Southland Girls' High School: a First XV story that keeps growing

There is a lot to like about the way girls' rugby is bedding in across the deep south, and Southland Girls' High School sit right in the middle of it.

The school's 1st XV are back competing in the Southland-wide girls' 1st XV competition this winter. In round one, the Southland Tribune reported, Central Southland College edged a high-scoring opener against Southland Girls' High School 50-34, while James Hargest College banked a 42-19 win over Hokonui Colleges. Plenty of points, plenty of running rugby, and a competition that keeps giving more young women a genuine season of footy.

If anyone wants proof of where a Southland Girls' jersey can take you, this year offered a lovely one. The Southland Tribune reported that three former Southland Girls' High School 1st XV players lined up together again for Matatu in Super Rugby Aupiki: lock Emma Dermody, centre Amy du Plessis and wing Alena Saili, the last of whom is best known as a Black Ferns Sevens player. The trio had not all played together since their school days in Invercargill, and this season they were named to contest the Aupiki final in Christchurch. The Tribune noted Matatu's opening match this year drew close to 12,000 fans, a record for a standalone domestic women's rugby fixture in New Zealand.

That kind of pathway is not new for the school. Back in 2016, Southland Girls' High School claimed their maiden national secondary schools title, and Stuff reported it ended a five-year run of near misses. The Southland Tribune recalled the final itself, a 46-29 win over St Mary's College of Wellington in the national Top Four, with Saili scoring a hat-trick inside the first 25 minutes.

The hero photo above is from that title-winning group, a reminder of what a full season together can build.

What makes the current picture encouraging is not one result but the shape of it: a regional girls' 1st XV competition giving Southland Girls' students weekly games, a proud history to draw on, and living examples of old girls going all the way to professional rugby. For a young player pulling on the red and navy for the first time, that is a pretty inspiring room to walk into.

Here is hoping the rest of the season brings more of the same: close games, big smiles, and a few more names to follow through the grades.