Club rugby finals: Mowen’s dream exit as Easts win three titles and Brothers cause colts boilover
Easts champion Ben Mowen has his dream exit from the code while the Tigers claimed three premierships today and Brothers a sensational colts 1 upset victory. Full reports here.
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Easts champion Ben Mowen has his dream exit from the code while the Tigers claimed three premierships today and Brothers a sensational colts 1 upset victory. Full reports here from Andrew Dawson and Clancy Nugent.
PREMIER RUGBY GRAND FINAL
A mountainous Easts scrum and a little halfback featuring a bob and looking like a surfie gave Tigers champion Ben Mowen his dream exit from the code today.
Easts beat University 33-18, with the Tigers set piece pile driving the club to its sixth Premier rugby first grade title.
It capped a superb day for the Tigers den after both second grade and women earlier claimed top prizes at Ballymore (see reports below).
“It is not only a dream finish for myself, but for the club this year,’’ said Mowen, the former Wallaby captain who is retiring.
“2020 has been insanely difficult for everyone, but for us to win six from six premierships, we are just ecstatic as a club.’’
Mowen said “scrum time” was the clincher for his side, saying his squad had been building the scrum up throughout the season. “It held up strongly under pressure today.’’
Easts prop Rhys Van Nek, the Tony Shaw Medallist, was the spearhead playing all 80 minutes as the Tigers scrum dominated.
Mowen said Van Nek was headed for representative honours.
Adding cream to the cake was Easts No.9 Eli Pilz who broke the match apart with a dazzling solo try five minutes after halftime which raised his side to the high ground of 26-15.
There was a touch of David Campese about Pilz as he ran the Uni defence inside and outside and back on the inside again as he skirted his way 40m across the hallowed Ballymore turf.
By gee it was a special try on grand final day.
Pilz’s try was reward for a huge performance by his forwards who performed manfully in sweltering summer heat.
“On a day like this, it was a huge effort, with our front row going for most of the 80,’’ Pilz said. “I owe it to them, we all owe it to them.’’
University, playing in their fifth successive grad final, did not seem themselves, but that was everything to do with the pressure Easts extracted on their rivals.
With the scrum wearing away at their rivals, and fly-half Aidan Toua pulling the strings in attack, Easts maneuvered its way into a winning position as early as midway through the second half.
Indeed the match was put to bed 13 minutes from fulltime when the Easts scrum generated a penalty try, sending the side spiralling out to a 33-18 advantage.
University coach Mick Heenan Easts were the better side.
“They have been relying on their scrum all year and at the end of the day, if you can’t cope with that it will make it difficult,’’ Heenan said.
“The boys had good energy but the boys probably didn’t take their opportunities as well as we could and we lost a couple of crucial line-outs which led to points for Easts.’’
Watching the grand final unfold was a little like returning to your favourite Italian restaurant week after week - you knew exactly what was on the menu.
For University it was going to be ball in hand and for Easts the set pieces were going to be perfectly executed backed by an astute kicking game.
And so it was how the match unfolded, with Easts’ first try off a lineout while the Tigers scrum was a brutal beast.
But the Red Heavies could play the power game as well, with University twice burrowing for tries - scored by James Vest and Jordan Lenac - who were like a couple of old miners from the 18th century gold fields as they dug deep to collect the ball on the tryline.
There were also threats for the Easts’ defence from the back of University when fullback Jock Campbell sliced through, while Uni’s kicking game was also keeping their rivals busy retrieving ball.
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But Easts could go wide as well, don’t worry, with Tigers’ fly-half Aidan Toua twice engineering tries for his winger Shane Kennedy.
Both times Toua offered long, long pass passes that gave Kennedy a saloon passage to the line as the Tigers recovered from a 15-7 deficit to lead 19-15 at halftime.
Earlier, Easts had a dream start with George Francis scoring off a lineout move just three minutes into the match.
For the Tigers it was like putting on an old pair of slippers, as Ben Mowen snared lineout ball, Seru Uru drove forward and from the rolling maul Francis flopped over.
But University were back in front 8-7 within 10 minutes after a flood of possession led to a burrowing, mauling try from James Vest and a penalty goal from Jock Campbell.
Premier teams
EASTS
1. George Francis, 2. Richie Asiata, 3. Rhys Van Nek, 4. Mitch Schneider, 5. Seru Uru, 6. Tom Milosevic (vc), 7.Michael Gunn, 8. Ben Mowen ©, 9. Eli Pilz, 10. Aidan Toua (vc), 11
Max Baker, 12. Matt Smit, 13. Landon Hayes, 14. Shane Kennedy, 15. Dylan Taikato.
UNIVERSITY:
1. Hamish Richardson, 2. Joshua Nasser, 3. Singcho Tamala, 4. Fergus Lillicrap, 5. Connor-James Vest, 6. Conor Mitchell, 7. Pat Morrey, 8. Sam Wallis, 9. Jordan Lenac, 10. Scott Gale, 11. Mac Grealy, 12. james Wood, 13. Cornelius Foley, 14. Samuel Edwards, 15. Jock Campbell
WOMEN’S GRAND FINAL
EASTS v GPS
The Easts Tigers women today rose marginally above a gallant GPS to claim Queensland rugby’s top prize with a 17-15 win in a magnificent grand final at Ballymore.
Both teams played themselves to the point of exhaustion and appropriately the match finished with GPS deep in Easts territory.
It was a thrilling grand final which saw favourites Easts race to a 10-nil advantage, then trail 15-10 before regaining the advantage 17-15 just 14 minutes from full-time.
GPS had shrugged off a tentative start to take it up to the Tigers as their confidence grew.
GPS dominated both sides of halftime before Easts recaptured its fluency to regain the lead 17-15, 14 minutes from full-time.
“They backed themselves and believed that they were good enough to get the job done,’’ said Easts coach Tyrell Barker.
But even when Easts gained momentum, the GPS players drove their shoulders into the rib cages of opponents in inspired defence. It was a great contest.
So moved was coach Barker by the performance of the opposition GPS to turn a 39-14 semi-final loss into a 17-15 grand final loss, that he approached the GPS team huddle at the end of the game.
“I have been there before and I just wanted to make sure that they (GPS) knew they should be proud of their efforts,’’ Barker said.
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GPS coach Denz Moors was enormously proud of her side.
“It has been a rollercoaster of a year with COVID and injuries to our team.
“We have a lot of young mothers and new players, but we fought to the end and that is all I can ask for. I am grateful for my girls.’’
Asked what was the secret to turning a big semi-final loss into a narrow grand final loss, Moors said her team had been very nervous two weeks earlier.
“I think we just needed to work on the little things and come out firing.’’
Early in the match Easts were even more dominant than the 10-nil scoreline suggested after GPS had sat back and watched Easts run the game.
But by the end of the half GPS led 15-10 and were on the front foot with and without the ball, bustling at the lineout and restoring pressure at scrum time.
GPS snapped Easts territorial domination when inside centre Wasie Toolis changed momentum with an inspiring run near her tryline midway into the first half.
A subsequent penalty and lineout win then opened up a wide blindside which GPS No. 2 Tylar Lehmanu exploited with power running to put Jeeps on the scoreboard after trailing 10-0.
It was then 12-10 after GPS backrower Sharon Tapatuetoa set-up, and scored her own try with a commanding blindside charge.
Tapatuetoa then found support from fullback Isabella Coll who hurled a rocket-like pass back on the inside to the supporting Tapatuetoa who ploughed over. Coll’s successful conversion then gave GPS the lead seven minutes before halftime.
So dominant were Easts in the opening onslaught that GPS only touched the ball for the second time in the match 10 minutes into the game from a centre field scrum on halfway.
Even then the Tigers won ball straight back, stealing a tight-head scrum feed and enabling half Cobie-Jane Morgan to send Destiny Brill away for another run.
In the eighth minute Easts prop Maletina Brown drove through the GPS defence with a powerhouse run to score next to the posts.
Brown finished the try off with a two handed placement of the ball in classical seven-a-side style.
SCORES: Easts 17 (M Brown 2 tries; J Sio 2 conv, pen) def GPS 15 (S Tapatuetoa, T Lehmanu; I Coll, pen conv)
COLTS GRAND FINAL
The Brothers scrum today proved a lifesaver, repelling University to generate an upset win in the colts 1 decider.
Beaten 35-5 just two weeks earlier, Brothers claimed a thrilling 26-19 win.
With four minutes remaining University were attacking 5m out from a centre field scrum, but the Brothers pack locked, engaged and pushed Uni off the ball, earning a feed from a reset scrum.
