AIC First XV rugby round 4: Ex-Wallaby skips help Villanova
Two former Wallaby captains played a behind the scenes role in Villanova College’s revitalising AIC First XV win today.
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Two former Wallaby captains played a behind the scenes role in Villanova College’s revitalising AIC First XV win today.
Villanova eclipsed the previously unbeaten St Patrick’s College 25-22, with the dancing feet of fullback Gus Godwin rewarding a forward pack which must have had overheating engines by game’s end.
Twice in the second half Godwin lit up the aptly named Andrew Slack Oval, once leading to his own try and 90 seconds later putting his winger Jay Schlecht over to score, generating a 20-10 advantage.
What a moment it must have been for the great Andrew Slack seeing Schlecht hustle his way toward a crucial try, because it was the 133-game veteran for Queensland, Grand Slam and Bledisloe Cup winning captain who urged Villa head coach Paul Davey to elevate him into the Firsts after observing his pre-season training form.
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“Jay was a thirds and fourths player last year, and it was actually Slackie who identified him in the program. He said “lets watch this kid, I think there is something in him’,’’ Davey revealed.
“Slackie kept watching him and kept saying ‘I like this kid’.
“We perhaps were not seeing it early on, but he is just electric. He is a very quiet kid who just loves his rugby.’’
Godwin, who is also a First XI player, is just a footballer. He backs himself, he takes a chance and is so skilled, generally what he attempts pays off. “You love his schoolboy exuberance and he probably gave them (Paddies) two tries today, but he is a great kid,’’ Davey said.
What a joy it must have been for the hard working Villa forwards to have Godwin in peak form in a game Villanova simply had to win after two losses from three games.
While Slack played his role in today’s win by pushing for Schlecht’s inclusion, today another former Australian captain, Ben Mowen, played his part by compelling Villa to be urgent with and without the ball.
“That is something we have worked really hard on, and Ben Mowen worked really hard this week on our kick chase,’’Davey said of Mowen, Villa’s coaching and player development manager.
Davey said he loved his team’s energy and the frustration of two previous losses probably came out today.
“The game could have gone either way, but in the key moments we stood up today,’’ Davey said.
St Patrick’s College surprisingly lacked composure seen in previous weeks, particularly at the start of the game.
This was no doubt due to the desperation of the opposition who on its home track, simply had to stand up.
Indeed coach Joshua Neilsen noted his side could not get any fluency early, and while St Patrick’s regained some consistency as the match progressed, they were not the well oiled machine which claimed successive wins back home at Curlew Park.
Paddies’ scrum was superior and the lineout shaded Villa, but continuity was lacking across the first half.
After a succession of repacked scrums started the match, Villa No. 9 Bailey St Ledger scored a thrilling early try after twice sniping around his forwards.
But Paddies hit back courtesy of centre Tim Ryan. Class can only sit idle in the barrier for so long and so it was the case when Ryan put Gabriel Di Cillo over to score despite that man Schlecht flying across in cover defence for Villa.
Villa almost scored next when Godwin could not handle as a try beckoned, maybe put off by the outstretched arm of his opponent Di Cillo who was sniffing for an intercept.
Villanova’s desperation was evident all afternoon, and no more so when flanker Tom Lawrence chased a clearing kick, and exotically named halfback St Ledger made two telling tackles when Villa were on the retreat.
Ryan made his second clean break of the afternoon as halftime beckoned, but this time Villa covered the danger man.
St Patrick’s actually hit the front for the first time in the afternoon when Dows took advantage of a wide blindside and a steady scrum.
Dows took off from 35m out like a startled hare and could not be reeled in. From 10-8 to Paddies, it soon became 20-10 to Villa after Godwin conjured up some magic.
But twice Paddies dragged themselves up off the canvas to almost clinch the match.
Once was when Ryan’s exceptional finishing skills saw him take advantage of a quick lineout to reduce Villa’s lead to 20-17.
Villa lock Ben Craig then mauled his way over to score and Villa looked safe again - that was until Paddies’ winger Lachlan Condon latched onto an intercept to race 50m and score - reducing the margin to just 25-22.
Scores: Villanova College 25 (G Godwin 2, J Schlecht B Craig tries, H Holt conv, pen) def St Patrick’s 22 (G Di Cillo, T Ryan, L Condon, J Dows tries; J Dows conv)
Meanwhile, Nick Tucker reported a 60-metre solo try by dashing Dwayne Ludwick enlivened Marist College Ashgrove’s convincing 40-17 win over Padua College on Saturday afternoon.
The nephew of Maroons and North Queensland Cowboys NRL great Matt Bowen put on a show with this dazzling five-pointer which sparked up a flat first half.
The instinctive play came straight from his uncle’s playbook.
Ludwick’s big in-and-away step was followed by a perfectly-weighted grubber kick and a sprint finish for a magnificent try.
Ashgrove assistant coach Jon Fitzgerald had high praise for Ludwick, a border from North Queensland in his third season of First XV rugby.
“Dwayne played his best game of the season; he found the line breaks,” Fitzgerald said.
