MBC Falcons thrilled to be home after gruelling start to campaign

A ‘brutal’ opening to their 2026 campaign has prompted Marlborough Boys’ College First XV head coach Tonga Taumoefolau to call for immediate changes to the competition structure.

The Falcons are currently involved in both the Miles Toyota premiership and the newly-formed South Island Boys Schools competition.

At the outset they were handed a horror draw, being forced to play their first six games away from home, five in Christchurch and one in Geraldine. This resulted in five consecutive bus trips south and no chance to play at home. Over King’s Birthday Weekend MBC played a double header round in the SIBS competition, taking on Otago BHS and Kings HS, both in Christchurch.  They play their first home game of the season on Thursday, June 11, against Nelson College at Lansdowne Park.

The highly-experienced coach says something has to change.

“Having new competition is great … it’s great to get fresh blood in there. The games are very competitive, which we are happy about, but the scheduling is brutal, especially these double headers,” he said.

“I don’t know if there is an absolute need for it … I am against having two 70-minute games in the space of three days. It comes down to player welfare and goes against what the competition stands for really.

“There needs to be some work done there, even if it is having more days between games or reducing the length of the games.

“Also, they count these two games as home games for us, which is ridiculous … we travel five hours on the bus to get down to our accommodation, everyone is away from home eating donated food, we are on a shoestring budget.

“I think it is really important to protect our Marlborough boys and those from Nelson as well … no-one should have to get the draw that we got, with six away games all in a row … there has to be some serious discussion and planning going forward. Most of the other coaches and management seem to realise something needs to be done.”

However, Tonga said the boys, in typical fashion, had embraced the challenge.

“Overall, the boys are doing a great job and have been competitive in every match. Although rugby is obviously our main focus, we do a hell of a lot of other stuff to pass the time, have fun and make sure the boys are relaxed and enjoy the experience.

“But it is still a big ask on the boys, as well as the management team who have to take five or six days off work to be part of it,” he added.

Schedule

MBC are taking part concurrently in both the Miles Toyota Premiership (MTP) and the SIBS competition this season. They play 10 round robin matches in the new competition (two at home) and eight round robin games in the MTP (three at home) before entering play-offs in both competitions. Games against other teams involved in the two competitions count for points in both.

MBC results so far this season:

May 2 – v Shirley BHS in Christchurch - lost 21-27

May 9 – v Southland BHS in Geraldine – lost 33-59

May 16 – v Christ’s College in Christchurch – won 52-29

May 23 – v St Thomas of Canterbury in Christchurch – lost 36-38

May 30 – v Otago BHS in Christchurch – won 47-43

June 1 – v King’s HS in Christchurch – lost 35-33

Games to come:

June 11 - v Nelson College – Lansdowne Park

June 20 – v Christchurch BHS – Christchurch

June 27 – v St Andrew’s College – Lansdowne Park (MTP only)

July 2 – v St Bede’s College – Lansdowne Park

July 25 – v Timaru BHS - Timaru