Colts rugby: Souths Magpies set up sudden death game with Wests while Bond Uni, Brothers impress
Souths are on a collision course for an early sudden-death final against Wests next week, as six teams jockey for placings in the colts 1 semi-finals. And in Premier rugby, GPS breathed life into its campaign with an upset win over Bond
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With star halfback Kalani Thomas as the chief conductor, Souths are on a collision course for an early sudden-death final against Wests next week as six teams jockey for placings in the colts 1 semi-final series starting in a fortnight.
With one round remaining before the finals, the Magpies have been confronted with a must-win clash next Saturday against the Bulldogs in order to come from sixth and snatch a finals’ berth.
This was after today’s 67-14 win over a forever-trying Norths outfit at Chipsy Wood Oval.
In other games powerhouse Bond University beat GPS 34-10, prompting GPS coach Drew Vautin to elevate Bond to likely grand finalists.
At Sunnybank, Brothers remained finals’ bound with a win over the Dragons (report below).
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University and Wests, both serious contenders for the premiership, will play tomorrow, Sunday, after their game was delayed due to the main University of Queensland field being booked for another event.
But regardless of the outcome of that match, Souths will make the finals if they beat Wests next weekend.
“For us our big focus has been to get five points from our last three games and we have done that,’’ said Souths coach Rama Chand.
“We did that and it essentially leads to us playing a qualifying final (against Wests).
“We have to win with a bonus point and we will back ourselves.’’
Today at Chipsy Wood, halfback Thomas and fullback Meli Dreu were the firing pins in a lethal Souths attack.
Three decades ago an Australian schoolboy halfback called Brett Johnstone came down from Toowoomba to play colts with Souths.
Today Thomas, an Australian schoolboys No. 9, evoked memories of Johnstone with his towering spiral passes to both the left and right hand sides of the field.
Thomas also thrilled onlookers with a one-handed scoop of the ball off the ground while never breaking stride.
“He has areas of his game which he needs to improve and we knows that, but in unstructured play, that is Kalani Thomas,’’ Chand said of Thomas, the Ipswich Grammar School old boy earmarked by Reds coach Brad Thorn as a player of considerable potential.
Behind Thomas, fullback Dreu scorched across a parched Chipsy Wood Oval to score two tries and create numerous others.
They were the firing pins in a lethal counter attacking game by Souths which netted the Magpies the last three tries of the first half - and then another just after the break when Thomas scooped another wide pass to Dreu who put his winger Mone Maa’fu over to score.
“We are very good at naturally going into that shape (counter attack) and playing because we have some really good attacking players and threats,’’ Chand said.
“Our biggest thing is our work off the ball which is still a big work in progress. When you are working off the ball, you tend to have more opportunities for that next phase, and that is what we are trying to work on.’’
Chand felt quality support of the ball carrier was off the pace today, despite the win, but he praised Norths as well for contributing to Souths being “messy’’ in this area.
“Full credit, they put us under pressure in the first half and we did not execute the way we would have liked,’’ Chand said.
Upfront, No. 8 Kaleb Brown led the forwards in ever increasing heat as Souths completed the mission of securing a bonus point win.
Dreu was also splendid in the No.15 jersey for Souths. “Meli has been playing so well I want to keep him there,’’ Chand said.
“He can run, he can pass, he can kick. He has triple threat as a footballer.’’
For Norths, no one at the ground would accuse the side of giving in and it was only handling errors and Souths ability to convert in the blink of an eye which was the main difference.
Despite the scoreline Norths were competitive for long periods.
“Getting toward the end of the season, we have guys playing out of position who have stood up all year,’’ Dodds said.
He singled out Okaw Obonno who, in the first half, scored a try after Norths had built pressure for around 15 phases of play.
“He plays every position without questions,’’ Dodds said.
He said Norths showed again today that when the side held possession and “we go through our structure we can match it with any side’’.
But he said unforced errors proved his team’s greatest hurdle.
Scores: Souths 67 (M Dreu 2, B Croft 2, M Maa’fu 2, J Deacon 2, O Munro, H Willocks, K Thomas tries; M Dreu 5 convs, B Croft conv) def Norths 14 (O Obonno, J Hussey tries; S Grace 2 conv)
On the Gold Coast, Bond University beat GPS 34-10, earning high praise from Jeeps coach Drew Vautin.
