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New Zealand continue their winning streak in the World School's Festival as Westlake take the spoils

Westlake prevailed against a spirited St Michael's side from Ireland

In a match hosted at the Pattana Sports Resort in Thailand, Westlake Boys’ of New Zealand secured victory in the World Schools Rugby Festival, prevailing over Ireland’s St Michael’s College in a closely contested 28-21 win. The tournament, known for attracting top schools from around the world, witnessed Westlake Boys’ adding to New Zealand’s rugby legacy.

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The setting for the match, just an hour from Bangkok, provided an international backdrop for the tournament, highlighting school’s rugby’s global appeal. The competition featured teams from various countries, such as England, South Africa, Wales and Ireland showcasing their skills and strategies on an inclusive platform.

Westlake Boys’ faced St Michael’s College in a hard-fought match, with both teams exhibiting tactical prowess. The closely contested encounter saw Westlake Boys’ demonstrating their proficiency in both the pack and backlines. The decisive moment came when Westlake Boys’ secured a from their superstar 12, Jarlon Lesatele, establishing a lead that proved insurmountable for their Irish counterparts.

St Michael’s put in a spirited performance, coming back from 14-0 down at half time and giving the Auckland-based side a serious scare.

The final whistle marked Westlake Boys’ School’s victory in the World Schools Rugby Festival, underscoring New Zealand’s ongoing dominance in the competition in recent years. This achievement follows the 2022 tournament, where Hamilton Boys’ High claimed victory by defeating Grey College from South Africa.

Looking ahead to future editions, questions arise about potential participants. Many express the desire to see Grey College back in the tournament, given their impressive performance in 2022. Additionally, there is anticipation for the inclusion of Kelston Boys’ from New Zealand and schools from France, adding further international flavour to the competition.

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Moreover, the significant digital audience cannot be overlooked, as over 5000 viewers tuned in to watch the live stream of the final. This substantial viewership underscores the growing global interest in school-level rugby and highlights the World Schools Rugby Festival’s role in connecting fans worldwide with the sport. As the rugby community reflects on the recent tournament and looks ahead, discussions around potential participants and the remarkable viewership emphasize the enduring appeal and international reach of this prestigious event.

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Comments

3 Comments
J
Jan-Charl 584 days ago

Winning against South African teams that are not even in the top ten of the country. This world school festival should be named, second rate schools festival not world schools festival as non of the worlds top schools actually play in it. What a joke of a tournament

M
Mzilikazi 586 days ago

“Looking ahead to future editions, questions arise about potential participants”. How are the schools selected ? St Michael’s were not the top school in Leinster last year.


Gonzaga won the Schools Cup last season, beating giants Blackrock in the final. St Michaels did reach the semi, narrowly beaten by Blackrock.


Looking at the SA schools, I’m not an expert there, but have some knowledge of the rugby schools. I would have thought any of Paarl Gim, Grey College, Paarl Boys, Bishops would be around the top schools ?

T
Thizzle 585 days ago

Yeah, even NZ didn't send their top team unfortunately. Seems the tournament is losing the top schools.

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JW 23 minutes ago
Half-back depth is the flaw in 'Razor's' 4-4-4 Rugby World Cup plan

Well there’s a couple of distinctions here that are important aren’t there?


First though like I replied to Tk where does it say theres need to test vets, or proven reliable players? It is simply ‘test quality’.


Now, I have created a list that I think is test quality, so all weve got to do is upskill the missing pieces right? No. Razor might not mean to have given every player half a dozen matchs but he will want to have identified and assured himself that each individual is indeed test quality. So yes, plays like Darry and Lord may still be included in a few squads and used so he’s happy to include them as say 5th and 6th ranked locks, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the same level to ensure for himself the 7th and 8th ranked locks.


He might be happy basing performances off SR Finals, or organizing an AB XV match against a team like France or SA with similar locking depth (even organizing say Warner Dearns to be part of the Japan XV etc), and I’m sure they’re going to have a very large squad over in South Africa for two months.


I don’t think he is quite in the same predicament as SA to have to rest top stars. And this is obviously just goal setting, they’re supposed to be hard. As you can see by the context around this series, arbitrary targets like everyone getting some minutes are made. That could also simply be how he ensures he has met the 4. So hookers would be ticked, as he’s already used 5 at test level. If you looked at the Baabaas SA game you’d see Beehre performing like an accomplished test player, that already makes 7 locks with more than 2 full seasons to go. You take the point BA was making about Marshalls previous remarks about Razor want players to be able to play 3/4/5 different positions, that would mean if Razor was really happy with Finau at lock last week he already has 8 test quality locks as well, etc, etc.


TLDR sorry for the big reply, it’s just a goal, the teams not going to suddenly fail if he doesn’t reach it, I think theres many means and many players for him to be comfortable in getting 4 in each position. He’s obviously not going to be able to get 4 proven, hardened test players in each by then, no.

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