Bryn Hall's biggest regret: 'To this day, it still really hurts because we had such a great team and it's unfortunate that we didn't get the job done'
Sitting on three Super Rugby titles in the last three years, it’s safe to say that Bryn Hall’s transition from the Blues to the Crusaders has been fairly successful.
The North Harbour halfback is in his eighth season of Super Rugby and spent his first four years with his native Blues side before making the move south.
While those years in Auckland didn’t reap too much on-field success for the 28-year-old, primarily due to a run of unfortunate injuries, they helped shaped Hall’s future with the Crusaders.
You have to go further back, however – before Hall was picked up by the Blues, before he even ran out in North Harbour colours for the first time – to get to the period that really helped forge the halfback’s passion for the game.
In fact, despite proudly donning the Harbour hibiscus since he turned professional, Hall grew up south of the Harbour Bridge and was schooled at St Peter’s College in Auckland.
In 2000, four years before Hall arrived at the school, St Peter’s won their first outright Auckland schools title, though they had previously shared first place in 1987 and 1988.
Since that 2000 win, however, the school had enjoyed little success on the rugby field – although that slowly started to change, coinciding with Hall’s entrance, as well as that of future stars such as Ben Lam, Patrick Tuipulotu and Peter and Francis Saili.
“I guess during my time at St Peter’s, we were fortunate enough that those boys were kept on together as a group,” Hall told RugbyPass.
“The best thing about St Peter’s for me was that we were all homegrown. I know Patty came from Western Springs College but Pete and all the other boys had come up together through U14’s, U15’s so we had a really good understanding of what the school was about.
“We didn’t win a lot to begin with but we stuck at it and went through the age groups together and had a real understanding of where we wanted to take the program.”
Things started to take a turn for the better as Hall and his teammates progressed through their schooling at St Peter’s.
By the time Hall had reached his final two years at the college, the squad had come together well and had enough quality amongst their ranks to be able to challenge for the title – but it wasn’t to be.
“We got ourselves in a position where we were a really good team and we were unfortunate not to win,” Hall said. “In fact, we probably choked actually in 2009.
“To this day, it still really hurts because we had such a great team and it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the job done two years in a row.
“But it was still a great team to be a part of. The best thing about St Peter’s is that we actually are all still pretty good mates – which comes back to the school that we went to.”
The current global pandemic has hampered rugby at all levels of the game in 2020 but it’s perhaps the schoolboys that will feel the most hard-done by.
Anyone who watched 2019's Mitre 10 Cup would tell you that Lincoln McClutchie was one of the best first fives on display. Why, then, wasn't the pivot playing Super Rugby this year? @TomVinicombe reveals all. #SuperRugby #TopLeaguehttps://t.co/1hAsn0fWC6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 7, 2020
Even if the current season of professional rugby were called off, most of the men and women involved would be back to fight another day.
For students who were looking forward to a final stint in their school’s first XV, however, their journeys may have come to an end.
In New Zealand, the national championships – the cream of the school rugby calendar – have already been called off and there’s still a very real possibility that contact sports will be absent from the calendar altogether.
That impact will be felt two-fold: the players themselves will naturally be hugely disappointed that everything they’ve been working towards, likely for a number of years, has come to the most anti-climactic of ends, but there’s also the fact that rugby-mad New Zealand will be lacking its most passion-inducing competition from the 2020 season.
“You gets the crowds and the passion and rivalries that you see at school because you’re at school with your mates every single day,” Hall said.
“Your close friends are your supporters on the sidelines and the men and women who teach you are there too and you’ve got a connection with them. It’s just so pure.
“I think when you start to go to professional rugby, you lose that a little bit and it becomes more of a business. Don’t get me wrong – playing for your home province and your club and your Super Rugby team is awesome but that ecstasy of playing with your mates and that kind of pure feeling, you just don’t quite get that.”
While Hall’s final years of college rugby didn’t quite go to plan, his seasons weren’t interrupted by any acts of God or global pandemics – but that doesn’t mean the losses haven’t left a mark or their own.
“When you get an opportunity to try and win for your school and you don’t get that job done, it still hurts,” Hall said.
“I’ve been gone a decade now but those memories are still embanked right in my core. I still remember, that’s for sure.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments