FOR seven years the Australian Schoolboys rugby side have tried without luck to take down their New Zealand rivals.
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But on Friday that all changed for Bathurst product Tom Hooper and his Australian crew.
Saint Stanislaus' College rugby graduate Hooper and the Aussies took out the Trans-Tasman Shield with an 18-14 victory in Hamilton, surviving a fightback from the hosts.
Hooper said the win still hasn't quite sunk in.
"We got a bit of a fright at the end there with that last minute try but it's great to get away with the win. It's huge. I still can't really believe it," he said.
"We talked about our goal line defence and in the first 10 minutes they had us under the pump. To turn that defence into attack and then score a try 80 metres down the field was a big confidence boost.
"There was a lot of talk about preparing for the game physically. I think we just turned up a lot more hungry for the win.
"Although the last minutes were scary we never thought we were going to lose. We all backed each other and thought we had the physicality to finish off the game."
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Tolu Koula scored the opening try for the Australians at the end of an excellent piece of counter attacking play.
New Zealand took possession away from the visitors then made a threatening move down the right wing, but the kick wound up in Koula's hands.
From there the Aussies shifted the ball right, finding space down the right to get themselves into great field position.
On the next phase the Aussies quickly brought the ball back to the other side of the ground where Koula was at the ready to score in the corner.
Australia survived a tough period in defence and were rewarded for those efforts.
Will Roach pushed the boys in gold out to a 12-0 lead after he scored on a pick and drive.
Australia were looking confident after the break when their sustained pressure in attack lead to a pair of penalties for Reesjan Pasitoa.
But New Zealand weren't going to go down that easily.
Cam Church finally got the hosts on the board at the hour mark, racing down the short side to score, and the Australians put themselves under further pressure when Alex Masibaka was sin binned for a professional foul.
Dom Gardiner made the most of the numbers advantage to get the Kiwis back within four points but the Australian defence held firm for the remaining minutes.
The Australian forwards carefully controlled possession of the ball as the closing seconds counted down.
Hooper is now gearing up for a big pre-season.
"I'm doing pre-season with the Brumbies academy then looking towards Wallabies under 20s next year," he said.