GPS First XV Team of the Week: All schools represented after bumper round 5

The latest GPS First XV rugby Team of the Week includes players from all eight schools involved in a bumper round 5. Full squad here.

Caleb Godfrey of Churchie scored an amazing try - and set up another. Picture, John Gass

The competitiveness of the season GPS First XV rugby competition can be reflected in our round 5 Team of the Week which features a player from all eight schools involved last Saturday.

ROUND 5 REPORT

Whether your school was a winner or a loser, there was something to sing about as the closest competition in seasons progressed beyond the halfway mark.

PREMIERSHIP LADDER:

1. Nudgee 10 (no bye)

2. BSHS 8 (bye)

3. BBC 6 (bye)

4. Churchie 4 (bye)

5. TSS 4 (no bye)

6. Terrace 4 (bye)

7. IGS 2 (bye)

8. TGS 2 (no bye)

9. BGS 0 (bye)

TEAM OF THE WEEK

15. Elijah Breen (BGS)

Elijah Breen was outstanding for BGS.

Breen was a class act with his side stepping and running sparking BGS. He always beat a tackle and was also a big effort player whose desperation to get to a ruck and act as halfback led directly to BGS’s opening try.

14. Nick Conway (Nudgee)

Conway broke the game open just after halftime with a brilliant individual try, a chip and chase effort which swung scoreboard momentum Nudgee’s way. He added another try as well. Conway has been consistency very good since making his three try

Nudgee players line-up ahead of a match against BHG - including Sam Watson, second from left, Ed Kasprowicz, middle and Jacob Johnson to his right. Picture, John Gass

13. Kilarney Lavender (TSS)

The best player on the ground, Lavender was outstanding. Every time he carried the ball he beat at least one tackle as he drove his team metres over the advantage line. He could barely be contained.

Kilarney Lavender of The Southport School Picture by Richard Gosling

12. Frank Howarth (BBC)

BBC’s Frank Howarth last weekend. Picture, John Gass

Howarth was BBC’s set up man, a blockbusting inside centre who laid foundations off his forwards with crash ball runs, while retaining the ability to bash down defensive lines with his runs. He also had the capacity to offer subtle passes which helpe ignite his outside men.

11. Angus Tagicakibau (BSHS)

Angus Tagicakibau of BSHS

The BSHS fullback was named on the wing in order to get our best squad together from the weekend. He somehow felled TSS prime mover Kilarney Lavender in full stride when

a certain try loomed, and was also on hand to spark the try of the game which poked BSHS ahead 22-15. In between he was safe with his option taking and defusing of kicks.

10. Iliesa Baravilala (TGS)

Illy Baravilala of Toowoomba Grammar School. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Baravilala was razor sharp with his clever ball play, jinking running and sharp acceleration over a short distance. Behind a pack which went forward, Baravilala was a class act.

9. Sam Watson (Nudgee)

Sam Watsn delivers a pass. Picture, John Gass

In a gruelling encounter with an amped up Terrace outfit, the first class service of returning scrumhalf Watson was elite.

It was seriously rapid and before Terrace defenders could catch a breath, Norths junior Watson had already found Charlie O’Connell or Carter Welfare’s breadbasket.

The Queensland Reds Under-18s select earlier this year also scored a telling try down the short side that shifted momentum into the visitor’s favour.

8. George Ward (Churchie)

Ward would have been at home running the 10km at the recently completed Paris Olympics, because he would have covered almost that distance playing for Churchie against BBC last Saturday. He also made more than 20 tackles in what was a wonderful performance.

7. Nate Wines (Terrace)

Although Nudgee were more technically proficient in the line out and scrum, the Terrace pack lost little in comparison around the field and leading the charge was flanker Wines and his back row mate Ollie Nasser (in reserves)

6. Jack Randall (BBC)

Randall has that toughness to his game, someone made for the rough and tumble of Saturday afternoon rugby.

He is also athletic enough to play as a wide running back rower, but is at his best in the contact area where he is so gritty.

