Scots College: A bright light this season

Opinion: In drawing 26-all and sharing the National First XV title with proven powerhouse school Hamilton Boys' High School yesterday, it's heart-warming to have witnessed first-hand and from afar Scots College's run in recent weeks.

For many fans, it started back in mid-June when they defeated defending local champions Wellington College 31-10 in Premier 1 round-robin play and then a fortnight later defeated Hutt International Boys' School 106-10. For others their flamboyant, give it a rip from anywhere style of play turned heads when they ran through a much-improved St Pat's Town 36-12 in the Wellington semi-finals in driving rain.

Not when star centre Malo Tuitama scored a try with his first touch of the ball. It hadn't started raining at that stage. But early in the second half, with the game in the balance and it now teeming down. From a ruck under their own posts the tight forwards decided to run it out. In nothing short of an audacious breakout, they put their window wipers on, spun it wide and ran themselves out of peril - subsequently scoring at the other end.

As a Wellington College Old Boy and a neutral supporter, this was stirring stuff, reminiscent of watching Norths at Porirua Park in 2006 or 2010 or Ories at the Polo Ground in 2011 - or Wellington Lions and Hurricanes teams of past glories.

After blasting past a much-improved St Pat's Town and then pulling clear of a Top 4 quality St Pat's Silverstream side to win 21-18 in the Wellington final, Scots went into hyper-drive with four very good post-season wins.

First they travelled to the famous Rectory to play Gisborne Boys' High School. They won that 57-22. Wow. Then they came back from a 17-0 deficit to beat Palmerston North Boys' High School 34-17 to book themselves a place in the final.

On Friday they stunned Auckland Grammar School 39-22, taking the game to the AGS side that was left shell-shocked having a team come at them like Scots did for the first time all year. ?Then came Sunday's final against defending National champions Hamilton BHS, which they drew after being 19-0 up in the first half.

Scots are the first Wellington team to win the National Top 4 and they also return to Wellington as holders of the secondary school version of the Ranfurly Shield, the Moascar Cup. The last time that was in Wellington was in 1974. A trip to the Sanix World Cup in Japan early next year beckons.

Scots College join the Wellington Men's 7s team as current national champions, something to savour for Wellington rugby, given the Wellington Lions and Wellington Pride are currently 0 and 7 combined in this year's men's and women's NPC competitions.

The upcoming Wellington qualifying leg of the National Condor secondary schools 7s looks mouth-watering. Scots College will surely be favourites, but rivals St Pat's Silverstream, Wellington College, St Pat's Town, Rongotai College and others all have two-three game-breaking players in their ranks and will all be pushing hard.

As outlined above, it's not just the fact that Scots College have achieved this, it's the manner of how they have done it that has been pleasing to everyone who has followed their progress this winter.

They've done it by playing with relentless positivity.

Their mantra has been to throw caution to the wind, attack from anywhere on the field and unsettle the opposition by doing things that they're not supposed to be doing. Like using their props to run it out from under their goalposts.

If it comes unstuck then it can go really bad. Plus of course you need the players to do it, which Scots have in this team, with a dynamic group of players such as Tuitama, TJ Va'a the Umaga-Jenson Twins and Alex Fidow (the latter three returning next year).

But it also means that oppositions can ill-afford to make errors as Scots can and will pounce and make them pay.

Scots' success begs the question as why all Wellington rugby teams don't play like them.

Would Wellington rugby do worse than by adopting this philosophy for all its teams?

Does the province have the players for this style of play?

For a start, it might bring back the fans. If you set out to play attractive rugby with the fans in mind the latter will follow you and want to watch you live.

If you're playing like it's a development competition to prepare players for next year's Super Rugby season, then the ITM Cup will soon go the way of the domestic New Zealand cricket competition where there's more people serving lunch at 12.50 pm than watching the game upon its resumption.

Second, the free-flowing mantra is overwhelmingly the common denominator in all Wellington rugby's brightest moments of yesteryear.

For the Lions think 1953, 1986 and 2000.

For the Hurricanes, admittedly a regional team, think 1997, the year they first made the semi-finals and first got their reputation as a team to ‘expect the unexpected' from. The 1997 Hurricanes were in disarray after only a few games. But they got together and instigated a deliberate shift in their game-plan, adopting ‘ruck and run' rugby. If it wasn't for back-to-back defeats to the Brumbies at the end they might have won the thing. First five-eighth Stephen Bachop was a key member of this side; of note his son and Year 11 student Connor Garden-Bachop scored a double in yesterday's final for Scots College.?

Subsequent Hurricanes teams, not always as successful, such as 2003, 2006 and 2012 when they scored the most tries, also adopted this style of play. They at least brought the crowds in.

The Lions have won the ITM Cup twice in the past 28 years. On both occasions they have adopted similar styles of play.

In 1986 Wellington won the NPC. To quote then coach Earle Kirton in a story we published here just last week: "The plan was always to spin the ball and go for gas. I didn't see any point in playing boring rugby. Playing an attractive style of rugby is more fun for the players; every man has a run with the ball and they get extra enjoyment out of it.

"When I took over the team I also thought we had to bring rugby as entertainment back to the public. At the time we were losing a lot to rugby league and soccer, so I thought it had to be both enjoyable for the players and entertaining to the crowd."

In 2000, the trophy cabinet was barren and the team was struggling mid-season having won once in their opening four games. But the players made a conscious decision to turn things around by going for the high-risk up tempo game - and it worked. They went on a winning streak and reached the final against Canterbury. Champion wing Jonah Lomu bagged a brace as they leapt to a 34-15 lead midway through the second half and hold off a Canterbury comeback

What about other eras? The two great eras in Wellington rugby were the years immediately following World War 1 and the early 1950s when the union twice won the Ranfurly Shield. Again, the same style of rugby was employed.

In 1953, for example, Wellington became the carnival capital for several weeks in?August and September?in a magic Ranfurly Shield tenure. Coached by Clarrie Gibbons, whose mantra was ‘spin it' and led by an all-star backline headed by the ‘ace of match winners' Ron Jarden, they lifted the log off Waikato and (accompanied by parades and much fanfare) defended it five times playing attractive rugby. Sadly, Canterbury ended the party by winning it on 19 September, but not after seven Wellington players were selected in the All Blacks for the end of year tour and the season became etched in the memory of those who witnessed it.

The other great Wellington teams in the eras just prior to and just after World War 1 and again in 1930 all played with the same philosophy. Their modus operandi was to attack at all costs, and they simply overwhelmed their opposition in many of these games.

Despite the fact that the Wellington Lions should've won the ITM Cup in 2008 and again last year, and probably in 2004 too, they didn't. Should the Lions lose to Canterbury this coming Friday night they will equal Wellington's ITM Cup record set in 1991-92 of six consecutive losses. Similarly, the Hurricanes haven't made the Super Rugby semi-finals since 2009 and in 18 years have only ever looked like winning it once, in 2006.

As a fan, these are difficult days.

But well done Scots College for their outstanding achievement this year.

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