Brothers’ forwards also did it with a seven man pack after flanker Mick Cross had received a yellow card (sin).
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Uni, the best side all year - except on grand final day.
“It’s unbelievable, we knew from what happened two weeks ago that we had a lot of work to do,’’ said Brothers coach Kelevi Tuicolo
“They are a quality side. I think the boys just had a bit of faith with how we were coming along the last few weeks, it was unreal.”
Should we really be surprised Brothers won? No.
After all there is something special about Brothers rugby club and finals’ football.
The match finished with Uni peppering the Brothers tryline but somehow Brothers survived.
“Brothers came with a very good game plan, they executed, we didn’t and we played in the wrong areas. Credit to Brothers,’’ said Uni coach Darby Malaulau
It was a real grand final shootout, with tries flowing in a seesawing second half.
The scores were 12-all and then 19-all again when Uni’s Sam Kelly-Knowles scored.
But Brothers hit the front 17 minutes from the finishing post through halfback George Tarabay after hooker Ethan Dobbins had shown the agility of a flanker, breaking clear and kicking infield for his supporting No.9.
Tarabay’s successful conversion set-up a grandstand finish, with Brothers leading 26-19.
“That’s finals, you don’t know whether you’ve got it until the last five minutes,” Brothers coach Tuicolo added.
“We had to keep working that’s for sure, like I said they just keep coming back and they will not go away.”
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Earlier, Brothers left the field to a standing ovation at halftime after drawing level 12-all with University, and further endeared themselves to their legion of fans with a thrilling try just after halftime.
Brothers fly-half Jake Pappin sliced through the defence to put his winger Dan Muller over next to the posts and all of a sudden Brothers led 19-12 after trailing 12-nil.
The Red Heavies had leapt to a 12-nil advantage through two tries from mobile lock Matthew Engelbrecht.
But the Brothers response was calm and measured, while two breaks from strike backs Athan Waia-McGuiggan and Zac Heness also gave Brothers confidence that the Uni line could be breached.
Brothers lock Tyrone Suapaia was first to score, plunging over in the right hand corner after Brothers had swept play from one side of the field to the other.
Then, as halftime approached, Waia-McGuiggan again lit-up Ballymore with a scorching run finished by supporting halfback George Tarabay.
SECOND GRADE GRAND FINAL
Clancy Nugent reports, Easts have won the 2020 second grade grand final with a 28-17 win over Brothers in what was a battle from start to finish.
It was a contest of attrition in the big dance with both sides trying to maintain field position and possession for long stretches.
Easts coach Michael Lucas highlighted his team’s ability to keep their cool under pressure and their ball control as keys to winning this premiership.
“It was one of the things we focused on heaps through the last fortnight. We lost to them (Brothers) a couple of weeks ago and we knew we lost because we didn’t control the ball at key times,” Lucas said.
“The focus for us was not to play footy in our own half and having composure when we had the ball. Try to make them play for errors and get some scoreboard pressure going.
“To be fair to them (Brothers), they have been the best team all year. At the end of the day they have been great all year Brothers but it only matters what happens today and we turned up and did the job,” he said.
The first 10 minutes of the grand final was slow and sprinkled with errors despite the two best sides in the competition coming up against each other.
The deadlock was broken by Easts flyhalf Lachlan Kirk as he converted a penalty goal from 22 meters out to settle the nerves.
After 25 minutes of footy that offered little attacking opportunity, Easts finally went over for the first try of the game to go up by 8.
Brothers found their feet in attack late in the second half when Dustin Henegan went over on their first attacking raid inside Easts 22.
Easts came out of the sheds at halftime with intent to score and it resulted in 7 more points on the scoreboard after a break down the left sideline and some classy ball playing resulted in a try.
At the 27 minute mark, a broken leg to a Brothers player delayed the game for some time with the score at 15-7 to Easts.
When play resumed, Brothers seemed to be controlling possession and field position, until an intercept by Easts outside centre Tyree Wilson put one hand on the trophy as they went up by 15 points.
An intercept in the next phase, just a few passes form the kick-off, by Brothers fullback Liam O’Connell got his side back into the game.
Kirk slotted a penalty goal from just under 40m out to give Easts an almost unsurmountable lead with 7 minutes to go.
Easts dominated the last 10 minutes to cap off a premiership season in style and take the win despite a last-minute Brothers try to move the score to 28-17.
Story coming