Reds sons of guns Tom Howard and Nick Conway ready to rumble in U18s feud with NSW
Schoolboy rugby sons of guns Tom Howard and Nick Conway can turn the tide for the Queensland Reds under-18s when they face the New South Wales Waratahs at Ballymore on Saturday. HERE IS WHY
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Pace, potential and a knack for slicing open opposition defences.
These are three things Queensland Reds under-18s wingers Tom Howard and Nicholas Conway have in common. Don’t take our word for it, see it yourself just walk down to Ballymore Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Howard and Conway, Year 12 students of rugby nurseries Marist College Ashgrove and Nudgee College respectively, will man each wing for the Reds who take on Academy rivals New South Wales in a two-game series beginning at 11.30am AEST on Saturday.
Both are of great pedigree. Howard’s dad Pat, his grandad Jake and great grandad Cyril Towers were all Wallabies while Conway, a headgear wearing goal-kicker, is the son of Bob Conway, who played First XV rugby for Nudgee before going onto play for the Broncos.
After this two-game mini-series is completed in Sydney on Saturday March 2, the pair will go back into school footy where both have dreams of claiming premierships.
“My motivation to be better is 10x more this year than it was last year,” Howard said.
“This is my last year (in school) and I want to really level up.
“To get a premiership and show the dominance we (Ashgrove) showed when we were in Year Nine.”
Howard had his sights set on a strong year with the team coming first and his own personal goals as well.
“The goals... starting small, making firsts, then to have a successful season myself but more importantly for Marist rugby.
“I’ve been a part of a team in grade 10 that under achieved. We had the talent and the team to go out and do it but we never got the results so to win the premiership is definitely something this team can do.”
Howard will be embarking on his third season of First XV rugby at Ashgrove before making a decision between University of Queensland and GPS for Colts rugby in 2025.
“GPS or UQ after school. My family was all UQ, my grandma would be heartbroken if I went to GPS but all my mates are there,” Howard said.
Returning First XV winger Conway will be chasing three in a row for Nudgee after the boys in blue and white took out last year’s outright premiership, the school’s second premiership in a row.
On Saturday they will be teammates, bound together by fleet-a-foot fullback Treyvon Pritchard – a player Howard said was just “electric off the mark”.
There’s something about this Reds side which just screams promise. While it starts upfront with Kingsley Uys, Ewald Kruger and Lehopa Leota, it finishes out wide with Howard and Conway.
They are fast, light on their feet and capable of changing a game with their raw talent and the pathway is there for the pair to work their way through the Academy.
The evidence of the pathway will be there at Suncorp Stadium at Saturday night where Academy product Mac Grealy will be on the wing for the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby Pacific opener.
“When he’s got the ball in hand he’s really dangerous,” Howard said of teammate Conway.
“He finds holes really well and he’s got really good ball skills.
“He has a good boot on him … He’s got a complete game I’d say for a winger. It’s been fun playing with him because him and Trey have got really good support. If you make a break you know they are going to be there.
Howard is upbeat about what head coach Sio Kite has instilled in his squad.
“What I love about this team is that coach is so open minded to run the ball from anywhere,” Howard said.
“I’m a pretty firm believer in looking up and seeing the space … That’s just what I love doing.”
Broken play is where Howard and Conway can turn the tide for the Reds, who have had little luck against the ‘Tahs in recent time.
STRONGEST IN THE WEIGHT ROOM
Howard, Conway and Pritchard have the finishing ability and speed taken care of and prop Lehopa Leota the strength of the operation.
Howard said prop Leota had taken the side by surprise such was his scrum dominance and pure strength.
“Looking at him he’s a giant and we have done contact work. Running into him is like hitting a brick wall.
“I didn’t realise how technically good he is.
“He’s awesome.”
FASTEST ON THE FIELD
Watch for fullback Pritchard if he winds up in space. Howard said “off the mark Treyvon can’t be caught” while Wallace Charlie, named in jersey No. 25 for the clash, was electric over forty metres.
“They (Treyvon and Wallace) are the two quickest.
“With the ball in space it’s game over.”
BEST TRASH TALKER
Howard said there was competition across the board for the best trash talker in the team but concluded Chace Oates was the best.
The versatile Oates will come off the bench for the Reds and is capable of playing positions 10-15.
A Toowoomba Grammar old boy in the Red Heavies Colts set up, Oates was a regular in our GPS First XI cricket Team of the Week stories for two years and then the First XV Team of the Week’s a couple months later when rugby season rolled around.
He is a slick-passer who can swing a game with his kicking game.
THE TEAM
1 Kingsley Uys
2 Ewald Kruger
3 Lehopa Leota
4 William Ross
5 Bennett Armistead
6 Tom Robinson
7 Joe Gray
8 Teina Graham
9 Sam Watson
10 Finn Mackay
11 Tom Howard
12 Angus Kelly
13 Josh Takai
14 Nick Conway
15 Treyvon Pritchard
16 Blaze Moana
17 Danial Christodoulou
18 Jonah Rangiwai
19 Eli Langi
20 Jye Crothers
21 Stan Keats
22 Chace Oates
23 Chris Jansen
24 John Grenfall
25 Wallace Charlie
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