National First XV Championship (New Zealand)

Qualification

The National First XV Championship is ultimately broken down via the Top 4, which is made up of the winners of the four regions: Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes and South Island.

Each region operates its own different qualification system.

Blues:
The Northland and North Harbour champions meet, with the winner of that match facing the Auckland champion.

Chiefs:
Each regional province determines their own winner, followed by a knockout bracket.

Hurricanes:
The winner and runner-up of the Wellington Premiership and the top-two region schools that play in the Super 8 competition play in a seeded knockout. A 'challenger' place is available to any region school that does not play in either competition, with that match taking place prior to the seeded matches.

South Island: The winner of the match between the Crusaders winner and the Highlanders winner. The Crusaders winner is the top side from the region-wide UC Championship, while since the Highlanders-region competition was discontinued after 2015 a provincial-based knockout format has been used.

These four teams then have two semi finals with the winners advancing to the National 1st XV Final. The semifinal matchups change each year; for example, the Blues winner plays the Hurricanes winner one year, the Chiefs winner the next, and finally the South Island winner in rotation.

Some titles have been shared. There have been calls for overtime to be included to determine an outright winner, but this is currently not allowed for under World Rugby's Under-19 variations. In the event of a drawn semi-final, the team that advances is determined by a hierarchy of factors starting with which team scored the most tries in the match.

Moascar Cup

The oldest and most prestigious nationwide trophy in 1st XV rugby dates back to the end of World War One. At the end of the Great War, ten divisions of troops, six British, three Australian and a New Zealand division were waiting in Ismailia, Egypt to be sent home. Authorities within these divisions decided competitive sport would be a good way to fill in the time. A committee of officers was formed and they visited Cairo in search of a suitable trophy for a rugby tournament. When they returned they had a magnificent but somewhat cumbersome trophy made of Sterling Silver and stamped with "Made in London, 1904". The trophy was named the Moascar Cup. (Moascar was thought to be the name of a village in Egypt but it is, in fact Arabic for "camp".) It was decided that the trophy in honour of the occasion should be mounted on the centre part of a sawn off German propeller shot down in Palestine. The Cup, also contested by a South African division, was won by the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade who won eight and drew one of its nine games.

On return to New Zealand, there was considerable debate about what was the best use for the trophy. It was agreed that it should be returned to the New Zealand Rugby Union and used for an appropriate competition. The individual charged with convincing the New Zealand Rugby Union of the trophy’s merit was Lieutenant-Colonel E J Hublert, commanding officer of the Mounted Rifle Brigade. The trophy was accepted and the New Zealand Rugby Union decided the best use for the trophy was to use it to promote Secondary Schools rugby which had suffered badly because of the War. A knockout competition in both the North and South Islands was inaugurated with the final to be played at Athletic Park in Wellington. However the best intentions of administrators were undone by apathetic attitudes by some schools and three years of expensive and time-consuming matches. Soon the knockout competition was abolished and replaced by a challenge system.

The current rules state that holders must nominate matches in which other schools can compete for it. A total of 7 matches must be announced once the cup is in contention. There used to be a tendency where holders would withhold putting the cup up for grabs against stronger opposition while making it available against perceived lesser sides. Doing so reduced the risk of losing the cup. There have been calls for the cup to be put up more regularly such is the demand and prestige of it. Many have voiced that the cup be put up at all home games and all knock out fixtures.

Another call to change has been regarding a tied score at full time. Like the National Top 4, no extra time is applied. The Moascar Cup defender continues to hold the cup if the scores are tied at full time. There is an overwhelming need to include an extra time period to determine an outright winner.

The current holder is Nelson College which beat St Thomas of Canterbury College in July 2016.

Super 8 and Quadrangular Tournament

There are two other major tournaments that are contested. Neither hold effect on qualification to the National Top 4. However the Moascar Cup may be put up for contention.

Formed in 1997, the New Zealand Super Eight group of schools incorporates the 8 boys' high schools from their respective provincial cities of the central North Island. The first sporting competitions were sponsored by Canterbury International and commenced in 1998, involving rugby and cricket. Since that time, the Super Eight concept has grown to include not only 10 sports competitions, but also a cultural festival and professional development programmes for management staff and curriculum teachers. For rugby, many argue that the Super 8 is on par with the Auckland 1A competition where both are the toughest pre-Top 4 round robin competitions in New Zealand secondary school rugby. The Super 8 is contested between, Gisborne Boys High School, Hamilton Boys High School, Rotorua Boys High School, Tauranga Boys High School, Napier Boys High School, Hastings Boys High School, New Plymouth Boys High School and Palmerston North Boys High School.

The Quadrangular Tournament is the oldest secondary school rugby tournament which is competed between Wanganui Collegiate, Wellington College, Nelson College and Christ's College. It was initially known as the Triangular Tournament from 1890 to 1924 till Nelson College joined in 1925. In 2012 the 85th Quadrangular Tournament was contested. Regardless of being oldest tournament in New Zealand secondary school rugby, it does not receive the same recognition as the National Top 4, Auckland 1A or Super 8 as no school that competes in it has ever gone on to win a National Championship (with the exception of Nelson College that won the Moascar Cup in 2016).