AIC First XV rugby: Rd 1 Team of the Week
AIC First XV schoolboy rugby: The round 1 Team of the Week includes an Iona tail gunner, the Laurie’s captain, Marist marvels and awesome foursome from St Edmund’s Find out here.
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The AIC First XV schoolboy rugby season returned with a bang on Saturday as St Laurence’s College inched over Iona College in a last second thriller, while St Edmund’s won on the road in south western derby against St Peters Lutheran College.
Phew, what a series of matches it was as Padua’s campaign also got underway with a win against northern neighbours St Patrick’s , while Marist College Ashgrove found some early season encouragement in a victory over Villanova.
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TEAM OF THE WEEK
1 Harry Higgins (Villanova)
The Doubles Daley medal winner for Villanova, Higgins had a red hot crack to begin the season.
He was fearless with his carries, energetic from close range and through the middle of the field and was a vocal leader.
2. Manaaki Bateman (St Patrick’s)
The representative front-rower had not missed a beat, scrimmaging St Patrick’s forward and advancing them forward with his carries. His team struggled, but through it all Bateman was a mountain man.
3. Lehopo Leota (Iona)
Leota was at his damaging, a huge body with the momentum of a road train when he got going. He was explosive either off the ruck or spinning off his forwards, and also set a rock solid foundation in the scrum.
4 Tom Nadenic (St Laurence’s)
St Laurence’s only found the winners post due to the experience of their captain, Tom Nadenic, and vice-captain Ben Davis. Nadenic was absolutely outstanding in every department, including as a leader when Laurie’s could have been ruffled by unforced and forced errors. He scored two tries from pick and drives, including in the last second.
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5 Cruz Boxsell (St Edmund’s)
In one of St Edmund’s best wins in recent times, Boxsell stepped up to the plate and did his best work.
Impressing coach Andrew Kirk with his workrate across the paddock, Boxsell met the St Peters forwards with force.
6, Adam Kelly (Iona)
Iona College would not swap their brave, dog fighting open side breakaway for any other in the competition. He was elite at the breakdown, securing possession while also disrupting St Laurence’s ball. One of the moments of the match was when he was engulfed by his celebrating school mates after disappearing into the swarm of black and white following his first half try.
7 Daniel Norris (St Peters)
The Doubles Daley medal winner from round one, Norris got through an enormous amount of work to propel the home side forward.
He spearheaded a relentless and dominant St Peters forward pack which did their job very well.
8 Will Tatt (St Edmund’s)
Confronting a fierce St Peters pack, Tatt’s fearlessness on defence and physicality and aggression in contact was an early season highlight.
9 Lachlan McCall (Ashgrove)
The livewire scrum half was here, there and everywhere on the McMahon oval turf last Saturday.
One moment he was running in support as his teammates sprung free. The next he was throwing himself under Villanova forwards to save tries.
He pulled off a mighty try saving tackle in the second half when Ashgrove had a comfortable lead.
10 Tiger Campbell (St Edmund’s)
The Ipswich Jets Connell Cup playmaker and Norths Tigers junior had one of his best days out on Saturday.
Scoring 20 of his team’s 25 points, Campbell proved masterful with his goalkicking, general play kicking and play making.
11 Wallace Charlie (St Peters)
Exciting outside back Wallace Charlie makes the Team this week and yet he wasn’t at his best.
When he is at his best, opposition teams will find it hard not to be in awe.
He is a fast, make something out of nothing type of talent and despite St Edmund’s containing him well, he performed well enough to be in this company.
12 Tom Millard (Ashgrove)
Millard played a brilliant role at inside centre on the weekend, straightening the attack up with his crash runs and getting Ashgrove past the gain line as he motored forward through contact.
His tireless work at inside centre created space for the Howard brothers Tom and Xavier, as well as Joel Drew, to spread their wings.
13 Harry Vidler (St Edmund’s)
Another young rugby league talent out of Ipswich, Vidler relished a more prominent role in the side in round one after getting a taste in 2023.
He was damaging, mistake free and will be one of St Edmund’s attacking weapons this season.
14 Joel Drew (Ashgrove)
Drew’s speed on the track translated nicely onto the field last weekend, the pacy winger dotting down three tries to keep the scoreboard ticking over for Ashgrove.
Drew also made the right decisions on when to pin the ears back and attack or cut back on his inside and not get trapped.
15 Tom Howard (Ashgrove)
The last two seasons prepared fullback Howard nicely for his third and final season for Ashgrove, where on Saturday he did his best work in his favourite position of fullback.
The superb footwork and acceleration of the Queensland Reds under-18s selection was on show for all, and it got Ashgrove off to the start they needed.
Reserves
16. Will Ross (Padua)
17. Huw Griffiths (St Laurence’s)
18. Will Tozer (Padua)
19. Christian Kurylewski (Ashgrove)
20. Ben Davis (St Laurence’s)
21. Damon Humphrys (Padua)
22. Matt Condon (St Patrick’s)
Special mentions: Nate Wallin (Villanova), Ned Godwin (Villanova), Josh Heinrich (Ashgrove), Nate Clark (Padua), Ollie O’Regan (Padua).
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