St Peter’s College first five-eighths Harry Plummer has been awarded the Royal Wolf Tertiary Scholarship for 2016.

Plummer saw off six other school leavers to claim the scholarship, worth $10,000 a year for three years and has applied to study commerce at AUT.

ARUSC Junior Rugby Foundation trustee Graham Creighton said while there were less applicants than the inaugural year, the standard of those who applied was top notch.

“One on one interviews were conducted with all applicants and as in 2015 we found all had outstanding attributes and made our final selection process all the more challenging,” said Creighton.

“The selection criteria has two main categories; academic merit and rugby potential. The academic is judged on Level 2 NCEA or higher results or an equivalent qualification, the rugby potential is judged from reports received from the Colleges and the Auckland Rugby Union.”

“Harrison, when presenting himself at the one on one interview, was found to be very focused having the ability to identify his planned pathway both in rugby and university. He was seen by the selection panel to have the ability to think on his feet and answer questions with convincing authority,” said Creighton.

Auckland Rugby High Performance Manager Ben Meyer applauded the work the Junior Rugby Foundation, along with Royal Wolf, are doing.

“We are under constant threat to try and retain talent in Auckland with many Unions, Franchises and other codes enticing players away. The opportunity to have scholarships available to players is critical to helping retain our talent and I cannot speak highly enough of the work the JRF are doing and we couldn't do any of this without the support of Royal Wolf,” said Meyer.

The foundation also currently offers 15 Bursary Scholarships which are awarded to top players in their final year of schooling.