Mid Canterbury Rugby Union hosted the South Island Under 16 Boys tournament last weekend at the Ashburton Showgrounds from Tuesday to Thursday. Mid Canterbury had qualified for the top eight section of the competition by beating South Canterbury the weekend before. The Mid Canterbury side stayed together at the Tinwald lodge, so they can bond together as a team and do team activities and games together. The coaches organised a big team BBQ with all of the families, team mentors and staff members at Mid Canterbury Rugby Union. This was a chance for the families to get to know each other and for everyone to show their appreciation for each other. 

The Mid Canterbury Under 16’s first game on the opening day of the tournament was against Nelson Bay’s under 16’s. Nelson Bay’s were one of the heavyweights of the top eight section and would be expecting to play in the final come the business end of the tournament. It was a tough old battle for the Mid Canterbury Under 16 team who went into the halftime break down 7-26 with a lot of work to do in the second half. The Mid Canterbury side came out in the second half a completely different side led by the physicality of loose forwards Oliver Hobbs and Henry King. Nelson Bay’s were clearly rattled in the second half as the Mid Canterbury side drew the second half with Nelson. It wasn’t enough in the end as Nelson won the game 40-21 over a very resilient Mid Canterbury side. The home side's point scorers were loose forward Oliver Hobbs, centre Dave Pio and reserve hooker Steve Palavi. First five Sonny McMillan kicked all three conversions as well. 

The home side's next game was against Marlborough in the Plate semi final on day two. In the meantime the side had a lot of time to relax and get their bodies right. The players were put through a series of stretches by Anna King as there were a few injuries on the team. The players were then split into two groups and one half of the team went clay bird shooting at a local farm and the other half of the team were in their volleyball tournament. All of the players got to have a go at the clay bird shooting which would’ve been a new opportunity for a lot of the players. 

Going into the Plate semi-final Mid Canterbury had lost their second five Isiah Carter, this caused a reshuffle in the midfield backs with Dave Pio going into second five and possibly one of the key reshuffles was Fletcher Hobbs into the centre position. The game was a physical encounter by both sides as the forward pack clashed all game long. Going into the halftime break neither team could be separated as the score was 5-5. The second half had opened up for both sides and there was some more impressive attacking play. Neither team could be separated at the end of the 70 minutes as the game finished in a 15 all draw. Luckily for the home side they qualified for the plate final over Marlborough side as they had a superior points difference after the earlier round robin games. Mid Canterbury’s point scorers in this game was centre Fletcher Hobbs, reserve winger Taniela Palavi and reserve hooker Steve Palavi with a highlight reel try in the corner.  

After their second game of the week the Mid Canterbury boys made their way to the EA Networks centre for a swim before they had Mid Canterbury Heartland Co-captain Tyler Blackburn and Heartland first five Nathan McCloy over for a BBQ dinner and a chat. It was an awesome opportunity for the Under 16 boys to take onboard some advice from a couple of our current Heartland players.

Day three and Mid Canterbury had named a largely unchanged side for the final against Otago Metro. As soon as the opening whistle went, Mid Canterbury were dominant. Halfback Eddie Galbraith and first five Sonny McMillan had the ball on a string as their kicking game put Mid Canterbury on the front foot. Mid Canterbury went into the halftime break 10 - 0 over Otago thanks to a first half double to electric fullback Makaia Allen. The second half was much the same for the Mid Canterbury side as their forwards dominated Otago’s which allowed the backs to play an expansive brand of rugby. Otago fought back and scored a try of their own But Mid Canterbury were always on top as they scored two more tries thanks to first five Sonny McMillan and winger Taniela Palavi. When the final whistle went the Mid Canterbury boys were straight on the pitch to celebrate what had been a fantastic week of rugby.The players collected their trophy and sung their team song loud and proud after a 20-7 victory over Otago. 

To cap off their brilliant week the Mid Canterbury side had a prize giving back at their accommodation. The three awards that the team had were Most Improved Player, Most Valuable Player and Player’s Player award. This year the Most Improved Player was prop Ben Glass, who had an awesome tournament dominating in the contact area and at scrum time. The Player’s Player was loose forward Henry King, who was absolutely everywhere on the pitch making big tackles, turning the ball over and supporting his teammates. The Most Valuable Player for the Under 16’s was captain and loose forward Oliver Hobbs, who much like Henry was everywhere on the pitch tackling kids that were twice his size, turning the ball over at the breakdown and being a leader on and off the pitch for the side.   

Article added: Monday 10 October 2022