By Gwyn Pratley | Posted: Thursday February 20, 2020
On Saturday 15 February 2020 an OBHS Old Boys team entered the annual Spartan’s 10 rugby tournament held at Green Island Rugby Club. This year’s tournament was raising money for the ‘Through the Other Side Suicide Awareness Trust’. The 2020 OBHS Old Boys team was captain by Ben Miller and also included fellow Otago Representatives Slade McDowell and Jonah Aoina.
The format for this year’s tournament was for the competition to be split into 2 pools of 5, who played a round robin, with the winning sides from the two pools playing a straight final.
OBHS Old Boys Pool Results:
vs Southern WON 14-12 Halftime 7-5
Scorers: Tries: B. Miller, R. McDowell Conversions: J. Buchan (2)
vs Otago Islanders WON 22-12 Halftime 15-5
Scorers: Tries: L.Opetaia, J. Lesa, J.McEntee, J. Buchan Conversion: J. Buchan
vs Old Boys North Otago WON 24-15 Halftime 14-15
Scorers: Tries: S. McDowell, J. Lesa, B.Miller Conversions: B. Miller, J. Buchan (2) Penalty: B. Miller
vs Toko WON 26-10 Halftime 19-10
Scorers: M. Brown, S. McDowell, B. Miller, K. Johnston Conversions: S. McDowell, J. Buchan, K. Johnston
These 4 wins from pool play meant the Old Boys were drawn against back-to-back reigning champions Taieri in the final. It proved a final in every sense of the word with the game being far more structured than pool play and although the Old Boys attempted to break the game up they were unable to put enough phases together to build the pressure required to score and Taieri eventually prevailed in a tight match worthy Spartan winners for 2020.
FINAL vs Taieri LOST 0-12 Halftime 0-5
Scorers Tries Con Pen Points
B. Miller
20 points
J. Buchan
17 points
S. McDowell
12 points
J. Lesa
10 points
K. Johnston
7 points
R. McDowell
5 points
M. Brown
5 points
L. Opetaia
5 points
J. McEntee
5 points
Total:
13 Tries, 9 Conversions, 1 Penalty 84 Points
Special thanks must go to the following Old Boys who played and managed the 2020 squad to make it such a successful outing:
OBHS Old Boys Squad 2020
1. Kane Johnston
2. Motoki Tanaka
3. Ben Miller (Capt)
4. Josiah Lesa
5. Jordan McEntee
6. Layne Opetaia
7. Max Brown
8. Joshua Buchan
9. Mackenzie Faulks
10. Tylar Diack
11. Rueben Wairau
12. Harry Hansen
13. Mitchell Mahoni-Rae
14. Hilary Takau
15. Hagan Free
16. Jonah Aoina
17. Taniora Raniera
18. Slade McDowell
19. Lucas Govaerts
20. Oliver Griffin
21. Riley McDowell
Support Staff
Scotty Opetaia (Coach)
Ricky Jackson (Assistant Coach)
Gwyn Pratley (Manager)
Thomas Grant (Assistant Manager)
Alex Frood (Head Hydration Technician)
Josh Elias (Physio/Strapper)
The Old Boys Spartan’s team would also like to thank their team sponsors:
- NZHL Dunedin Metro
- Programmed Property Services
- Craigs Investment
- Rhubarb
If you would like to support the OBHS Old Boys Team in the 2021 Spartans 10's Tournament, please contact Gwyn Pratley - [email protected]