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Two Dilworth School rugby players.
Dilworth has been robbed of four competition points in the fiercely competitive 1A competition. (Design: Tina Tiller)

OPINIONSportsJuly 2, 2024

The Dilworth/Auckland Grammar saga proves we take rugby way too seriously

Two Dilworth School rugby players.
Dilworth has been robbed of four competition points in the fiercely competitive 1A competition. (Design: Tina Tiller)

After Dilworth beat arch-rivals Auckland Grammar, an immediate challenge overturned the historical result. The technicality caused Dilworth to lose four competition points, highlighting the larger issue of ambiguity and fragmentation in the rules.

All quotes from a Dilworth rugby representative previously in the article have been removed at their request. 

There are only 10 minutes left in the game. The Dilworth first XV is leading Auckland Grammar by just three points, fighting desperately to hold on for the school’s first ever Auckland 1A first XV win over their wealthy nemesis from down the road. With every second that passes, belief grows that the impossible might just be possible. Finally, the hooter blows and the referee calls full time. David has toppled Goliath. Despite being described as the upset of the season, the win will soon be shrouded in controversy.

Just days after the historic victory, Dilworth received a breach notice from College Sport Auckland, the competition’s governing body, about the eligibility of one of the Dilworth players. College Sport Auckland ruled that Dilworth failed to follow the new-to-school rules. However, Dilworth was adamant the school followed the College Sport rules to a tee, as the player in question missed the first six games of the season, including a promotion/relegation game, after transferring to Dilworth from St John’s College in Hastings. The stand down requirement is specified in section 5.1 of the bylaws which is intended to prevent excessive player poaching from larger and often more well resourced schools.

That’s when Dilworth coaching staff were told there was a separate code of conduct for the 1A rugby competition, driven by 10 of the participating schools, and aimed at preventing excessive player recruitment. While the College Sport bylaws included promotion/relegation games, it was unclear whether or not the separate code of conduct did. The Spinoff understands the Dilworth coaching staff were unaware of the separate code of conduct for the 1A rugby competition.

Speaking as a former Dilworth student and rugby player, there was no game we cared more about than the matchup against Auckland Grammar. Moving from the relatively relaxed North Harbour school rugby competition to the intense Auckland programme was a shock for me. My first ever game for Dilworth was against Auckland Grammar, and only 10 minutes into the match, there was a full team brawl. That’s when I realised how serious these Auckland boys were about rugby.

The two all-boys schools are only two kilometres away from each other, and like any longtime neighbours, they’ve had their fair share of feuds over the years. I remember hearing tales of infamous hooligan-like brawls involving the equally rugby-mad Dilworth, St Peters, and Auckland Grammar boys. When it came to first XV though, Auckland Grammar was unmatched, having won a total of 65 1A titles. It took Dilworth 109 years just to make the top grade.

The 2024 Dilworth first XV side that defeated Auckland Grammar.
The Dilworth first XV side that defeated Auckland Grammar.

You can imagine the shock then, when a school with a roll of just over 400 and at the bottom of the table defeated their unbeaten rugby-juggernaut neighbours. The result sent shockwaves through both old boys’ networks, even earning a shoutout from Dilworth’s only All Black and freshly minted Super Rugby Pacific champion Angus Ta’avao after his team’s championship win.

Sadly, pride is a bitch and it seems pride got the best of Auckland Grammar, who couldn’t stand the fact they underestimated and lost to their poor little brothers from down the way. It appears to have resulted in them sifting through rules and regulations to find a technicality to have the result overturned. Either that, or College Sport Auckland was exceptionally diligent in their work that day.

A Dilworth spokesperson says there were some intense deliberations about whether or not they should let the matter play out in court. However, in the end, Dilworth chose to take the moral high ground and forfeit the desperately needed four competition points from the match, with a caveat that the result would remain recorded as a win for Dilworth.

