Auckland schools will be in the thick of the Condor Sevens action, which kicks off tomorrow (Thursday) and winds up on Sunday at Sacred Heart College.

The Condors are the iconic national schools sevens championships, held annually since 1986 at this time of year. The boys’ and girls’ open grades are chosen by qualification, while the burgeoning Under 15 boys’ and girls’ grades are sorted by invitation or registration.

The tournament is growing every year, with 102 teams lining up, an increase from 96 in 2016 at the same venue. Sacred Heart is an ideal location for the tournament, with four of the east Auckland school’s six fields in use.

“We’re always about growing the Condors and making it more professional. We think we are close to capacity with what we can handle from a management perspective,” says tournament director Phil Gaze.

In the boys’ open grade, Hastings BHS, possessed of a strong-looking squad, will seek to do the Top 4 and Condors double, last achieved by the Kelston BHS side of 2011, in the midst of its four-year Condors winning streak.

There are seven Auckland teams in this grade. Kelston is the Auckland schools sevens champion, guided by former Waitemata coach Mani Toailoa, while MAGS has decided not to enter a team. There is a clash this weekend with the national schools athletics champs, while touch is also prominent at this time of year.

Botany Downs, the 2017 1B First XV champions, have come into the open boys’ field. However, Aorere, coached by Junior Poluleuligaga, may prove a dark horse. Aorere has had a solid preparation and, like Liston, has played lead-up events against men’s teams.

Pakuranga is another 1B school seeking to make an impact at this level, as is Otahuhu.

Sacred Heart has a good core of boys who featured in the First XV as 1A runners-up, so coach Gus Leger will rely on the likes of First XV captain and head boy Lemeki Namoa. NZ Schools prop Fatongia Paea will be looking to have an Alex Fidow-like impact in the sevens game.

The likes of Hamilton BHS and dark horse Rongotai are others to keep an eye on in the open boys’ division.

Six Auckland schools feature in the girls’ open grade, including Auckland champion Southern Cross Campus, whose squad includes the just crowned Young Sportsperson of the Year for girls’ rugby Luti Sikoloni. Other teams to line up are Mt Roskill Grammar, coached by Storm coach JP Fa’amausili, MAGS, coached by Auckland sevens player of the year Tutu Tairea, and Howick, an improving rugby school, who will be coached by Waisake Sotutu. Howick won the Plate at the 2016 Condors. Sotutu’s daughter Teuila is one of a clutch of five netballers not long off winning the national schools title, something of a coup for the east Auckland school, an emerging force on the sporting front. Watch for the speed of Isla Norman-Bell, who not that long ago was playing Roller Mills rugby with the boys. Aorere, coached by Sam Aiono, will look to the multi-skilled Theresa Ngata for some of its inspiration. Otahuhu is not to be discounted.

The growth in the girls’ and women’s game in Auckland and worldwide has been mirrored in the Condors.

“Three of four years ago, we only had 1-2 teams at the same high level, and now the likes of Hamilton GHS and St Mary’s (Wellington) are pushing harder. Some teams are now having pre-Condors warm-up tournaments,” says Gaze. “The Auckland sides are an even spread this year, without picking a favourite.”

The Under 15s are proving a popular and important grade.

“King’s College, for example, don’t go in the open grade, but love playing in the Under 15s. Tasesa Lavea (2017 manager for the Condors, with Sherwin Stowers as coach) uses this to develop the next layer of First XV talent.”

While Auckland schools Under 15 champion MAGS is absent, there are no less than 11 other Auckland teams lining up in the Under 15 boys’ grade, which will be run over one and a half days now due to player welfare concerns.

They are Sacred Heart, De La Salle, St Paul’s, Howick, St Peter’s, King’s, Mt Roskill Grammar, Tamaki, Otahuhu, Kelston BHS and Aorere.

Auckland Under 15 girls’ champion Aorere is a starter, along with Tangaroa, Otahuhu and Howick.

There are six hours of television coverage on SKY Sport 2 on both Saturday and Sunday. Many of the players will also appear in the World School Sevens, held at the same venue from December 16-17.

For further information and to check the draws and results, visit Click here or Click here

*This is a big weekend for sevens, with four Aucklanders featuring in the Black Ferns Sevens as they kick off the World Series in Dubai. Niall Williams, Tyla Nathan-Wong, Theresa Fitzpatrick and Kayla McAlister are all in the New Zealand squad.

December 9 will see the Auckland men’s and women’s teams – the latter winning the Cambridge Provincial Sevens tournament in Cambridge last weekend – line up again in Cambridge for the northern regional qualifiers,  a key tournament heading into the January nationals. – Campbell Burnes