St John’s College are central North Island champs for the first time following a stunning 42-33 win against Fielding High School at Owen Delany Park in Taupo. 

Winning the CNI Championship is a historic moment for our school. At the inception of the St John’s College Rugby programme 7 years ago, the vision was for St John’s College Rugby to be one of the best rugby schools in the Waikato and New Zealand. Since it was established, the programme has seen many of their young men make representative age-group teams, the 1st XV reach the CNI championship semi-finals four years in a row, and championship finals three straight years in a row, before finally coming away with the win this year! 

Coach Tony Su’a said the championship win meant everything to St Johns, and reflects the hard work, time and effort that so many had put in to make the team what it is today. “We are so proud of all our players, their loyalty, dedication, and desire to be better than the day before was evident throughout the tournament and resulted in the historic win. We also need to thank our coaches, medical team, manger and supporters which include parents, extended whanau, friends of the team, our wider community and the school, who continuously gave their aroha, positive vibes and loud voices. We definitely felt the love and that made all the difference.” 

After the heartbreak of losing the previous two finals, Su’a and his team took a different approach this year, choosing to focus on bringing a more creative element into their play and dialed back on the basics of structure and formation. It was a courageous move that everyone got behind and that inevitably payed off. 

St John’s College would like to acknowledge our sponsors, and in particular, Empire Concrete. Running a high-performance team is costly and the team is immensely grateful for everything the sponsors have made possible this year. We are looking forward to continuing to work alongside this awesome group of people as the vision for the St John’s College rugby programme continues to develop. A win like this illustrates just how strong our rugby programme is.