AIC First XV schoolboy rugby union: Iona, Villa thriller, Padua unbeaten
AIC First XV rugby: A defensive blockade by a gutsy Padua College, Iona’s stunning win and back-to-back wins by Villa in a thriller have ignited the competition. Story here.
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Padua College today defended themselves to back-to-back victories as the AIC First XV rugby competition went up a gear played under beautiful autumn sun this afternoon
With two sustained, gutsy brickwall defensive efforts - one before halftime and another period in the second half when down to 13 men - Padua laid the foundation on which the 26-15 victory was formulated.
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Padua coach Andrew Clyne was delighted with the “resolve’ of his side, who also executed their line outs to perfection and ran aggressively, always with support.
Ashgrove, just as they did last week, never gave up. They turned 19-nil last week and almost won, and turned 19-5 down at halftime and again fought back against Padua - but it was not enough.
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In Ipswich, Iona College claimed its first win, 28-27, over St Edmund’s College while St Peters almost upset St Laurence’s, losing 16-15. But it was a morale win for St Peters.
Villa also had a close win over St Patrick’s College. More on those games below.
At Padua’s home ground of Banyo, after trailing 19-5 Ashgrove had to be the first to score in the second half and they were when flanker Harry Thomson crossed.
And then a second yellow card for Padua presented Ashgrove with a window of opportunity.
But with class centre Tom Howard on one side of the ruck and in form Jude Knapp on the other, Ashgrove unsuccessfully pounded through the forwards and were magnificently repelled by Padua’s defence.
Padua’s defence at that moment was a turning point in the game.
It was a gutsy effort by Padua and the squad’s reward was to see another perfectly formed pick and drive and maul roll Padua over for its fourth try. The match was won at 26-10 despite a late try from Ashgrove winger Tom Chapman after a clever pass by Tobias Graham.
Padua’s centres Nick Hinchey and Johnson led the defensive charge, while prop Aiden Rooney led the tight play and No. 10 Damon Humphrys was calm on debut - even scoring a try.
Ashgrove, whose efforts were driven by the hard work of hooker Oliver Clements, lost five players to injury - three of them hardened Year 12 forwards.
And against a bustling, bruising Padua, those tough bodies were missed.
Early on, an old fashioned run a around led to Padua five-fight Humphrys burrowing over after Padua winger Tom Chapman had brilliantly anticipated a short drop kick restart. Chapman stepped his way close to the line and then locks Forrest and Parkin handled, followed by Brock Powell and then a run a round involving Humphreys and inside centre Nick Hinchey.
Ashgrove’s reconfiguration of Tom Howard to outside centre and Jude Knapp to fullback did work early, with both challenging Padua.
A bungled line out then led to Ash opening it’s account when Harry Thomson was on the spot to plunge over after Padua had produced a try saving corner tackle. It was 5-all.
But Padua’s response was quick, with a textbook line out ball from Jack Corby followed by a perfectly balanced driving maul sending hooker George Noone powering over to score. With Humprehys’ conversion it was 12-5.
Ashgrove gave away more penalties and Padua continued to attack through its line out, displaying clever variation when inside ball to Luke Parkin carved a hole in the Ash ruck defence.
After a couple of pick and drive efforts, Padua moved ball wide toward towering centre Calef Johnson who stormed over, thumping into the goalposts in a tackle from Knapp as he crossed. Padua led 19-5.
And on Andrew Slack Oval, Villanova won by the skin of their teeth with an exciting 19-12 pipping of St Patrick’s College, making it two-from-two to start the season strong.
Villanova head coach Eddie Harris said his side didn’t trust their attack, with boys taking the ball back inside with space on the edges, leaving at least four first half opportunities out there.
“But to their credit they fought back hard. I thought Paddies came at us hard in the second, they were well organised, playing to their strengths.
“But we dug in, our lineout was strong and our scrum held. There was some good efforts across the board. “I think our fitness really shone through. We had enough in the tank to keep going which is great.
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“We had changes during the week but I think we just tried too hard, saw the space and got excited.
“We just have to trust ourselves and if we do that we will score more.
Paddies scored their first try of the year in the opening five minutes courtesy of jinky winger Noah James, who ran a perfect line to score under the sticks.
Trailing 7-early, Villa fired back instantly with two tries in what was a dominant first half performance.
