Christ’s College First XV established two goals at the start of 2016. Captain Ngane Punivai shares his team’s original ambitions.
“We wanted to restore some credibility and make the top four of the UC Championship. Last year wasn’t good so there was a change in culture and a renewed determination to do better,” he reveals.
On Saturday Christ’s will host 2015 runners-up Shirley Boys’ High School in the UC Championship semi-finals. Christ’s finished top of the pile in the round-robin winning 13 out of 14 matches. It’s the first time since 2010 Christ’s will feature in the final four.
In May 2015, Christ’s was beaten 80-0 by Christchurch Boys’ High School. Punivai concedes the experience is a bad blur.
“It went by quickly like all the big games do. For some reason I remember Josh McKay (CBHS first-five) scoring a try. I remember that vividly and not a lot else. It’s all pretty painful,” Punivai laments.
McKay scored 35 points that day which would have been enough points to win 132 out of the 141 annual games played between the two schools by himself.
Punivai has been a member of the Christ’s First XV since 2014. The centre and occasional wing and fullback made his debut against Timaru BHS and was “stoked with his couple of tackles.” He was appointed captain last year and has retained the position in 2016.
“I learned a lot about handling defeat, staying positive and motivating the boys. You often learn more from failure than success. It was tough, but in hindsight valuable too,” Punivai believes.
Christ’s appointed new head coaches Reuben Thorne and Cameron McIntyre over the summer and trained harder than they have done before in Punivai’s time at the College.
“The pre-season was really intense, but worth it. We had to get fit and work harder and smarter than what we had been. Reuben Thorne commanded instant respect being a former All Black captain. It’s a real privilege to be able to pick his brains with all the past experience he brings,” Punivai says.
Christ’s also attracted some new talent like influential prop Taine Hintz and burly midfielder Dallas McLeod, but Punivai refutes the claim the private school “bought” a team.
“We have a couple of new players, but most of the team have been here since Year 9. We have worked really hard to get to where we are at and are really excited about the challenges ahead,” Punivai enthuses.
Christ’s have won 13 games in the UC Championship by an average score of 39-14. They beat St. Andrew’s College by a record 69-17 last Saturday. In May they scored their largest victory over St. Bede’s College since 1957. In July, Christ’s trounced Nelson College, 41-11 -their biggest win against Nelson since 1977. The latter victory was a part of the annual quadrangular tournament which Christ’s won for the first time since 2002.
The final against Wellington College was a classic. Christ’s won 24-19 and Punivai made the break which led to the winning try and the final tackle which won Christ’s a penalty and the opportunity to bring the game to an end while Wellington was hot on attack.
“I was worried about that game because our goal for most of the season has been to make the top four of UC. I thought some of the boys might not give it their all if we got down early. Wellington is a big team who are very physical and can do a lot of damage. We talked about shutting them down early and we did. The school got right behind us and our belief grew. The passion and the pride was awesome. It was a big effort and a great result,” Punivai says.
Ngane has scored 9 tries this season and was selected for the Crusaders Knight’s U18’s. His younger brother Isaiah Punivai is the leading try scorer in the UC Championship with 16.
The Punivai’s were originally born and raised in Wellington. Both played for the Petone Rugby Club. Dad is an engineer and builder who moved to Christchurch when Ngane was 11 for better work prospects.
In the summer Ngane competes in athletics and made the South Island championships in the 4x100m relay and triple jump.