Annual grudge match between Christchurch rugby schools one-sided but mostly trouble-free
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
For more than 130 years Christchurch Boys’ High School and Christ’s College have played each other at rugby. Reporter Tatiana Gibbs went along to watch the much-anticipated fixture.
The unusual task of being breathtested at noon on a Wednesday meant arguably the biggest schoolboy rugby match in the South Island was about to kick off.
For another year the physical scuffles stayed on the pitch, but supporters got lippy.
The annual grudge match between Christchurch Boys’ High School and Christ’s College first XVs took place on Boys’ High’s home turf on Wednesday, and the home crowd was treated to a 37-3 victory to secure back-to-back wins against their rivals.
Both schools issued statements to supporters before the match to be on their best behaviour, “in the wake of offensive behaviour at previous games”.
There was one report of racial abuse being yelled from a spectator to a player discovered by a referee, said Boys’ High headmaster Nic Hill.
“We will be following that up using our film footage to identify the person, and that person is not a current student of either school.”
Security guards, breathtesting and rules were in place such as no face paint, no gumboots, no T-shirts, and no water bottles.
Thousands of supporters surrounded the field for the highly anticipated match that was described as Christchurch “folklore” by Boys’ High assistant coach Mike Drury.
Chants – some loaded with coarse language – were bellowed between two distinctive crowds of different coloured school stripes huddled at opposite ends of the field, trying to ruffle each other's feathers before the whistle had even been blown.
“Be f…ing assertive,” was yelled from the Boys’ High end while their team walked onto the field. Christ’s College replied, chanting “we can’t hear you”.
Boys’ High set the tone for the match by dominating the first quarter. After 15 minutes Boys’ High led 17-0 thanks to some magic footwork from first-five Will Haig and full-back Bogi Kikau, both carving through defenders to score converted tries in addition to a drop goal.
In the 22nd minute Christ’s College scored their only points of the match, when first-five Leo Jelley booted a penalty over the post to bring the score to 17-3.
But those were all the points Christ’s College could muster.
Boys’ High went on to score four more tries that erupted the home crowd with so much excitement that barricades toppled over and supporters accidently fell onto the field – not once, but twice.
The Boys’ High students picked the barricade back up each time, but there was no stopping them when they ran onto the field at the blow of the final whistle to celebrate their team.
One student spotted with a broken leg and crutches couldn’t stay out of the action and hobbled onto the field with the rest of his peers.
The passionate rivalry has spanned more than a century dating back to the first game in 1892.
Drury said the Boys’ High team “were keen to have a good physical presence early in the game, and they executed that very well”.
Christ’s College coach Sam Broomhall said his team “absolutely kept at it”.
“The score board may reflect the game, but our guys never gave up and that’s something I’m pretty proud of.
“If you take the rugby out of it, for a sporting event to have all these people here and the enthusiasm from both schools with the haka and chants, it's just cool to be a part of.”
The victory increased Boys’ High record of wins to 86 – almost double Christ’s College’s 44. The match has ended in a draw nine times.