St Mary’s win Bowl Final as two boys schools dip out at Condor 7s

Above: St Pat’s Town’s Siosaia Paese running clear to score a try on the opening day of the Condor 7s against eventual Cup finalists Hastings Boys’ High School.

A mixed 2015 National Secondary Schools Condor 7s tournament for the three Wellington schools involved has seen St Mary’s College in the girls section finish as the highest placed of the trio.

All three Wellington schools were relegated to the bottom half of the draw after each winning just one match from three on Saturday, but St Mary’s rallied on Sunday to beat North Harbour school Long Bay College 36-5 in their Bowl quarter-final, Waikato’s Cambridge High School 24-5 in their Bowl semi-final and another North Harbour school, Kaipara College, 31-7 in their Bowl Final.

Of the two boys schools, St Pat’s Silverstream dipped out early on day two to Whangarei Boys’ High School 14-17, relegating them to Bowl consolation draw. There they defeated Gisborne BHS 19-10 and were then defeated by Auckland’s Sacred Heart College 5-22.

St Pat’s Town started their second day’s play with a 17-7 Bowl quarter-final win over Bay of Plenty’s Opotiki College but then lost to New Plymouth Boys’ High School 19-24 in their Bowl semi-final. 

Hamilton Boys’ High School were the overall Cup champions, beating Hastings Boys’ High School 24-0 in the final.

In the girls section, Hamilton Girls’ High School retained their title with a 35-0 final win over Southland Girls’ High School.

Other schools to take home silverware from the 2015 Condor 7s tournament included Christchurch Boys’ High School (Boys Plate), Christchurch Girls’ High School (Girls Plate), Nelson College (Boys Bowl), St Paul’s College (Boys Shield) and New Plymouth Girls’ High School (Girls Shield).

On Saturday, all three Wellington teams won and lost two of their matches to send them into the bottom half of the draw for the second day’s play.

Wellington Condor Boys’ champions St Pat’s Town started their tournament with a tentative 14-5 win over St Paul’s Collegiate. They led Auckland runners-up Sacred Heart College at halftime but were over-run in the second spell and lost 17-7. This put them against Hastings’ Boys High School in their top 16 match but again saw the opposition swoop early in the second half to set up a 17-14 win to eventual Cup finalists Hastings.

St Pat’s Silverstream were quarterfinalists last year and started the day off with a convincing 27-0 win over Wanganui. But they then lost 19-28 to Christchurch Boys’ High School and went down 17-31 to Hamilton Boys’ High School in their last 16 encounter.

St Mary’s beat Bay of Islands College 26-0 but lost to big guns Feilding High School 7-26 and then were sunk 5-19 by Tasman’s Motueka High School, who scored two dramatic tries including a 75-mertre intercept.

Results involving Wellington teams:

Day One Results

St Pat’s Town 14 – St Paul’s Collegiate 5
St Pat’s Silverstream27 – Wanganui Collegiate 0
Sacred Heart College 17 – St Pat’s Town 7
Christchurch Boys’ High School 28 – St Pat’s Silverstream 19
Hamilton Boys’ High School 31 – St Pat’s Silverstream 17 (crossover match)
Hastings’ Boys High School 17 – St Pat’s Town 14 (crossover match)
St Mary’s College 26 – Bay of Islands College 0
Motueka High School 19 – St Mary’s College 5
Feilding Hgh School 26 – St Mary’s College 7

Day 2 Results

Whangarei Boys’ High School 17 – St Pat’s Silverstream 14 (Bowl quarterfinal)
St Pat’s Town 17 – Opotiki College 7 (Bowl quarterfinal)
St Pat’s Silverstrream 19 – Gisborne Boys’ High School 10
New Plymouth Boys’ High School 24 – St Pat’s Town 19 (Bowl semi-final)
Sacred Heart College 22 – St Pat’s Silverstream5 (Consolation Bowl Final)
St Mary’s College 36 – Long Bay College 5 (Bowl quarterfinal)
St Mary’s College 24 – Cambridge High School 5 (Bowl semi-final)
St Mary’s College 31 – Kaipara College 7 (Bowl Final)