The Star: May 31, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday May 31 2018 31
Sport
Friendships
on hold
in College
Match
• By Gordon Findlater
FOR THE third year running, the annual ‘college
match’ between Christ’s and Christchurch Boys’ High
today doubles as a top-of-the-table clash in the UC
Championship.
The match at Christ’s home ground, Upper, has all the
elements to make it a classic. The rivals are the two top
scoring teams in the championship this season, with 478
points scored between them.
Friendships will also be put on hold. Christ’s captain
Sam Darry (right) and CBHS captain Louie Chapman
(left) have struck up a friendship after playing together
in a number of representative teams over the years.
However, it’s expected to be forgotten this afternoon.
“We’ve got quite a good relationship so it’s all fun and
games but as soon as you put the jersey on that all goes
out the window,” said Darry.
Last year’s encounter lived up to its billing with
Christ’s fighting off late surges from CBHS to win 16-15
and end a 16-year losing streak.
“We’ve got the monkey off our back and now we know
we can do it again,” said Darry.
“It’s not something we want to feel again; that feeling
last year at the end of the game,” said Chapman.
Both teams have been perfect through the opening
four rounds, recording four bonus point wins. However,
this will be the biggest test yet for both sides and
the thousands of supporters who make it one of the
country’s best schoolboy rugby atmospheres.
“You try and focus on the games coming up but you’ve
always got that one marked in your calendar. All the
supporters love it as well because they can get all their
chants sorted and their milk bottles out and make all the
ruckus they can,” said Darry.
“It’s pretty hectic out there you can’t even hear yourself
think. You’re trying to talk to the guy next to you but
you’ve got both schools yelling at each other. It’s pretty
crazy,” said Chapman.
The first match between the two sides was in 1892,
which Christ’s won 34-0. Since then the two schools
have battled for bragging rights every 12 months. CBHS
have won 84 times, compared to Christ’s 44.
“You’ve got your mates at the other school and it’s
something you really want to get over them. We’ll be
putting our best foot forward to get those bragging
rights,” said Chapman.
“It’s an exciting thing to think about because there’s
not many occasions that will be like this one that you’ll
get to play in your life,” said Darry.
The winner of today’s match will single themselves
out as an early competition favourite. However, the UC
Championship is once again proving that not many
teams can be taken lightly.
The unpredictability of this year’s championship
continued at the weekend with Rangiora High School
recording their first ever win over Nelson College since
entering the competition in 2011. Meanwhile, St Thomas
of Canterbury College scored a converted try on fulltime
to record a 24-22 win over St Andrew’s College.
•Christ’s v CBHS kicks off at 2.40pm
UC Championship table
P W L D BP Pts
CBHS 4 4 0 0 4 20
Christ’s 4 4 0 0 4 20
St Bede’s College 4 3 1 0 3 15
Marlborough Boys 4 2 2 0 4 12
Rangiora High 4 3 1 0 0 12
Nelson College 4 2 2 0 3 11
SBHS 4 2 2 0 3 11
St Thomas 4 2 2 0 3 11
Lincoln Combined 4 2 2 0 2 10
Waimea 4 2 2 0 2 10
TBHS 4 1 3 0 4 8
St Andrew’s 4 1 3 0 3 7
Mid-Canterbury 4 0 4 0 3 3
Aoraki Combined 4 0 4 0 0 0
Other round five matches
•Thursday: Marlborough Boys’ College v Nelson College.
•Saturday: Lincoln Combined v Mid-Canterbury
Combined; Waimea Combined v St Bede’s College,
St Andrew’s College v Aoraki Combined, St Thomas v
Timaru Boys’ High, Shirley Boys’ High v Rangiora High.
Home Super Rugby final could be an embarrassment
THE CRUSADERS are just five
wins away from what will be the
most embarrassing Super Rugby
final destination in the history of
the competition.
Last week’s win over the
Hurricanes has now left the
Crusaders chances of a home
final in their own hands,
something I’m sure SANZAR
will be dreading.
The competition, which would
like to pride itself as being
the biggest franchise rugby
tournament in the world, now
faces a good chance of its title
match being hosted in a stadium
designed to last until 2017. The
One-eyed Cantab
Gordon Findlater
gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi
stadium also has no naming
rights sponsor confirmed after
this season as AMI ended its
10-year relationship with the
ground in March.
Let’s get some context.
The recent European Rugby
Champions Cup final between
Leinster and Racing 92 attracted
a crowd of more than 52,000 to a
neutral venue at the San Mamés
Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.
Last year’s Super Rugby final
between the Lions and Crusaders
attracted a record crowd of
62,000 at Ellis Park.
If the Crusaders put
themselves in a position to host
NOT WORTHY: The temporary stadium is not up to the
standard required to host the Super Rugby final.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
the final on August 4, we will
be left with the prospect of the
Southern Hemisphere’s biggest
competition trying to prove it
has the rub on the Europe by
hosting its premier event with
22,500 freezing fans crammed
into an oversized marque.
There may be another answer,
and a perfect chance for the
Crusaders to give the decisionmakers
on a new stadium a
hurry up.
In 2011, when the current
temporary stadium was not
around, the Crusaders played
the Sharks at Twickenham in
London and attracted a crowd of
more than 35,000 fans.
If we’re faced with an all-
New Zealand final, how many
fans could the Crusaders get
into Eden Park? In terms of a
business venture the capacity of
50,000 makes sense and would
give a massive **** you to the city
council. Would they do it? Not
likely, but I’d love things to play
out to see me proven wrong.