The rule in question was part of a code of conduct introduced in 2019 for the purpose of preventing ongoing poaching from top-tier schools of the best players from other, often less wealthy schools. Ironically, Auckland Grammar School was often seen as one of the schools known for poaching players from elsewhere.

If there’s any silver lining for Dilworth, it’s that the fiasco has encouraged College Sport to consolidate the rules into one definitive standalone document. Dilworth won’t speculate on whether they think the eligibility issue would have been raised had Grammar won the match, but is glad the rules are “being tidied up”.

The bigger picture is that these large, well-resourced, rugby-crazy schools take it all a little too seriously. There are stories about families being brought over from the islands and given jobs just so their kids can play rugby for a school, but losing everything when they don’t perform. There are other tales about children as young as 12 being approached by scouts and told that they will be given a full scholarship if they keep playing well. The pressure these kids must feel is next level.

Grammar will likely go on to place in the top four and battle it out for yet another title, while my alma mater will be happy just to remain in the competition.

‘He mea tautoko nā ngā mema atawhai. Supported by our generous members.’
Liam Rātana
— Ātea editor
Keep going!
The Canterbury Rams on the charge (Photo: Richard Connelly/Supplied)
The Canterbury Rams on the charge (Photo: Richard Connelly/Supplied)

SportsJune 21, 2024

How the Canterbury Rams became the hottest – and loudest – ticket in town

The Canterbury Rams on the charge (Photo: Richard Connelly/Supplied)
The Canterbury Rams on the charge (Photo: Richard Connelly/Supplied)

Last year they won their first NZNBL title since 1992. This season they’re on the road to make it back-to-back. As Joseph Harper finds, the electric atmosphere inside Cowles Stadium is both the product of and secret to the Rams’ success.

Aranui has a bad reputation in Ōtautahi. It rears up whenever someone is thinking of moving to the Garden City and asks r/chch which suburbs to avoid. Inevitably someone makes vague references to particularly dodgy streets, anecdotal evidence of stolen Toyota Aquas, and then someone else brings up the House of Horror. Nobody ever mentions that the eastern suburb, just up the road from the Edmonds Factory Gardens, is also home to the most dynamic and vibrant sporting experience currently on offer in Canterbury.

Cowles Stadium is home to the Canterbury Rams men’s professional basketball team. It’s like a hangar. The building has a high arcing roof that heaves like a lung whenever a Rams player shows a bit of flash. With a capacity of around 1,500 – modest even by domestic basketball standards – the stadium is intimate and it’s very, very loud. “It’s right on top of you,” says Rams head coach Judd Flavell. “Most teams have, y’know, at least two or three thousand seat arenas, but they don’t necessarily fill them out. They’re also often separated from the court, whereas Cowles is right there. That experience is quite unique.”

Flavell cuts a charismatic figure in front of the Rams’ bench. The former Tall Black and long time Breakers assistant-coach is usually dressed in beige chinos and a tight V-neck merino. He looks to be in better shape than many of the players on the court. Last season, Flavell led the Rams to their first national championship in over 30 years. The NZNBL trophy actually sits unassumingly beside one of the stands. No security, no case or pageantry, it’s just there on a wooden table under a big banner that reads “THIS IS OUR HOUSE!” Sometimes kids take pictures pretending to hold it.

Right now, the team is rolling. Last weekend, the Rams emerged victorious in a tense battle against the Auckland Tuatara – the team they beat in last season’s final, and the other big gun in the NZNBL this season. That win cemented the Rams at the top of the table. On Saturday, the home team demolished the visiting Manawatu Jets by over 40 points. That performance was the jewel in the crown of a phenomenal 12-game winning streak. While their cross-town comrades the Crusaders put together their worst season in recent memory, the Canterbury Rams are looking to hang another banner in the rafters.

