Shute Shield Rd 5: results, upsets, tryscorers, debuts, competition ladder
A Sevens star went on a try scoring blitz, a long drought ended, the defending champs suffered a defeat and a player scored on debut in a fascinating fifth round of the Shute Shield.
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Todd Louden orchestrated the upset of the competition to date when Southern Districts took down Sydney Uni in a thriller in round five of the club rugby competition.
Randwick returned to the top of the ladder, Warringah made it back into the winners circle, Eastwood recorded a mighty win over the Two Blues while Gordon and Norths confirmed they are real contenders for the Shute Shield title this year.
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Sydney Uni 31 Souths 32
This match saw Louden coaching against his old side Sydney University, the defending champions and favourites for a three peat this year.
Level at 14-14 at halftime, it was Southern Districts who took the win in one of the best matches of the competition so far.
“Going into the game I though it would be a good test. I knew if we did some things well we could come away with the win,” Louden said.
“The pressure really wasn’t on us but we did put pressure on ourselves.
“The whole forward pack stood up.
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With former Waratahs prop Paddy Ryan back in the fold, Sydney University went into the match as the tips.
And while highlights for the students included Henry Clunies-Ross scoring twice and a debut by Papi Sevele off the bench, the points went to Souths.
Waratahs hooker Joe Cotton scored one of Souths tries with Dominic McGrath nailing two.
Randwick 59 Penrith 3
Randwick went on an eight-try scoring spree in their romp against Penrith to lead the Shute Shield after five rounds of competition.
Randwick, who welcome back fly half Dave Horwitz, dominated the match from the outset.
Zac Carr went over twice for Randwick with the other tryscorers Brooklyn Hardaker, Triston Reilly, Lachlan Miller, Tyzac Jordan, Christian Poidevin and Sam Croke with Horwitz converting six.
Next for the Galloping Greens is a clash with Souths this weekend.
“The boys can’t wait. It will be great. Them beating Uni has set it up for a big weekend,’’ Randwick coach Ben McCormack said.
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Manly 3 Gordon 26
Gordon continued to enhance their reputation as title contenders for the Shute Shield crown in 2020 with their emphatic victory over Manly
The win ended a long drought for the Highlanders on the Northern Beaches, winning against the side at home for the first time in 12 years.
Brandon Quinn scored twice for Gordon, with Harrison Goddard and Mahe Vailanu also going over.
Harley Attwater put the only points on the board for Manly via a late penalty goal.
“Once again Mahe Vailanu was outstanding for us,” coach Darren Coleman said.
“He was involved in every one of our four tries and scored himself.’'
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In an extraordinary game the score was 7-3 after an hour with Gordon then scoring three tries in 10 minutes.
“It was our most pleasing win. It’s the first time we had to show some real resilience,” Coleman said. “If we want to win the comp we need to be resilient.”
Two Blues 14 Eastwood 57
Coach Ben Batger has rated the trouncing of the Western Sydney side as one of Eastwood’s best performances of the year.
Still missing a number of key players to injury, Eastwood scored seven times in the match while Tane Edmed converted six times to contribute heavily to the scoreline.
“Probably one of our best performances of the year so very pleased and no injuries to report this week,” he said.
“We are where we should be (on the ladder) probably. We are not playing our best. I’m happy but not satisfied.”
Prop Willie Leoso scored on debut while sevens player Tim Anstee produced a spectacular hat trick at the start of the match.
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Warringah 28 Wests 14
Warringah finally gave their fans something to cheer about with their second win from five outings.
The northern Beaches side took down the winless West Harbour Pirates at home.
Charlie McKill, Wesley Thomas, Mungo Mason and Tyson Davis all scored for Warringah.
Norths 50 Hunter 10
It was another resounding win for Norhern Suburrbs against the Hunter Wildfires in round five.
James Margan and Nathan Russell went over twice in the match for Norths with their other try scorers Angus Sinclair, Bradley Hemopo and Max Burey.
TOP TRYSCORERS AFTER RD 5: Brandon Quinn 6, Henry Clunies-Ross 5, James Kane 4, Ed Craig, Matthew Gonzalez 4, Max Douglas 4, Mahe Vailanu 4, Harrison Goddard 4
LADDER AFTER RD 5
Randwick, Gordon, Sydney Uni, Southern Districts, Northern Suburbs, Eastwood, Warringah, Manly, Eastern Suburbs, NHRU Wildfires, West Harbour, Penrith, Western Sydney