CAS Rugby wrap-up: Knox outgun Waverley as Barker, Trinity and Riverview grab wins

Knox have produced a spirited display to down Waverley in the first round. FULL CAS AND GPS RUGBY ROUND-UP INSIDE.

The influence of former Waratahs prop and NSW assistant coach Cameron Blades was clearly evident as Knox defeated Waverley 32-28 in the first round of the CAS rugby competition.

Blades, who is highly regarded as a forwards coach, is now director of rugby at Knox, and the team’s impressive work up front on Saturday was instrumental in the team’s victory in what was an entertaining battle.

Knox surprised with a try soon after kick off and subsequently led the game from start to finish playing good, controlled football with their dominant scrum and the set piece laying the platform for victory.

Cameron Blades packing down in his Waratahs days. Picture: Mark Evans.

Waverley dropped a lot of ball and their backs just could not get a roll on but the team worked hard to score a couple of tries through pick and drives.

For Knox tighthead prop Will Kablau provided the foundation for the scrum while No.12 Sam Rechner had a strong game.

Waverley five-eighth Ronald Volkman and their captain Alexander Rice performed well.

Trinity pulled off a bit of an upset defeating St Aloysius 26-19 while Barker were impressive defeating Cranbrook 29-17.

Barker win a lineout during their victory over Cranbrook on the weekend. Picture: Barker

In the first round of the GPS competition Riverview sent out a message they are a real premiership threat following their 29-12 win over last year’s premiers Kings.

Aware that Kings had a pretty lethal backline, Riverview wanted to starve them of the ball and did a good job in controlling possession which was a key to their victory.

Riverview were able to convert their opportunities into points and skipped away to a 19-0 lead.

Kings then fought back really well in the second half to put Riverview under some pressure.

And having two players yellow-carded after the break made it even more of a test for Riverview.

It was a good open game with nice tries which will have Riverview’s rivals sitting up and taking notice after they had been flying a bit under the radar.

The win capped a big day for Riverview who also won the seconds, thirds and 16As games.

Scots College had an encouraging start to their campaign with a 54-10 victory over a spirited Shore outfit at Northbridge.

Shore trailed 14-5 at halftime and were competitive but Scots scored five tries in the final 20 minutes to cement their victory.

In the other game St Josephs were too strong for Newington, winning 36-18.