Downlands, St Brendan’s takes honours in open, U15 divisions at annual carnival

NAMED: Players who took the honours at annual carnival in Rockhampton, which showcased some of the sport’s leading schoolboys talent.

Pam McKay

2 min read

March 8, 2022 - 12:50PM

Rockhampton

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Central Queensland product Rhys Chadburn played a pivotal role in Downlands College First XV claiming the three-peat at the 2022 Regional Rugby Championships.

Chadburn, who hails from Gladstone, was co-captain of the Toowoomba-based outfit which ran out 17-10 winners over traditional foes Rockhampton Grammar School in Sunday’s decider at Rugby Park in Rockhampton.

Check out the photo gallery here.

St Brendan’s won the inaugural under-15 division with a 34-29 win over the CQ Barbarians, a team made up of players from Emerald, Gladstone and Mackay.

Six teams - Downlands, Grammar, St Brendan’s, CQ Barbarians, Marist College Emerald and Ignatius Park College - contested both the open and under-15 divisions.

They all produced quality rugby, despite the carnival being played in sweltering conditions.

Downlands came into the championships as favourites and jumped out to a 12-nil lead in the opening quarter of the decider.

The score remained unchanged at the main break before Grammar posted their first points of the game early in the third quarter to take the score to 12-10.

Grammar crossed again in the first minute of the fourth quarter to close the gap to 12-10 before Downlands sealed the victory with their third try.

Chadburn, who was named Player of the Carnival for Downlands, said it was a great win.

“We had a plan at the start to go hard straight away and then that would set the pace of the game and that obviously worked,” he said.

“Grammar started to give it back to us. We had to lift to another level and keep pushing through and at the end of the day, we got there.”

Coach Garrick Morgan, a former Wallabies star, said he was proud of his team’s efforts over the weekend and, particularly, in the grand final.

“Rocky gave us a good fight in that second half. I thought we were going to go away with it but all dues to them, the way they performed,” he said.

Morgan said his co-captains Chadburn and Connor Day were outstanding and his powerful and mobile front row was instrumental in the victory.

“They’re a team, they’re a real team,” he said.

“Their attitude’s second to none; it’s a pleasure coaching them and I’m looking forward to doing more with them this year.”

Downlands College and Rockhampton Grammar battled it out in the First XV grand final at the weekend’s Regional Rugby Championships.

Grammar’s skipper Dominic Kallquist said the final was a tough contest.

“It was close but we just couldn’t get the points on the board,” he said.

“We fought back after the first quarter; we got in a huddle and said we just need to execute our plays and get a bit of discipline and that’s what we did.

“We clawed back… but they just pipped us at the end there again.”

Kallquist was named Grammar’s best for the carnival, with his younger brother Henry awarded the same honour for his team in the under-15 division.