Golden run comes to an end, but future looks bright
“To lose [the Moascar Cup] on our 10th defence is pretty cool. We’ve had Otago [schools] on our back all year wanting to beat us, but we kept fronting up and pushing them.”
Appreciate the work The Southland Tribune does? How about becoming a paid supporter to help us continue to shine a light on Southlanders?
Southland Boys’ High School’s impressive run with the Moascar Cup has come to an end with a 47-24 loss to Nelson College in the South Island secondary school rugby final on Saturday.
Saturday was Southland Boys’ 10th defence of the Moascar Cup after winning it when the Invercargill school claimed the National Top 4 title last year.
The Moascar Cup is effectively the Ranfurly Shield of schoolboy rugby.
Southland Boys’ coach Jason Dermody said the relatively young team was somewhat “shell-shocked” when they went 14-0 down early in the South Island final against Nelson College in Nelson.
“They are just young kids playing footy in a pressure situation and it took them a long time to get into the game,” Dermody said.
A strong 10-minute or so period followed where Southland Boys’ was able to score twice claw it back to 14-14 and some hope started to surface.
Although Nelson College scored right on halftime to make it 21-14 and then took charge after the break.
Dermody conceded they were never really in the contest in the second half.
“We just never really got close enough to put some pressure on them. When we got down there, we scored some good tries, but the game just got away from us.”
Nelson College finished up 47-24 victors to claim the Moascar Cup, South Island title, and book a place in the National Top Four tournament.
“[Nelson College] is stacked with Year 13s this year; it was big kids running at small kids which makes a difference. This is their year, so good luck to them,” Dermody said.
On the flipside, the 2024 SBHS first XV is relatively young with plenty set to return in 2025.
“We’ve got over half of our team coming back and have some good kids in the seconds. We do it on purpose, we are not one-year wonders.”
While disappointed not to win another South Island final Dermody was delighted with what the team had shown throughout 2024.
“To lose [the Moascar Cup] on our 10th defence is pretty cool. We’ve had Otago [schools] on our back all year wanting to beat us, but we kept fronting up and pushing them away.”
For many of the Southland Boys’ first XV the focus will now switch to the representative season.
Dermody has doubled down on his belief that something is wrong if there isn’t Southland Boys’ High School representation in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team this year.
“[Prop] Thomas Jennings has earned himself a black jersey. If he doesn’t get a black jersey, they are looking at different things than we are,” Dermody said.
Southland Boys’ High School’s Mika Muliaina and Nelson College’s Harry Inch appear to be frontrunners in the quest for a first five-eighth spot in that New Zealand Secondary Schools team.
Dermody has also gone into bat for Muliaina’s inclusion in the national setup following what transpired on Saturday.
“Mika showed he is a better kicker than their ten. Their ten is good with ball in hand but Mika put the ball in the right areas of the field and started to open up some seams.”