Historic Hawke’s Bay school and former national First XV rugby champions Te Aute College will play a rugby league match against a youth team from NRL club Manly Warringah in title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/sydney/">Sydney this year.
Assistant principal and co-coach Shane Foster, a former Hawke’s Bay Unicorns rugby league player and later league referee, said a party of 39 players (more than half the school’s roll of 76) will travel to Australia with nine adults for rugby (union) games against the Randwick club on July 4 and Waverley College on July 7, and the league match against the Manly Sea Eagles age group development squad on July 10.
The rugby league game will be played the day after the party join 80,000 other fans at State of Origin III, potentially the decider in the iconic annual rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland.
Te Aute, one of New Zealand’s oldest schools, with a history dating back to the 1854 opening of Ahuriri Native Industrial School, has an historical link with Manly, through former pupil Billy Weepu, who played 13 A-grade games for the club in 1995-1997.
But the club didn’t have to call on whānau connections to get the game, Foster saying it came through the Sportslink tour agent who had contacts with the club.