Cowles Stadium: Intimate and very, very loud (Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Tony Whinwray has been volunteering at Rams games for almost a decade. Anyone who has been to a game will recognise his distinctive figure on the door – dreadlocks cascading down his back and a welcoming smile emerging from his long beard as he scans the QR code on your ticket. “We’re a pretty hardcore crew here”, he says.

For Whinray, the “pretty hardcore crew” of Rams fans represents something special. “I started helping out because I’d bring my kid here. I figure if you’re here, you might as well help,” he says. In his time following the team, he’s seen kids go from begging for signatures after the game to bringing their own children along. “They’ll make time for the kids and that,” he says. “That’s why the fans are loyal.”

After home games the Rams always form a line and diligently make their way around the perimeter of the court, thanking supporters, signing singlets and doling out high-fives. But that sense of support and loyalty is on show long before the game even begins. Most of the Rams starters sit courtside and vocally support their teammates who play valuable minutes for the Rams Rapid League team – a new development league that plays before NZNBL games.

Last weekend Rams forward Taki Farhensohn secured their victory with some clutch free throws. There was a palpable sense of whanaungatanga as he coyly made his way back to the bench where he was swallowed up in enthusiastic hugs from his teammates. American import KJ Buffen performatively slapped his forearm to signify the ice in Farhensohn’s veins. Taki was all smiles. 

Some of the Cowles Stadium faithful (Photo: Richard Connelly/Supplied)

Most of all, Rams games are fun. The crowd is mostly made up of families, very vocal and very engaged. During timeouts and breaks, the Rams’ small but enthusiastic entertainment team don’t let up for a second. The University of Canterbury cheer squad sheepishly perform aerial stunts and hand-stands. At a recent game, a small team of teenage hip-hop dancers refused to yield the floor before finishing their routine – in spite of the players and referees who patiently waited on court while the squad got their bows in. They even have celebrity fans – local crooner Marlon Williams can occasionally be spotted among the Rams faithful in red and black.

Apart from when the crowd is celebrating a bit of on-court razzle dazzle, Cowles is at its loudest and most desperate when young fans bay for basketballs and Sal’s Pizza promotional T-shirts, which are hurled out to the masses two or three times a game. “He’s got balls! He’s got balls!” screamed a young fan who spotted Rambo, the team’s mascot waiting for break in play to chuck out some tat. The crowd also fires up when the opposition is at the free-throw line. Putting off the visiting players is paramount – yes it helps but Rams’ scoreline, but if a player misses two consecutive free-throws, the entire crowd earns themselves a free slice of pizza.

Local intermediate student Ryder Walsh estimates he’s been to “quite a few” Rams games. “The music is so loud and you can get good seats real easy.” To Ryder and his mates Manu and Shae, the Rams are cool and “the vibe is good”. For a city whose sporting fandom is most famous for the “CAAAA-NA-BREEEEE” dirge, it must feel refreshing to be in a sporting crowd that is genuinely losing their shit.

It also helps that the on-court product is electrifying. Captain Taylor Britt, a Tall Black and a local boy who grew up watching Rams legends like Dave Langrell, leads from the front. Britt seems to play most games running downhill – cutting to the hoop at pace before switching hands to finish or dishing the ball out to a teammate for an open three. Some games, the diminutive guard in the hot pink sneakers feels unstoppable. Britt gives some credit for the team’s performance to the fans at Cowles. “You feel it while you’re out there,” he says. “You can hear everything.” He feels that the experience at a Rams home game is unique in the NZNBL. “It’s such a small, enclosed space and the noise just echoes around a lot. It definitely feels like the loudest place. The fans really get behind us when we’re rolling.”

Coach Flavell hopes that Aranui stays loud. “It’s a great place to call home. When we’re out there playing, we get up for the noise. Just knowing we have that support behind us and we’ve got a great community behind us.” Undoubtedly the Rams faithful at Cowles Stadium will continue to fill their house. They’ll be hoping the Rams can provide another championship win,  and perhaps a few more slices of complimentary pizza. 

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Gabi Lardies
— Staff writer
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