grammar and only just lost in the third set. The following week our boys regrouped and worked hard at training which paid off with two good wins against Selwyn College and Auckland Boys Grammar.
Molly Tagaloa, Manager
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Lawn Bowls
Recently we started St Paul's first ever lawn bowls team! It was a good opportunity to try a new sport and we are really enjoying the challenge and learning new skills from our coaches. The main focus for our team is to be consistent to improve, so we can be the future lawn bowlers of St Paul's College, who enter College Sport for Years 9–13 and AIMS for Years 7–8.
What our team has enjoyed about the season so far is the opportunity to support each other as we learn and work as a team. We started with four students but have grown to 10 students from Years 7–10. In this team we encourage each other to communicate, learn from our coaches and also just get along with each other enjoying the famous SPL Brotherhood.
We know that many St Paul's men will take up this sport in the coming years and we encourage more students to join in. Hopefully with our team, we can leave our own legacy behind some day.
- John Tangi, Student Representative on the Board and Lawn Bowls Captain
Colts Cricket Report
Colts vs Liston College - 29 October
After losing the toss and being sent into bat, St Paul’s got off to a great start with our first three batters Troy Fuimaono (Year 9), Arthur Gabriel (Year 9) and Jett Nash (Year 7) all making solid contributions. Quick singles, byes and turning ones into two by putting the field under pressure with boundaries hard to come by due to the damp and slow outfield.
While wickets then fell at regular intervals, the team was able to keep the run rate ticking over through continued good running, especially on byes and wides, which also helped the total build steadily to finally reach 122-9.
The St Paul’s bowlers got off to a great start and reduced Liston to 27-5 after nine overs. Jett Nash (Year 7), Troy Fuimaono (Year 9), Matt Blanch (Year 9), Peter Creevey (Year 9) and Arthur Gabriel (Year 9) all bowled well and shared wickets.
Peter finished with the impressive figures of 3-12 off 3 – including a great diving caught and bowled, with Arthur also picking up an impressive 2-6 off 3 overs, and with Matt Blanch and Jett Nash taking one wicket each. Hugo Lloyd (Year 9) had a great day behind the stumps, taking 3 catches.
A very well-rounded performance, particularly for the first game, with many positives to take from it and to build on.
Mike Blanch, Colts Cricket Coach
1st XI Cricket Match Report
1st XI vs Auckland Grammar - 28 October
After losing the toss, St Paul's got off to a promising start through the fast-bowling pair of Solomon Nash (Year 11) and Stephen Thomas (Year 11), ably supported by Enoka Sului (Year 12), reducing Auckland Grammar to 26 runs for 6 wickets after 8 overs.
However, from there things got a little away on the St Paul's bowling attack. Playing on a field with small boundaries and fast outfields, St Paul's was unable to control the two in from Grammar batsmen who scored many boundaries and put pressure on the field with aggressive running and good game sense.
Still at half time and the change of innings St Paul's felt confident they could chase down the formidable total of 161 that Grammar posted. Special mention goes to Nico Smith (Year 11) who was fantastic as wicketkeeper behind the stumps.
A solid opening pairing of Solomon and John Matini (Year 12) got St Paul's off to a quick start with John smashing the Grammar opening bowler for four with the shot of the day. John was just hitting his stride before he was unfortunately run out in the fourth over. Then came in Nico who played a fantastic innings of 26 runs, with Solomon who saw the score to 100 runs before both lost their wickets in quick succession. Despite this, a manageable but challenging target of 62 runs off 5 overs to win the match. Unfortunately, despite good efforts by Stephen, Jessiah Tanoa'i (Year 13) and Enoka we fell short, eventually being bowled out in the last over for 135 runs. A solid first performance for the season against a more experienced cricket team, and perhaps in the end it was this experience rather than talent that won the day.
Dion Nash, 1st XI Coach
