Rules will be tightened over player eligibility for First XV games in the South Island but St Bede's College will still represent the South Island at this week's top four tournament.
St Bede's, from Christchurch, beat Otago Boys' High School 32-17 in the South Island final at Tahuna Park on Saturday, and qualified for the schools final in Rotorua.
There were concerns from Otago Boys' over the eligibility of players from the Christchurch school after the game.
Otago Boys' principal Clive Rennie said the school had considered lodging an appeal to the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council but, because of the short time involved, it had decided to withdraw the submission.
Rennie is also the chairman of the council, and said rules had been drawn up and agreed to by schools to combat poaching and stacking of sides.
This practice was more prevalent in the North Island but applied right across the country.
The rules stated that only two international players could take the field for any school side and only three players could take to the field who were new to the school since year nine. That also included the international players.
He believed St Bede's had three international players, two from Portugal and one from Japan, and had broken the rules.
Otago Boys' also had four players who were new to the school since year 9 but had an exemption for one, as the player's family had shifted down from the North Island for other reasons.
Rennie said St Bede's was made aware of the rules but had thought the rules did not apply to last Saturday's game, only to the games played in the top four tournament. Rennie said that was not the case but said any challenge was cut short by time.
With the first games in the top four starting today, there was simply not enough time for a process to be worked through by lodging a challenge and then having to get the team and supporters, if the challenge was successful, up to Rotorua for the tournament. Legal opinion might have been necessary, which would have lengthened the process.
Rennie said some good had come of the matter as the rules would now apply for all First XV games in the South Island from next year.