5. Eli Langi (BSHS)

Eli Langi leads BSHS into the fray recently. Picture, John Gass

Langi was BSHS’s inspirational leader - and they needed his leadership when trailing 15-12 and under the pump early in the second half. He won ball, aggressively carried possession and defended strongly against a big TSS side.

4. Ed Kasprowicz (Nudgee)

Ed Kasprowicz of Nudgee made the Team of the Week - again. Picture, John Gass

Together with Bennett Armistead (special mentions), Kasprowicz is Nudgee’s money man in the line out both from his own ball thrown in by captain John Grenfell. He also spoils opposition line out for fun.

3. Levi Slater (Nudgee)

He has been slightly unsung this season, but we are happy to shove him into the limelight after he imposed himself on the Terrace forwards in a match which hung in the balance.

2. John Grenfell (Nudgee)

He is a No.8 rolled into a hooker - a two in one package who must give opposition players nightmares every Friday night before the big match on Saturday. He has a capacity to break tackles with his runs, and from there the shift is on toward the backline.

Kingsley Uys of The Southport School. Picture, John Gass

1. Kingsley Uys (TSS)

Uys was a colossus with his size, handling skills and mobility. In scrum and attacking mauls he moved mountains, all the while having the agility to be a link man when the ball was swung wide at pace.

RESERVES

Tom Bailey (TGS)

Back rower Bailey was the glue of the Toowoomba Grammar’s pack, producing a typical work rate performance in his team’s first win of the season. He drove into tackles with gusto and was always around the fall of the ball. Bailey would make any squad in the competition.

Grammar's Tom Bailey gets away from the Downlands players in O'Callaghan Cup last season. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Ethan Ramsay (TGS)

Flanker Ramsay has been one of the finds of the season, a tremendous addition after coming over from the AIC system in Brisbane. He maintained his high work rate at the weekend - whether it was making tackles, his efficiency at the breakdown or support of ball carrying teammates.

Lincoln Dalton (BGS)

Lincoln Dalton. GPS First XV rugby round one action between BGS and Churchie.

He was just a tough nut. He’d hit and spin with his carries and fight to stay on his feet and never surrendered easily. In defence he’d dig in hard and try to make a difference.

Dyer Akauloa (BGS)

GPS First XV rugby between Nudgee College and Brisbane Grammar School. Saturday August 3, 2024. Picture, John Gass

The big fellas ran onto an Elijah Breen pass to score a classic No.8s try, surging 20m to the line like he had been fired out of a cannon. Another time he chased a long clearing kick and was the first on site to make a tackle. Whatever he is doing this season, he will be so much better next year.

Jacob Johnson (Nudgee)

GPS First XV rugby between Nudgee College and The Southport School. Saturday July 20, 2024. Picture, John Gass

Johnson just knows how to spot space and he did that well again against Terrace.

But it was two dramatic defusing of high attacking kicks which really made him stand apart from the pack on Saturday. A discovery player of the season last year, he has taken his game to another level in 2024.

Caleb Godfrey (Churchie)

You could have sworn you were watching a centre or winger tear down the field when Godfrey set sail for the opening try of the match against BBC. He also set up the second try - all the while doing the tough stuff in the middle.

Marley Ngatai (BSHS)

Marley Ngatai delivers possession from his forwards. Picture, John Gass

While he is not a pure rugby No.9 technician, he is a footballer who reads play well and who can sniff out half a chance - and he did all that against TSS.

Stanley Keats (BBC)

Keats was BBC’s super sub, swinging between the halves and wing, and back to the halves again. Watch for him to be used off the bench in the weeks ahead.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Oli Nasser (Terrace)

Bennett Armistead (Nudgee)

Blaze Moana (TSS)

Franck Iraguha (Terrace)

Joe McGahan (Terrace)

Flynn Horton (BGS)

Oscar Donovan (BBC)

Trent Picot (BSHS)

Jack Brown (TGS)

Carter Welfare (Nudgee)

Prestyn Laine-Sietu (Nudgee)

George Hales (Terrace)

Charlie Hollyman (Terrace)

ROUND 6

IGS v TSS

TGS v Terrace

BSHS v Churchie

BBC v BGS

Bye: Nudgee