“They are probably the team which has impressed me the most. Their scrum, their structure is very good and they look more mature,’’ he said, tipping Bond or Wests to take the title.
Vautin again praised his young, hard working side that never gave an inch this season despite missing the finals.
“They are a great bunch to work with. They display great resilience and tenacity. They are a young side and we will keep building on it.’’
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Brothers Colts 1 have run away with a 31-point victory over Sunnybank away from home to stay in the premiership hunt.
After a battle of attrition that held both teams scoreless early in the game, Brothers found their groove and did not look like being outplayed for the remaining 60 minutes.
Brothers coach Kelevi Tuicolo was pleased with his sides performance against what he acknowledged was a “tough opposition.”
“We are pleased that the guys are now starting to play to the game plan that we set for them each week,” Tuicolo said.
“It is always a challenge with under 20’s and guys coming in from different programs and trying to mould them together, but they have been good the last 2 or 3 weeks.
“We are starting to get some real clarity in attack and it comes back to the boys really knowing what their roles are,” he said.
It was field position that broke the points deadlock when Brothers camped on the Dragons goal line for numerous phases.
The dominance remained through the first half as the blue and white always seemed to be on the oppositions side of halfway.
Although Sunnybank could not contain Brothers on the scoreboard, this did not reflect the quality of the contest that took place, especially between the forward packs.
The second half was a mirror image of the first with Brothers grinding away to add more points to their tally.
It was scrum time that proved a problem for Sunnybank as Brothers earnt numerous penalties and foiled some Sunnybank opportunities deep in the red zone on the back of their set-piece.
Brothers defence was simply too hard to crack, ending the game without the Dragons scoring any points in a 31-0 win.
In PREMIER RUGBY, GPS breathed life into their campaign with a 34-22 win over Bond University in a match the Galloping Greens just had to win.
It was not pretty, but Bond are very, very difficult to beat at home and GPS managed four tries to clinch a bonus point win while keeping Bond from snaring any competition points.
It means GPS (29 points) now climb to second on the ladder, although third placed University (27) have a game in hand.
GPS have a last round bye, but if either Brothers lose to Easts or Bond lose to University, then GPS go through to the finals.
At Chipsy Wood Oval, Souths hooker Theo Fourie scored a try with three minutes remaining to clinch a 29-26 win against Norths’ Eagles.
Both teams may have been out of finals’ contention, but the desperation was highlighted with Norths prop and hooker respectively, Tonga Ma’afu and Cody Blackhurst, coming across in cover defence to prevent Souths rookie winger Seb Hanna from scoring.
It was an exciting game with Norths throwing plenty of skill at Souths, particularly through a back division comprising Mitch Chapman, Reece Tipane, Jon Rueben and Alex MacDonald.
Indeed one felt Norths would finish the stronger after the side hit the front after Souths had got out to a 22-12 advantage.
But Souths displayed plenty of spirit and skill themselves.
Ultimately the game came down to the Souths forwwards being able to control pick and drive ball which led to Fourie borrowing over beneath the posts.
Will Rutherford’s charge down try for Souths early in the second was crucial when the dust settled.
At Sunnybank, Clancy Nugent watched Brothers keep their finals hopes alive in a back and forth contest against Sunnybank that went down to the wire.
The butcher stripes opened the scoring on the right wing with a backline play that left Sunnybank extremely short on numbers out wide.
Despite letting Brothers stroll in for the first five pointer, Sunnybank bounced back in a big way with three tries of their own through some slick ball playing from their inside backs.
The first half was dominated by Sunnybank flyhalf and former Australian Sevens player Tom Lucas who had his fingerprints over each and every point that Sunnybank put on the scoreboard.
The momentum swung again late in the first half when Brothers crossed for another two tries and Lucas was sin-binned for an infringement on the goal line.
With Lucas off and Brothers down by five, Sunnybank lost some attacking potency after half-time and failed to match the points that Brothers were accumulating.
Late in the second half saw yet another momentum swing when Sunnybank brought the game back to within five points.
With Brothers needing this victory to stay in contention, they aimed up in defence and held Sunnybank down the right end of the field to claim a much needed 43-38 victory.