Colts club rugby Team of the Week: GPS beat Wests, Brothers defeat Bond Uni, Easts survive Norths ambush
Colts club rugby Team of the Week named after a round which saw an upset at Sylvan Road, another near upset result and also Brothers flex muscles over Bond Uni.
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GPS survived the sin-binning of two players, an amped up Wests scrum and a rugged Bulldogs forward pack to claim possibly a season best win at Sylvan Road in colts 1 rugby.
The Galloping Greens did indeed gallop in the end to a 33-7 victory, finishing the game in a flourish after leading 19-nil into the second half.
Don’t let the scoreline fool you as the Wests set piece was coming to get GPS when the Bulldogs had closed the gap to 19-7 after a quick thinking try from No.9 Zach Shore.
The sin-binning of Floyd Aubrey and then prop Peter Halapio twice disrupted GPS’s defence of its lead, but in the end the better side won and won well.
The GPS pack responded from the outset, insisting through their actions they would not be intimidated by the Wests’ forwards.
Halapio did an early steal, hooker Tevita Kaituf’u carried the ball strongly, Ethan Lucey twice forced turnover penalties by pressuring rivals at the breakdown while Nick Baker ran with authority.
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Those waiting for the GPS effort to wane were left waiting a long time.
Winger Harry Barker opened the scoring with an opportunist try from 22m out after a bungled scrum play between Aubrey and half Callin Cooper-Jones.
Away from the physical forward confrontations, Wests winger Eden Zaupa gave his opposite Barker the slip, but a turn over at the breakdown saw Cooper-Jones streaking away down field for GPS, only to be run down by giant striding Wests flanker Max Hurwood.
A steady GPS scrum helped provide a platform for GPS’ second try courtesy of hard working flanker Ben Byrne to enable GPS to lead 12-nil at the break.
The GPS lead was unexpectedly extended by another seven points when a clearing kick from fullback Aubrey bounced away from the Wests winger, finishing instead in the hands of GPS winger Tom Cox who raced in under the posts.
Just as GPS had enjoyed first half momentum through a succession of penalties, Wests also enjoyed a flood of possession in the second half.
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This. coupled with the sin-binning of Aubrey for a high covering tackle, and then prop Halapio, aided Wests recovery.
When quick thinking Wests No.9 Zach Shore tapped and ran to score after the Wests scrum had earned a penalty, Wests were down 19-7 21 minutes from full-time.
Wests continued to threaten but the GPS forwards fought hard at the breakdown to deny the home side.
There was a key moment when gun Wests fullback David Vaihu made a break but did not pass to his support, leading to a lost chance.
GPS then wrapped up the match when, following a quick turn over, flanker Nick Baker strode 30m down the sideline after Wests No.8 Alec Robinson had almost swung the Bulldogs into attack with a big run.
Cooper-Jones then scored late and GPS were enjoyed the spoils of an expected 26 point win.
At Hugh Courtney Oval, the Easts players had the fright of their lives before prevailing 20-17 over a gutsy Norths.
Arguably the premiership favourites, Easts were almost ambushed in what would have been the upset of the season.
Norths coach Dan Ritchie was proud of his side. “I thought we created lots of opportunities in attack,’’ he said.
“I am really proud of the effort although our set piece let us down.
“I am devastated for the boys as they were really emotional after that which shows how much it means to them.
“Once again we showed we’re good enough to beat the top sides. It just takes a bit of time with this group.’’
At Crosby Park, Brothers prevailed over Bond Uni in a tough tussle, 26-21.
“It was a high quality match and we played field position well and our defence was good,’’ said Brothers coach Tony Wall.
“We were also patient in attack in the right areas of the field.’’
New Brothers fullback Oscar Varricchio did well as did No.10 Harry Grant, while prop Tim Faingaanuku and flanker Kyle Schram again made the Team of the Week.
“We made too many mistakes which led to points,’’ reflected Bond coach Brendan Jones.
“We played really good footy and defended well, but just invited them back through our mistakes.’’
Best for Bond were Marlon Jones and Nik Mitchell at flanker.
In the other match Souths enjoyed a 36-5 win over Sunnybank, with forwards Hamish McKee and Joel Brown engineering the win, while No.9 Sanni Silvia shone.
Dragons best was flanker Xaelin Salakia.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Fullback: Oscar Varricchio (Brothers)
Wing Harry Barker (GPS)
Centre: Floyd Aubrey (GPS)
No.12: Harry Grant (Brothers)
Wing: Oscar Donoghue (Norths)
No.10: Callin Cooper-Jones (GPS)
Halfback: Sanni Silvia (Souths)
No.8: Hamish McKee (Souths)
Flanker: Kyle Schram (Brothers)
Flanker: Nick Baker (GPS)
Lock: Max Hurwood (Wests)
Lock: Lucas Boyland (Norths)
Prop: James Durheim (Easts)
Hooker Tevita Kaituf’u (GPS)
Prop: Tim Faingaanuku (Brothers)
Reserves: Okaw Obonno (Norths), Xaelin Salakia (Sunnybank), Alec Robinson (Wests), Cayle Manu (Norths), Jacob Blyton (Easts), Joel Brown (Souths), Xaelin Salakia (Souths), Marlon Jones (Bond Uni), Nik Mitchell (Bond Uni).
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