The Southland Boys’ High School first XV finished fourth at the Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament in Japan.
The side made it through pool play unbeaten, which led them straight to the semifinals.
There they had a very capable opponent in Osaka Toin High School, from Japan.
The Japanese side got out of the blocks and were up 17-0, scoring at a point a minute.
But Southland Boys’ High School came back into the game after the early onslaught from the opposition and got it back to 17-all.
The momentum appeared to be with the visiting side but the Osaka Toin team did not quit and went ahead with a converted try.
That was enough as they held on 24-17 to make it into the final.
Osaka Toin ended up wining the final 17-15 against another Japanese team. They were the first Japanese side to win the tournament.
Southland Boys’ were pushed back into the playoff for third and fourth where they took on St Augustine’s College from Australia.
It was a game with plenty of movement and Southland gave as good as they got. In the end the Southland team went down 33-21 after being down 12-7 at halftime.
Mika Muiliana scored a try in the match and also knocked over three conversions while prop Presley McHugh charged over for a couple of tries.
The Southland Boys’ side has now moved to Kumagaya, a sister city of Invercargill, where it will play a university team in a friendly game.
The side is due back in Invercargill this weekend and is set to start in the Highlanders schools competition with a match against Otago Boys’ High School on May 15.