Leading the charge was their fierce forward pack, who looked from the land of giants such was their size advantage over a relatively small Paddies pack.
Jackson Moloney was aggressive at the breakdown and with the ball, the towering No. 8 scoring the home side’s first points with an unstoppable tap-and-go five metres out.
Harris said Moloney, who captained the side for the first time, was outstanding.
“All around the ground. His tackles, he was dominant in the lineout, dominant in the breakdown.”
Not long after fly half Larry Clark’s in-game kicking precision, the crunching defence of wing Hugo Harrison and the crash ball running of centre Jackson Connor had worn down Paddies defence, it was time for Ned Godwin.
Coming in off his wing, Godwin pinned the ears back and sliced right through a hole created by Clarke, sending Villa up 14-7 at the half.
The visiting Paddies were led by Manaaki Bateman, a powerfully built hooker who showed time and time again he was up for fight.
His powerful leg drive allowed him to bust tackles and gain extra metres, earning fly half Sam Condon an extra second or two to arrange the backline.
It was the same story in the second half with the inspirational Bateman helping Paddies use the boot of outside centre Matt Condon
To draw closer at 12-14, a Condon kick chased through by James Boland led to a scintillating try finish from Eli Williamson- Tomich.
And Paddies did not take their foot of the gas. Flanker Liam Fuggs did his bit with a terrific jackal winning possession and stopping a rolling Villa outfit only 15 metres from the line.
Bateman also kept toiling, making a trysaving tackle on the left edge after scrambling defence made what should’ve been a simple through the hands try a glimmer of hope for Paddies when trailing by two.
But, gruelling defensive efforts from Villa in the final stages saw them only just hold onto it.
Moloney scored his second to move ahead 19-12 and there to back him up was flanker Ben Addley who pilfered strong to win ball.
Then, flanker James Sullivan made a thumping tackle to dislodge the ball.
A third heroic defensive effort followed by halfback Caden Griffiths, who stripped ball at the breakdown and on the hooter, to claim victory.
St Patrick’s head coach Jim Potts said his side didn’t turn up last week so the focus was to bounce back.
“Making his debut at flanker Ben Fuggs won about eight turnovers. He was outstanding. He only came into training on Thursday. Off one training session he was good. He’s too good to leave out now.
“Our strength is the scrum and we won that.”
Max Whitbourne, Bateman, and Kian Nukunuku were the front row scrummage beasts Potts praised.
“Our centre Eli Williamson-Tomich was outstanding as was the scramble defence of Matt Condon.”
Year 11 Condon would’ve been 20 kilograms lighter than his opposite number Jackson Connor so high praise to him.
At St Edmund’s, the home side lost 28-27 , with Iona sweeping to a late victory on the back two late tries.
What a moment it was for Iona to bounce back during a tough away trip after losing round 1.
Campbell Rofle crossed late and a nerveless Levi Hawea stepped up to convert and win the match as time ran down.
Coach Paul Davey said it was an “end to end match’’ with the lead changing multiple times.
“Thank goodness we were in front when the music stopped,’’ Davey said, adding his hooker Alex Manteit was magnificent for his two-try effort. “It was a great captain’s knock.’’
Eddies’ efforts were again led by young flanker Jack Chandler and halfback Tafito.
“I liked our resilience and heart,’’ said Eddies coach Andrew Kirk.
“When we had the ball we attacked well.’’
Although they lost, it is great to see the St Edmund’s program holding up after the euphoria of last season’s grand final effort.
At St Laurence’s, the home side won 16-15 in a thriller that emphasised how close the competition is.
“Our boys played the situation well, we were chasing for the better part of the game,’’ said Laurie’s coach Welmar du Plessis.
“The boys showed a lot of resilience to fight their way back for the win.
“Credit to St Peters, they had us under pressure from the start.
“But our good kicking and forward dominance in the second half got us over the line.’’
St Peters coach Cameron Wright said No,8 Lice Latu, five-eight Wallace Charlie and fullback Dominic Morton almost spearheaded a fabulous victory.
“It was a huge step up for St Peters this week in a nail biting finish,’’ he said.
“St Peters dominated the first half making the most of some big opportunities.’’
Footnote: Replays and live coverage of match will be available courtesy of the QRU and available via the website: https://qld.rugby/aic
ROUND 3
St Peters v Patrick’s College
Padua v St Edmund’s College
Marist v Iona College
St Laurence’s v Villanova
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