Founded: 1904

1904-1922: Hastings Technical High School

1926-1955: The Hastings High School

1956: Hastings Boys High School

The Year 1904

• Henry Ford sets a new automobile land speed record of 91.37 mph.
• The Olympic Games are held in St. Louis.
• Sir Keith Holyoake is born.
• Scotland win the Home Nations Rugby Championship or Five Nations which was only four at this stage.

Roll: 660

Motto: Akina

National Top 4 Winners: 1989 (4^th) 2004 (3^rd).

Moascar Cup Holders: 2004.

Traditionals: Napier Boys High School, Gisborne Boys High School and Dannevirke High School have traditionally been regarded as the big three. Nowadays the Super 8 are the biggest games of the season.

Notable Seasons

1949: Coached by Mr. Flower won the Hawke’s Bay third grade with an 11-3 record.

1953: Captained by A.P. Lemmon was unbeaten in the local competition scoring 315 points and just 30 against. In interschool games Gisborne are beaten 16-11 and Napier 19-0 but a loss to Dannevirke prevents a perfect season.

1957: Captained by P. G. Bark this team became the first to enjoy an unbeaten record in interschool games. A 10-10 draw against Gisborne the worst result! Future All Black W.L. Davis was in the team.

1959: Coached by Mr. Flower and captained by D. Elvidge won 17 of 20 games including the Hastings Junior competition for the first time.

1964: Coached by Mr. T. Fallwell and captained by J. Chadwick won 16 of 19 games including the Hastings Junior competition.

1969: Coached by K.M. Barry and captained by S.J. McGavock won 18 of 23 games including the Hastings Junior competition but curiously lost all three college games. Bruce Robertson was in the team.

1973: A high scoring team coached by H. MacEwan wins the Hastings Under 23 competition. Over the season 105 tries were scored by only 35 conversions and 20 penalties kicked.

1977: Captained by M. O’ Leary and coached by Mr. K. Crawford and Mr. T. Reid this team became the first to win all three interschool games against Napier Boys High School, Gisborne Boys High School and Dannevirke High School in the same season. Overall they won 14 of 17 games.

1989: Captained by future All Black Josh Kronfeld won 16 of 22 games earning a debut appearance at the national top 4. Hastings narrowly lost the 3^rd place playoff 10-13 to Otago Boys High School.

1991: This side featuring future All Blacks Roger Randle and Danny Lee won 13 of 17 games including all the three interschool fixtures.

2002: Coached by C. McCracken and J. Bird won 18 and lost 2 games. An unbeaten Australian tour and a 2^nd place finish in the Super 8 are the highlights of the season. Hiakwera Elliott enjoys his second year in the 1^st XV.

2004: Coached by M. Nichol and C. McCracken and Captained by Hiakewra Elliot won 16 of 18 games scoring an average of 40 points a game! Hastings held the Moascar Cup won the Super 8 unbeaten and were 3^rd in the National Top 4. Another future All Black Albert Matthewson was a member of this team.

2010: Captained by Jason Long and coached by Mr T. McBride  won their first super 8 game since 2005 beating New Plymouth Boys High School 19-15. They nearly beat Hamilton as well narrowly losing 18-25.

The 2010 1st XV

Hastings All Blacks (9)

Jack McNab – Flanker

• Enrolled in 1910.
• 1 game, a 26-3 win against New South Wales in 1925, All Black, 316.
• Played 50 first class games, a lot of which were for Hawkes Bay during their 24 match tenure with the Ranfurly Shield (1922-27.
• Later became a farmer.

Roy White – Flanker

• 4 tests, 6 games, 10 matches, 1946-47, All Black, 462.
• Won all 4 tests against Australia.
• Captained the All Blacks in their 26-17 win against a New South Wales XV in 1947.
• Played 65 first class games.

Bill Davis – Three-quarter

• 1^st XV 1957-60.
• 11 tests, 43 games, 53 matches overall, 1963-70, All Black, 640.
• Won every test he played and scored 24 tries overall for the All Blacks.
• Played in the great Hawke’s Bay Shield era of 1966-69, this to lasted 24 defences.

Bruce Robertson – Centre

• 1^st XV 1969
• 34 tests, 68 games, 102 matches overall, 1972-81, All Black, 702.
• Scored 30 tries for the All Blacks, 4 in tests.
• Captain of the All Blacks in 3 games in 1977 and 1978 for 3 wins.
• Played 135 games for Counties and was in the side that won the 1979 NPC.
• Regarded as one of the great All Blacks Robertson later turned to coaching.

Josh Kronfeld – Flanker

• 1^st XV 1988-1989
• 54 tests, 2 games, 56 matches overall, 1995-2000, All Black, 943.
• Scored 14 test tries and is regarded as one of the best All Black openside flankers of all time.
• Played 69 matches for Otago and 42 for the Highlanders.
• A host on rugby centre on Sky TV is a keen surfer.
• His autobiography entitled On the Loose was published in 2000.

Roger Randle – Winger

• 1^st XV 1990-92.
• 2 games, a 43-30 win against Ireland A and a 35-13 win against Scotland A in 2001.
• All Black 1010 scored 50 tries in 63 games for Waikato including 14 in Waikato’s 24 defences of the Shield from 1998-2000.

Danny Lee – Halfback

• 1^st XV 1991-94. Won the Sportsperson of the Year Award at school in 1994.
• 2 tests, a 28-31 loss to England and a 20-20 draw with France in 2002, All Black, 1023.
• Played 156 first class matches.

Hika Elliot – Hooker

• 1^st XV 2001-2004, an outstanding schoolboy player he captained the unbeaten NZ Schools team in 2004 and won the Hastings Boys sportsmen of the year award.
• 2 tests, 1 game, 2008-2010. Played in the 18-16 win against Munster in 2008 and played in the 49-3 win over Scotland and 38-18 win over Ireland in 2010.
• In 2004 he won the World Under 19 title, unbeaten.

Alby Mathewson – Halfback

• 1^st XV 2004.
• New Zealand Under 21, 2006.
• Debuted in the same match as schoolmate Hika Elliot
• 4 tests, 2010, All Black, 187.

Some Famous Old Boys

William Benson – New Zealand swimmer

Daniel Bell – New Zealand swimmer

Sir Neil Anderson – Former NZ Defence Chief Vice-Admiral

Bill Tacon – World War II Aviation hero, appointed Officer Commanding the King’s Flight. Hastings lost 90 boys in World War II.

George Lowe – Mountaineer

Sir Selwyn Cushing – Businessman

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Rob Sturch at Hastings Boys  who allowed me access to the schools archives.