OLD BOYS' REUNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19721, 22 August 1927, Page 11

OLD BOYS' REUNION.

FINE RUGBY RECORD. NEW PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL. SECOND ANNUAL GATHERING. The visit to Auckland of the first fifteen. of the New Plymouth Boys' High School to play the annual Rugby match against Auckland Grammar School on Saturday was made the occasion of the second annual reunion of the Auckland branch of the New Plymouth Old Boys' Association. A dinner, attended by about 60 old boys, including a small delegation from New Plymouth, was held at the Royal Hotel, and the gathering later, adjourned to the Chamber of Commerce, where'a conversazione took place. The president of the branch, Mr. J. J. K. Terry, 'presided over an enthusiastic assembly. In proposing the toast of the school, Mr Terry traced with pride the growth of the institution in recent years, both in the realm of scholarship and sport. Old boys were proud of the success of the school in football and shooting, but they remembered t.jo that the school had produced scholars who had since made their mark in pursuing their studies abroad. Mr. R Wilson, a member of the school staff, who responded, apologised for the unavoidable absence of the headmaster, Mr. W. H. Moyes. He gave an assurance that the old school spirit still lived, and traced recent developments in school life and institutions. Responding to the toast of the first fifteen, Mr. A. J. Papps, the coach, said that in the last six years the school had produced two All Blacks in H. Brown and J. Walter, and 20 former members of the fifteen had gained Taranaki representative honours. The fifteen had played 24 games in the past six years and had won 20, lost three, and drawn one. In those games it had scored 380 points, and only 128 had been scored against it, a match average of 16 to 5. Uf five matches against Te Aute College, generally recognised as one of the hardest teams in New Zealand to defeat,. the school had won three, lost one and drawn one. The school had also beaten Wanganui Collegiate School on four occasions in five matches, Auckland Grammar School on four occasions in five matches, Wanganui Technical College three times out of three, and Nelson College three times out of three. New Plymouth had also beaten Palmerston North Boys' High School and Mount Albert Grammar School in years when those colleges had had exceptionally strong teams. " I am disappointed the boys did not give you a better exhibition in their match against Auckland Grammar School to-day," said Mr. Papps, who gave an assurance that the team was capable of a much better display, as it had shown in recent games against Hamilton High School, Te Aute and Wanganui Collegiate School, in all of which cases New Plymouth had won by comfortable margins. The team was not the best that had represented the school—he considered the 1923 team which had beaten Auckland Grammar School and won the Moascar Cup held that honour—but this year's team was, nevertheless, a very good one and quite up to the average. In it were only five members of the previous year's combination. Among other toasts honoured were the Old Boys' Association, responded to by Mr. J. H. Boon, on behalf of the parent body at New Plymouth, Mr. G. Mcß. Salt, Auckland branch, and Mr. J. D. Mackay. Wellington branch. An enjoyable musical and elocutionary programme contributed to the success of the evening's entertainment.