Graeme Syms has been around Auckland Secondary School’s rugby for a long time and enjoyed much success. In 1992 he guided the First XV at Auckland Grammar School through an unbeaten season, which included success in the National Top Four tournament. The Grammar old boy then moved to King’s College where perhaps he achieved his crowning glory, coaching the King’s College First XV to a record number of defences of the Moascar Cup.
Graeme Syms
Graeme Syms was educated at Auckland Grammar School from 1973-1977. In his final year at school he made the First XV as a prop. Auckland Grammar was a major source of influence Syms recalled:
“Those that have influenced my coaching are Sir John Graham, Sir Graham Henry, John Hart, and the late John Drake. They are all uncompromising and accept nothing short of perfection. They are firm believers in training hard, accurately and intensely.”
With the exception of Hart, all the figures mentioned above were involved with Auckland Grammar School. In fact Syms recalls of Sir Graham Henry, Auckland Grammar coach from 1975-1980:
“He was very demanding and prepared to put hours into preparation. He was an enthusiast that sought perfection. A very good selector and brilliant analyst of the game he could develop game plans well for specific opponents.”
One of those opponents was King’s College. Syms recalls his first experience of the Grammar v King’s game was very dramatic and imbued in him a timeless passion for schoolboy rugby:
“I remember the huge crowd, getting penalised for lifting at the first scrum and David Halligan slotting the goal from halfway. Also a King’s player got sent off for kicking John Mills, Millsie would have deserved it though!”
After school Syms played rugby for the Auckland Colts and the University Prems, the latter coached by Graham Henry. He also taught at Auckland Grammar School where he eventually coached the First XV. Syms won the Moascar Cup in 1990 and in 1992 enjoyed a 23 game unbeaten season that included success at the National Top Four. How how did Syms end up at King’s College?
“I ended up at King’s College after an approach from good friend Richard Stead who was teaching there. I was initially employed as Director of Sport, this was after a failed attempt to gain the Housemaster position at Tibbs House at Auckland Grammar.”
Syms, currently manager of the First XV, was the teams head coach from 1995-1997 and again in 2002-2003. Under Syms, King’s won an impressive 68 of their 84 games. King’s were runners up to Auckland Grammar in the 1A competition in 2002, but more impressively from 1995-1997 defended the Moascar Cup a record 19 times. What was the key to this great run?
“The key element was the fear of losing, not the desire to win. Our wish was to create a piece of history for the College as the Moascar Cup had eluded us for so many years. We defended it 12 times in 96 against some quite formidable opponents. We set KC 1 up as our fortress and a key goal was to be unbeaten at home. We took the Moascar Cup out of the picture and seldom mentioned it. If we were unbeaten at home and had pride in our home ground the rest would take care of itself.”
Syms recalls there were some memorable matches. James Marshall, a future New Zealand cricketer, kicked a last second drop goal to beat De La College in 1997. In that match an irate De La Salle fan man-handled the referee, were there any other stand games?
“Beating Kelston, the Auckland and National champions in 1996, was satisfying and the Hauraki Plains game was amazing because one of our Boarding Houses caught-fire 20 minutes before kickoff. We had TV news crews, 22 fire appliances, ambulances, police at the game. The teams had to jump over numerous hoses on the way out to the ground and many of the players watched their personal effects go up in smoke, quite unbelievable really!!”
Also unbelievable was the talent that King’s produced during the Syms years. Matthew Carrington, Willie Walker, Angus McDonald, Daniel Braid, the Marshall twins, Tumai Edwars, Peter Epati, Michael Bartlett, Joseph Naufahu and Tumai Edwards, all played first class rugby or cricket to a high level.
The Moascar Cup Teams
1995
Season Numbers
- Played: 19
- Won: 15
- Lost: 3
- Drawn: 1
Moascar Cup
- Tauranga Boys’ College, 24-6
- St Paul’s Collegiate, 11-6
1996
Season Numbers
- Played: 17
- Won: 14
- Lost: 3
Moascar Cup
- Otahuhu College, 40-15
- Onehunga High School, 26-13
- Avondale College, 40-3
- Hauraki Plains College, 70-24
- St Stephens School, 36-14
- Mount Albert Grammar School, 18-13
- Sacred Heart College, 26-8
- Wanganui Collegiate, 44-8
- Kelston Boys’ High School, 24-13
- Palmerston North Boys’ High School, 15-8
- Tauranga Boys’ College, 24-8
- Auckland Grammar School, 39-20
1997
Season Numbers
- Played: 17
- Won: 14
- Lost: 3
Moascar Cup
- De La Salle College, 21-20
- St Peters College, 22-6
- St Paul’s College, 48-25
- Aorere College, 38-13
- St Kentigern College, 29-21
- Wanganui Collegiate, 55-6
Acknowledgments: Graeme Syms, Gael Panema