South Otago High School
On Wednesday we wrapped up the 2023 U15 Rugby Tournament in Alexandra.
We had a great bunch of lads and coaching team of Craig Hyslop, Mark Shore and Luc Thompson. A big thank you to Jules Witt whose organisation was outstanding. Thanks to Kath & Lynette for helping Jules out with organising and sorting the stacks of food and washing. Heidi McHaffie did an outstanding job as team medic and was run off her feet on Day two with overflowing casualty wards after both games!
Cooper Baird and Troy Mallon were called into the team in the last two weeks and these lads slotted into the team well and stepped up against some very big boys from the Canterbury region.
It was a tough first two days and ended pool play with one win and three losses. The U15 team scored a few tries along the way so we snuck in to the Div1 B Playoffs (5 to 8 placings) tied in 8th place with Darfield - who beat us in the first game. The team went through ahead of them as we had scored more points overall. Two good wins for our semi-final and final on the third day meant we finished in 5th place overall.
South Otago High School was awarded the best all round team for the tournament by the referees and tournament organisers which is a fantastic effort.
The team MVP for the Tournament was Noah Saro who gave 100% in every game.
We would like to thank the families and supporters who came up and cheered the boys on. I am sure it made a difference yesterday on the third day of games!