Club rugby: Colts 1 Team of the Week for round 1
Club rugby: Here is the Colts 1 Team of the Week following a bumper round 1 of rugby union on Saturday.
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Traditional powerhouses Brothers and University started the colts 1 season with a bang yesterday, Saturday, while Norths enjoyed a winning start as club rugby launched for season 2022.
And the Tigers also overcame a reinvigorated Sunnybank at David Wilson Field, winning 21-5 after the Dragons trailed just 7-nil at the break.
At Crosby Park, home to the famous men in butchers stripes, Brothers beat GPS 28-13 although Brothers would admit the 15 point margin did not reflect the closeness of the match.
Captain Hamish Muller was an inspiration from lock while centre Tim Ryan shone on debut for Brothers with two telling second half dashes that led to points.
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“We have been targeting this game all off-season because we lost to Jeeps in the semi-final last year,’’ said Brothers coach Greg Beavers. “We wanted to put a marker in the sand.’’
Beavers said although scrappy, the want and desire, set pieces and scrambling defence went a long way to securing victory.
“I am just really happy with the grit and determination the boys showed to get the W in the end.’’
Brothers transition play also hurt GPS, with Ryan’s sideline run leading to one try come after a turnover.
Ryan, the player of the AIC schoolboy competition last season when he was playing for St Patrick’s, was up to his old tricks again.
Aside from his burst which gave Brothers field position for Leo McCarthy to score, Ryan also finished the match with a sizzling 70m solo try after cutting back on the inside.
“He was the x-factor,’’ Beavers said.
“I am really pleased the way he has come along in the pre-season. He has developed and will keep developing.’’
GPS were obviously not the same outfit which won last season’s premiership and their playing stocks were further eroded when both grand final centres, Gus Rosanowski and Campbell Moller, had remarkably damaged hamstrings.
“At the end of the day, Brothers executed and we didn’t,’’ said GPS coach Visesio Kite.
“And that was the story of the day. We have a lot to build on and we will be right.’’
At one stage late in the second half GPS closed to 14-13 after a rolling maul try to hooker Gus Dillman.
Kite said No.8 Matthias Maugatai was his best for GPS and the forward pack in general competed well. “It was a good contest against the Brothers forwards,’’ he said.
At Wilson Field, the Easts Tigers got home by 14 points but the talking point was probably the renewed effort of Sunnybank after a struggling 2021.
No team likes to dance around too much after a loss, but the 21-7 margin indicates things are on the up at Biggs Road under coach Brendan Underwood.
“We played really well and just need to work on game management,’’ said Underwood.
Inside centre Chris Pritchard laid a great foundation for Sunnybank while winger Declan Cannon shone.
For Easts, giant back five forward recruit Taine Roiri was up to his usual standards, while Angus Godwin and Henry Wilson did well for the Tigers.
Terrace old boys Joe Liddy, a GPS First XV Team of the Season selection last season, also led by example from flanker.
Norths coach Dan Ritchie was delighted to start the season on the front foot, winning 15-12 over Souths at Hugh Courtney Oval.
“They were brilliant,’’ he said in admiration of his side.
“They aimed up in a physical game, out muscled them and played some good footy.’’
Fullback Hamish Muir had a four star match, with his kicking and running of support lines, while flankers Leo Langbridge and Dan Healy were industrious.
Healy is just a good old fashioned footballer who digs in and is a great competitor.
Behind his pack, George Stokes did nicely at halfback and Norths are fortunate to have such a fine No.9.
Souths coach Cian O’Connor was less impressed with the first round performance.
But he said captain and hooker Dante Santos, lock Leandro Tupi and Dominic Thygesen were his best players.
At St Lucia, the big boys clashed between University and Wests, with the Red Heavies prevailing 19-8 over the Bulldogs.
University coach Matt Ingram was impressed with the team’s set pieces.
“Our set piece was really strong and we played off the back of that and controlled field position,’’ he said.
Inside Fergus Nasser, a famous name at Uni, No.8 Hugo Percial - whose dad also played for the club - and lock Ronan Austin got going against quality rivals.
Wests assistant coach Will Findlay had full praise for the Uni scrum which was the main difference between the teams.
The Uni front row include Charlie Wigan, who made our GPS First XV Team of the Season last year from Toowoomba Grammar School, the seasoned Jake Tierney and Harrison Swane.
“The positives were that we hung in, and there were flashes of counter attack.
‘But hats off to UQ for sticking to game plan and working off the back of their set piece.’’
Darling Downs product Will Johnston did well on the wing for Wests, while in the forwards the increasingly impressive Alec Robinson, dynamic flanker and BBC old boy Zac Hough and hooker Micka Smith, from the BSHS production line, did well under the circumstances for the Bulldogs.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
15. Hamish Muir (Norths)
14. Declan Cannon (Sunnybank)
13. Tim Ryan (Brothers)
12. Fergus Nasser (Uni)
11. Will Johnston (Wests)
10. Harry Grant (Brothers)
9. George Stokes (Norths)
8. Hugo Percial (Uni)
7. Zac Hough (Wests)
6. Tiane Roiri (Easts)
5. Hamish Muller (Brothers)
4. Ronan Austin (Uni)
3. Harrison Swane (Uni)
2. Dante Santos (Souths)
1.Charlie Wigan (Uni)
Reserves: Alec Robinson (Wests), Leo Langbridge (Norths), Matthias Maugatai (GPS), Dan Healy (Norths), Chris Pritchard (Sunnybank), Dominic Thygesen (Souths), Leandro Tupi (Souths), Joe Liddy (Easts), Angus Godwin (Easts)
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