It was a hard-fought 70 minutes by the Padua First XV in front of their old boys for Back to Banyo day.
Outside centre Mac Fox excelled for Padua with what coach Shane Buckley said was “his best game of the season.”
Ashgrove was dominant in the first half leading 26-0 at the break. Prop Harry Gould, the headgeared steamroller, scored in the 15th minute with a barging pick-and-drive.
Two-metre lock Pat Gavin latched onto him like a backpack helping him to the line.
Gavin displayed his strength in the 23rd minute with a textbook one-on-one strip which saw him gallop 20m for his maiden First XV try.
Ashgrove flyhalf Tate Cole had a great double-touch involvement in his try in the 28th minute following a terrific off-balance pass back inside from replacement winger Connor Lyons.
The Padua boys came out firing in the second half determined to do their old boys proud and responded to the 26-point deficit with three unanswered tries to claw back into the contest at 6-17.
Winger Jacob Bain was the first to reply with a nice try off a long ball in the 48 th minute. Next was Josh Linklater who was set up by a great offensive move by centre Ryan Trimble and flyhalf Will McCulloch.
Flanker Mitch Ross scored Padua’s third try in the 55 th minute, silencing the Ashgrove warm of seniors and giving the Padua supporters hope of a comeback.
However, Ashgrove came up clutch in the last 10 minutes, with captain courageous Jack Condon scoring a flashy try, sparked by Ludwick and centre Lochie Dudgeon.
Lock Matt Osborne sealed Ashgrove’s third consecutive victory in the 65th minute with a try in front of the cheering swarm, throwing a nice dummy to put Padua out of reach.
“We played good in patches, but I think we need to be more consistent. If we can maintain that consistency, on our day we can be the best in the competition,” Fitzgerald said.
“Harry Gould, Pat Gavin, Matt Osborne, Will Andreas and Will Valentine were great. Jack Condon led from the front and is an unsung hero. Collectively, we must keep working hard to be aggressive in tight games. We had to go very deep, we had a lot of injuries.”
Ashgrove’s record climbs to 3-1 while Padua’s dips to 1-3.
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ROUND 2: PADDIES PULL MATCH OUT OF THE FIRE
ROUND 3: THE DAY THE SAINTS MARCHED IN
Padua College coach Buckley said: “It was a tough loss at home with all our old boys here for Back to Banyo day. For a lot of guys, it was their last home game. They have been playing here for five or six years so they were primed to do their job, but Ashgrove were very slick with their attack.”
“They had a lot of the ball in the first half. We had our opportunities out wide in the first half, but we did not really take them. I cannot fault our guys’ bravery in their effort. No.8 Andrew de Jager was tireless yet again. He always has a good charge about him when he runs.
“Hooker Daniel Healy was strong. Out wide, Mac Fox was the best on the field. He busted the line a few times and his line speed in defence was strong.”
In Ipswich, Iona College’s Jeremy Trappett scored a fine individual try to ensure his team escaped with an 11 point win over an ever improving St Edmund’s College. The score was 24-13.
“It was a tight game,’’ said Iona director of sport Keith Harron. “It was a seesawing midfield battle and it was not until Jeremy Trappett scored a fine individual try and that ceiled the game.’’
Prop Saxon Warwick and lock Bo Brown were in great form for Iona, while Eddies’ No.10 Zane Kaatz was outstanding.
“We were up at halftime and down a man,’’ said Eddies coach Andrew Kirk.
“The first half was positive but Iona came out and played us at our own game and our set piece execution was poor.
“For the boys it was a heart breaker because they knew they could win it. The gun was loaded but we could not pull trigger.’’
St Laurence’s College had four players on debut in a 37-8 over St Peters Lutheran College.
Halfback Callum Reidy handled the pressure well, while Dan Border, Michael Brewster and Lachlan Rolls all joined him on starting debuts.
It was a special moment for all families, but particularly the Rolls clan after dad played First XV rugby in the 1980s.
“We got the job done and got to test our squad depth a bit,’’ said Laurie’s coach Wilmar du Plessis. “Everyone got a run. We have Villa on Tuesday which is a short turn around so it was good we could test everyone from the bench.’’
It was a special moment for all families, but particularly the Rolls clan after dad played First XV rugby in the 1980s.
“We got the job done and got to test our squad depth a bit,’’ said Laurie’s coach Wilmar du Plessis. “Everyone got a run. We have Villa on Tuesday which is a short turn around so it was good we could test everyone from the bench.’
Du Plessis also had high praise for St Peters. “They are a young team and I told their coach Russell Todd they never gave up and had a good spirit and always played the ball.
“I think he will do good stuff with that team in the next few years,’’ du Plessis praised. “They had some fighting spirit in them.’’
St Peters coach Russell Todd also had praise for the polish and clinical manner in which St Laurence’s went about their work.
He said his team’s efforts were not helped by giving away too many penalties, “but for a young group of lads, they stood up and had a crack.’’
Todd said No.8 Lachlan Reid worked overtime for St Peters.
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