Hospital Cup club rugby: Round 5 team of the week

First grade club rugby: The Hospital Cup team of the week includes a Bond Uni attacking weapon, a Sunnybank midfield magician, elite Easts forwards and an unsung hero from Brothers. More here.

Brothers (20pts) and Easts (19pts) are four-from-four to start the 2025 StoreLocal Hospital Cup competition. Picture credit: Erick Lucero/ QRU media.

Brothers have kickstarted its premiership defence with four successive wins to have them sitting atop the StoreLocal Hospital Cup ladder after five rounds.

But The Brethren premiership DNA will put to the test over the next month as they weather an injury storm.

Outside centre Benn Dalle Cort (sprained ankle) and forward Richard Clift (knee) are facing about a month on the sideline while key forward Michael Wood (ankle) and winger Ollie Harvey (knee) were a couple weeks away from a return.

Ollie Harvey. Picture: Stephen Archer.

It means Brothers head coach Ben McCormack will have to draw on the club’s depth, tapping into the riches of second grade and Colts 1 to bolster his backline division — which has Will Cartwright lurking in the shadows.

In Brothers’ latest victory, a frantic 24-21 success over Wests, Colts 1 terror Vaiuta Latu made his first grade starting debut at blindside flanker and matched motors with a confronting Bulldogs pack.

“He really held his own and dominated some of the collisions and carries,” McCormack said of Latu’s performance.

“For a colts eligible guy, that was really impressive.”

Some of the AIC competition's finest products, including John Bryant (St Laurence's, Souths), Ryan Smith (St Patrick's, Brothers), Will McCulloch (Padua, Norths), Vaiuta Latu (St Peters, Brothers) and Tom Howard (Ashgrove, University). Picture: Erick Lucero/QRU Media.

McCormack’s men are not the finished product, but wins over Wests, Norths, GPS and Sunnybank suggest they have the foundations to again make the finals.

“There’s plenty to improve on. We’re pretty patchy at the moment but it’s nice to still find ways to win when you’re not playing that well,” he said.

On Saturday, Sunnybank brought up its first win of the season, beating Norths 26-24 at home to spark wild celebrations.

Blindside flanker Kole Harmer and inside centre Tevita Ahosivi led the charge.

In other matches, Easts flexed considerable muscle in a 45-7 defeat of University and Bond University won 29-21 over Souths, courtesy of a stunning Dion Samuela double.

At Bottomley Park, openside flanker Alex Smit, lock Will Sankey and No.8 Nuku Swirling sunk their teeth into University to inspire Easts toward a comprehensive 38-point trumping.

Nuku Swirling (centre) and Easts teammates. StoreLocal Hospital Cup round 1 action between Easts and Norths. Picture courtesy of Brendan Hertel.

Easts will take on Souths in round 6. The Magpies will be eager to bounce back from their loss down the coast and will have plenty of motivation.

A home game and gala ladies day will set the scene for Viliami Lea (inside centre) and Alofa Alofa (outside centre) to make their return in the midfield.

Kitione Taliga, who played No.13 on Saturday, will shift to fullback with Finn Mackay returning to Colts 1 to help his Magpies bounce back.

STORELOCAL HOSPITAL CUP TEAM OF THE WEEK

Kohan Herbert was an automatic inclusion in the team of the week yet again. Picture credit: Erick Lucero/ QRU media.

15. Dion Samuela (Bond University)

14. Mackenzie Fox (Norths)

13. Ethan McFarland (University)

12. Tevita Ahosivi (Sunnybank)

11. Glen Vaihu (Wests)

10. Lachlan Stewart (Souths)

9. Graham Urquhart (Brothers)

8. Nuku Swirling (Easts)

7. Alex Smit (Easts)

6. Kohan Herbert (Souths)

5. Sosifa Funaki (Norths)

4. William Sankey (Easts)

3. George Tuineau (Brothers)

2. Tyrell Kopua (Bond University)

1. Jethro Felemi (Easts)