Southland Boys’ underlined their dominance in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship with a comprehensive 49-17 win over King’s in Invercargill on Saturday. It was the Invercargill school’s fourth consecutive title and the third time in a row they have beaten King’s in the final. Last year was a tense encounter — Southland Boys’ won 27-26 — but they took control early in Saturday’s final and never relinquished the reins. Talented right winger Charlie Byrne hauled in a crossfield kick from Finn Hurley and scored in the corner in the opening minutes. Left winger Will Garrick struck next, scoring the first of his three tries. A King’s lineout went horribly wrong. Southland Boys’ grabbed it and swung it wide to Garrick, who went in untouched. Garrick added a second about a minute later. Southland Boys’ attacked down the left flank again. It was simple stuff — catch and pass and get the ball to a speedster. King’s replied with a try from a rolling maul from about 20m out. Hooker Bodhi Clarkson got the goodies. The visitors had an edge in the scrum and they did quite well around the ruck. But they trailed 21-10 at the break and fell further behind shortly after the resumption. Southland Boys’ shovelled the ball along the line and Garrick went over in the corner to complete his hat-trick. They increased their lead to 35-10 with a try from a lineout close to the line. King’s rallied during the middle stages of the second spell. They did not give up and were rewarded when reserve front-rower Ofa Kilikiti rumbled over down the blindside. But Southland Boys’ scored two more tries in the final five minutes to cap off an impressive performance. Byrne had the last say. He collected the ball 60m out and scampered along the touchline, swerved in and out to beat the cover defender and finished in the corner where a large group of Southland Boys’ students had positioned themselves. St Andrew’s upset Christchurch Boys’ 33-17 in the final of the Canterbury schools competition and will host Southland Boys’ in the South Island final in Christchurch this weekend. The South Island champion will join the best school teams from the North Island in the national finals. Southland Boys’ 2nds beat South Otago 37-34 at Forsyth Barr Stadium to win the division 2 title. Waitaki Boys’ edged Dunstan 22-10 in the division 3 final, and Taieri College finished their excellent season with a 24-14 win over Hokonui Colleges in the division 4 final.
