GPS First XV rugby Rd 2 reports
GPS First XV rugby: Churchie snare second successive win, Nudgee pushed hard as bumper round 2 action unfolds.
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Like a thief in the night Churchie halfback Archie Wilson pinched ball on the ground to sprint 60m to score to game breaking try over a resolute Ipswich Grammar School.
Churchie won 31-19, with Wilson running with the ball tucked under his right arm and with the Churchie supporters on his back during a glorious sprint to the line.
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He had snagged possession after IGS centre giant Israel Leota had slipped after a thrilling midfield break, leaving him no choice but to release ball on the ground.
All that unfolded as a Nudgee old boy, coach Scott Gale, almost engineered a shock win for Toowoomba Grammar School who were held up over the line on full time pushing for an upset draw over Nudgee, while Brisbane Grammar School eased clear of BSHS.
Terrace and BBC were also locked in a thriller. More details below.
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But back at Churchie, Wilson’s try, his second of the match, came when IGS No.10 Hocking had unfortunately, maybe unluckily, been sin binned, and only minutes after Churchie inside centre Dre Pakeho had scored.
Throw in a penalty try and all of a sudden a deficit had turned into a 31-14 lead.
All this after IGS had led 14-12 at halftime, the scoreboard reward for stout defence after Churchie had enjoyed the better of the territory battle.
IGS refused to lie down, with left winger Matt Barrow racing away, only to be claimed by a grass cutting cover tackle from winger Mac Kelley who had cone from the other side of the field to affect the tackle.
There was also drama late when big IGS centre Leota was sent from the field for a shoulder charge.
But his departure only seemed to inspire IGS who scored the try of the game, a five pointer to fullback Cohen Briggs after a midfield break by winger Matt Barrow.
More push and shoved occurred in a fiery finish to the match which now sees Churchie unbeaten after two rounds.
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In the first half, Churchie led after prop Diamond Fifita brought the house down with a rollicking try after Wilson had ignited the crowd.
Wilson’s run after Churchie regained ball on the ground from a line out resulted in a fracture in the IGS line which saw Fifita unexpectedly finding space through the midfield.
But IGS we’re not going to go away, with fullback Kohen Briggs crossing in spectacular fashion right on halftime after a sweeping ball to the fringe by Stanley Huen. As a result Ipswich led 14-12 at the break after Jack Hocking’s booming sideline conversion.
Earlier in the first half, Churchie and Ipswich Grammar traded tries across the opening 20 minutes after both halfbacks scored tries.
Ipswich scored first through Nathan Fraser, then Churchie crossed for a hard earned five pointer after a charge down resulted in a desperate Archie Wilson winning an on goal scramble to ground the ball.
Churchie had dominated for an extended period after Ipswich’s 7th minute try, propelling multiple rolling mails at their opponents off attacking line out platforms.
Sometimes Ipswich repelled their rivals legally, other times not so which resulted in Grammar’s Flanker Dian Minnie receive a yellow card.
A remarkable tackle from IGS half Fraser also prevented what seemed a certain try to Joe Stoddart after Mac Kelley had connected with an infield pass to a sprinting Stoddart.
At Northgate, Brisbane Grammar School had a winning start, 33-17, over Brisbane State High School.
On a wind swept ground, it was testing conditions for both sides and running with the wind, BGS led 21-12 at halftime.
BSHS then used the wind well in the second half to reduce the margin to 21-17 before Grammar steadied, including a try to Will Sheedy.
“In the last 15 minutes we played some good, direct rugby to score two good tries,’’ said Grammar coach Phil Mooney.
“We scored four tries and a penalty try. When you have the bye first up there is a bit of the unknown.’’
“And State High played some really good rugby and it was a challenging game for sure,’’ Mooney praised.
Ultmately BGS halves Ryan Shaw (captain) and No.9 Ned Madden engineered the win in tricky conditions against tricky opponens.
ON debut, BSHS inside centre Netani Lesimaikimatuku starred, as did No.8 Jack Gordon.
At Nudgee, the home side won 22-15 with hooker Will Rogers twice scoring off the back of mauls, but it was a close shave for an inspired Toowoomba Grammar School coached by Nudgee old boy Scott Gale.
TGS director of Sport Steve Fryer said it was a morale victory for his group who made the TGS community proud.
“We are so happy for the boys. We were underdogs and we really put them to the sword and dare say we were probably a better team on the day.
“We were held up in the last play of the game. We nearly had a kick to tie.’’
It was a team performance but George Griffiths scored two tries for TGS who were captained by Charlie Horn.
“From No.1 to No.15 we were outstanding,’’ Fryer said.
Nudgee director of Rugby Sean Graham praised TGS. “They showed a lot of ticker, dug in and put pressure on our break down and forced us away from our game plan. Credit to Toowoomba.
“They were really gritty and we held them up over the line on full time.’’
Nudgee defended well in the first half and on the rare occasion they ventured down field, had the strike power to score twice.
For Nudgee Liam La Blanc’s defence from No.8 was eye-catching.
And Nick Tucker reports, it was upset central at Tennyson as the boys in red and black came from behind to defeat BBC 19-17.
Although they were down 14-0, the determination, hunger and teamwork from the entire 23 of the Gregory Terrace First XV squad allowed them to giant-kill a BBC team who after last weeks win, looked unbeatable.
It was a feel good comeback from the underdogs, scoring three unanswered tries to shatter the hearts of the BBC First XV who were in the drivers seat up 14 with half-an-hour to play.
But it was Michael Broads boys who were able to overcome the adversity and triumph in an early contender of this seasons best nail biter.
This game just shows how close every team in this competition really is.
The first try of the day came on the back of some brilliance my BBC winger Samson Tuqiri.
With limited room to move down the right edge, Tuqiri stabbed a 40m grabber down field for teammate Daniel Malum darting through the line.
Malum made up plenty of ground, speeding through to plant the ball down just before it reached the dead ball line.
BBC wing Ryder Ah Fook showed us some dazzling footwork and pace when scoring a sensational try, extending his team’s lead at 14-0 shortly after the break.
With great off the mark acceleration Ah Fook danced his way through the defence and strolled away to dive over for his first try of the season.
Then Terrace joined the party.
It was three unanswered tries that gave the home supporters plenty to cheer about.
GT’s ambush came in quick succession. First to draw his boys closer was replacement winger Joe Clifford. Next to join in and make it a real intense clash was trusty halfback Archie Xavier.
But it was lock Tom Robinson who stole the show. A try here would now put the ball in BBC’s court.
The boys in green were now down 19-17 with minutes to play, after playing most of the fixture in the box seat.
They had to make a big play to regain the lead.
But, It was too late for BBC to fire up, score a try and make it two from two to start the season. GT running away with a brilliant win and a one-and-one record to start the season.
The final score was 19-17 and Broad’s boys were buzzing in the sheds.
Broad said: “You couldn’t underestimate the stiff breeze BBC had in the first half and the ground was heavy under the footy. They kicked well in the first half which kept us stuck.”
“I thought our defence was great in that first half. They scored their tries and got away to a good start. They did well getting that lead.”
He said “at halftime the wind was probably a 20 point lead so in the second half we knew if we had good field position we could give it good go.
That’s exactly what we did. We held the ball for longer periods of time. In the second half we took all our opportunities.”
He said they took their chances in the second as opposed to the first.
“Terrace Firsts crossed the game line this time. It was due to our defence, tackling, and line speed.”
“From 14-0 down at this level, we were pretty happy with the way in which we controlled the game in that second stanza.”
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ROUND 3
TSS v TGS
BGS v GT
ACGS v NC
IGS v BBC
BSHS bye
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