Westlake v Rosmini, Thursday 20 August 2015, QBE Stadium, kick-off 5.35pm
by Tony Vinicombe
On Thursday Westlake and Rosmini will once again contest the Harbour 1st XV Final, a match which will be the curtain raiser to the Harbour – Wellington ITM fixture.
These two schools have already met twice this season, with Westlake prevailing on both occasions, 16-3 and 24-10.
Westlake, unbeaten champions in 2014, suffered a mid-season setback this season when they lost 17-20 to Rangitoto, their first loss at the hands of the co-ed school since the 2002 season. Undefeated since that loss, Westlake have improved many aspects of their game and, despite difficult conditions for much of last Saturday’s semi-final, they dispatched Rangitoto 45-6 in a comfortable and convincing fashion.
Rosmini, on the other hand, may feel they had better value and preparation from their hard-fought 17-12 semi-final victory over perennial rivals Massey. They too had an earlier loss to Rangitoto, but both teams come to the final having trodden fairly comparable paths so far this year.
In the Harbour era these two schools have met on 61 occasions. Westlake has won 37, Rosmini 21, and the spoils have been shared 3 times. Westlake are 2012, 2013 and 2014 champions, defeating Rosmini on each occasion. In fact Westlake has had the upper hand in the last 6 finals contested by the two schools – 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Unbeaten sequences must eventually end – maybe 2015 will be Rosmini’s year? As always neither team ever fancies the label of “favourite”, and both teams would likely state that they have yet to produce the ideal performance. Each has shown glimpses of what they can achieve and each team deserves to feel confident about certain aspects of their game.
What is guaranteed is that it will once again be a great contest between two fine rugby schools, and one which will no doubt match the history, tradition and atmosphere of those in past years. If anyone has any doubt about the potential drama of Thursday’s final they only need to hark back to the 2014 final. With time up on the clock Rosmini were leading 20-19 but Westlake were in possession and advancing on the Rosmini line. At the 72 minute mark, after holding the ball for 24 phases, Westlake were awarded a penalty near the touchline. A potential missed penalty attempt was not the preferred option. It was tap and run again, with more phases, and more heart stopping pressure for both teams. In the end it took only a further six phases before Izaak Scheib crossed for the winning try, resulting in a 26-20 victory in the 75th minute when defeat looked likely. Westlake were champions again but Rosmini contributed so much to the battle and scarcely deserved to be left with none of the spoils. Schoolboy rugby at its very best; who would wish to miss it?
For the record, here are the 14 champion Westlake teams and their captains:
1988 – Simon Bryan, 1989 – Jarrod Beaman, 1995 – Reece Clarke, 1996 – John Buchanan, 1997 – Ant Ward, 1998 – Clint Arblaster, 2000 – Winston Cowie, 2005 – Chris Smith, 2006 – Mike Harris, 2008 – Chris Winks, 2010 – Jordan Manihera, 2012 – Josh Fraser, 2013 – Callum Law and Peter Hurst, 2014 – Brett Bakkerus.
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