Te Uki Ou rugby fever at all-time high

Rugby fever was at an all-time high at Apii Te Uki Ou yesterday when the schools rugby-mad boys played out the grand final of their five-week rugby competition.

While international rugby teams are currently competing for the Webb Ellis cup at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand Apii Te Uki Ou students are playing for their own trophy, dubbed the Freedom Cup.

Keen rugby-playing student and mastermind behind the Freedom Cup competition Owenne Matapo explained how the end-of-week competition came about.

He said the boys at school play rugby during intervals and four weeks ago he and fellow student Tutai Terupe decided to create a trophy as an award for the winning team of their weekly rugby matches.

We asked the boys about a name for the cup and we thought Freedom Cup was a good name, says Matapo.

He added that the name Freedom came about because their rugby games were played on the last day of school before they enjoyed freedom at the weekend.

The competition and the trophy were kept secret from the schools teachers which of course increased the interest among the schoolboys to play rugby and help their team win the Freedom Cup.

We didnt tell the teachers because we didnt want them to interrupt our fun, says Matapo.

But the teachers did find out when on one particular Friday the winning team couldnt help but rip into a fierce haka which drew the attention of the teachers and the competition was revealed.

Each week a new Freedom Cup is crafted out of whatever the boys can find and placed on a school chair on the sideline of the field as the boys exhibit their rugby skills.Over the past four weeks before Fridays grand final match Matapo led his South Africa team to victory against the same opponents each week who play under a new banner for each match.

South Africa defeated Samoa, Tonga, the All Blacks and Australia to make it to yesterdays grand finals against France.

After the first half of the grand final game, played during the first interval of the school day, the South Africans had a slim 18-17 lead over the French who came back strong in the second half of the game with some superb chip and chase tries scored by the side led by Tutai Terupe.

But with the local media on the sideline the Boks knew they had to win to give reporters a sweet 5-game sweep story and win they did with multiple drop kicks helping Matapo and his boys win the game 31-24.

Before lifting the Freedom Cup winning captain Matapo made an announcement that his team had, halfway through the second half, changed their team name from the Springboks to the All Blacks citing that half the team players were in All Blacks gear anyway.

This decision was not disputed and so the All Blacks celebrated beating the French and winning the Freedom Cup with a massive All Blacks haka from the schools jungle gym!