GPS, CAS rugby preview: Schoolboys learning from world’s best club team

The Scots College got the jump on their GPS rugby rivals after spending part of their pre-season at the most successful club team on the planet. Check out our GPS and CAS rugby previews.

NSW schoolboy rugby kicks off this Saturday.

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The Scots College had the dream preparation for this year’s GPS competition, which kicks off on Saturday, by spending a week in a pre-season camp at the Canterbury Crusaders headquarters in New Zealand.

The tour, which took place in the April school holidays and involved 40 of their rugby players, gave the boys the opportunity to use the Crusaders’ world-class facilities, including the gym, and they got to watch the defending Super Rugby cham­pions train first hand.

The Crusaders’ International Rugby Academy is described as ­offering a “world-class high-­performance coach and player development programs”.

Sydney schoolboy rugby kicks off this Saturday.

And that “its purpose is to offer select players, coaches and support staff an opportunity to visit the inner workings of the organisation in one of the world’s most beautiful and rugby fanatical countries”.

That once-in-a-lifetime experience is one reason they loom as a real threat in this year’s GPS competition.

And when the Crusaders came to Sydney in March, they trained at Scots College.

The CAS competition also kicks off on Saturday, with Waverley College spending their pre-season in Japan.

They got some good, hard rugby under their belts by taking part in the Sanix World Youth Rugby Tournament, which involves some of the best school teams from countries ­including New Zealand and South Africa.

Barker and Knox will resume their rivalry this year. Picture: AAP

They finished credibly and that is one of the reasons they will start the season as favourites to win the coveted title after facing tough competition with different styles of rugby.

And they will play the match of the round against Knox, who are tipped to be big improvers.

The GPS and CAS competitions are expected to be close-fought ­affairs in which a number of schools will be in contention.

The interesting dynamic is that after two rounds there is a three-week break for school holidays before the final three games for each school. So how a team ranks heading into Saturday could totally change heading into round three because of the break.

We have seen how Super Rugby can affect a team both positively and negatively. The CAS organisation has also shown a lot of initiative by playing trials against schools from other associations.

GPS TEAMS

1 Kings: Last year’s joint premiers have a lot of players coming back and that experience will make them hard to beat this year. Their big strength is in their backline with players attracting interest for rugby league as well as rugby union.

2 St Joseph’s: Will start this season looking very strong after finishing equal first with Kings last season. Always a school with a lot of depth who now have a fulltime rugby director for the first time.

3 Scots: With former Wallaby Brian Smith as their director of rugby, Scots are guaranteed to be a well-drilled outfit. They look the full package with an ominous forward pack some electric outside backs. They could prove a surprise packet.

Canterbury Crusaders training at Scots College. Picture: AAP

4 Newington: The team will field some exciting young players across the park and will be certainly be a threat. They will be looked upon with worrying eyes by the top three teams. Celebrating their 150th year of rugby which is an added incentive.

5 Riverview: The school will field a hardworking team with a mixture of some promising young players blended with experience. They will be there and there abouts. On their day they could beat anyone.

6 Shore: They are very clinical in the way they play and the opposition will face a contest every game. Look for an improvement on last year when they did not get a win. The big plus is their work ethic. Former Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen is involved in the school’s rugby development.

CAS TEAMS

1 Waverley: Are looking very strong, having drawn with Kings and Riverview. They are fielding a really big mobile pack this season and their No. 10 Ronald Volkman is good on his feet and has great vision.

2 Barker: The defending champions will be right on Waverley’s tail. They have a good pack and hooker Billy Pollard is a likely prospect.

3 Knox: After a disappointing 2018, they are looking a lot stronger, especially in the forwards. They now have former Wallaby and NSW prop Cameron Blades as director of rugby. Are set to shake things up.

4 Cranbrook: Enjoyed a good start to the pre-season and they have a very mobile pack. Could be the competition surprise packets. Halfback Tasman Smith and front-rower Paddy Tagg are two strike weapons.

5 St Aloysius: Going undefeated in the trials will give them confidence. But not a lot of those games were against top-tier teams, so they are a bit of an unknown quantity. Had a good season last year, finishing equal third.

6 Trinity: Had a very mixed pre-season and were hit hard by injuries. They have a strong front row led by prop Malachi Hawkes, who played for the NSW under-16s in 2018 and 2017. Their No. 9 Ky Willoughby is another one to watch.

GPS round one (Saturday): Newington v St Josephs, Riverview v Kings, Shore v Scots.

CAS round one (Saturday): Barker v Cranbrook, Trinity v St Aloysius, Waverley v Knox.

2018 GPS ladder: Kings 8, St Josephs 8, Scots 6, Riverview 4, Newington 4, Shore 0.

2018 CAS ladder: Barker 15, Waverley 12, St Aloysius 6, Cranbrook 6, Trinity 3, Knox 3