Position switch pays off for star TSS playmaker Syris Schmidt

A position switch paid dividends for TSS, with coach Mike Wallace labelling the young playmaker the “best player in the team” on debut in the No.12 jersey.

The Southport School have fought back from trailing Toowoomba Grammar School on the stroke of halftime to win 32-17 in round two of the GPS rugby season.

An undermanned TSS squad led for all but five minutes of the match when Toowoomba hit the lead two minutes before halftime.

Southport battled three minutes into extra time until prop Carsen Patu charged over for the go-ahead try, his third of the season.

TSS won the second half 17-5 to extend their undefeated streak to 700 days.

Isaiah Tolotu of TSS in action against Toowoomba Grammar during their GPS Rugby Union match at Southport on the Gold Coast. Photograph : Jason O'Brien

Coach Mike Wallace praised his side’s defensive fortitude when Toowoomba placed them under pressure.

“We were much smarter in defence than we were in our attack for long periods of the game today,” he said.

“When we were under pressure – and we were, for long periods – Syris directed the play and kept everything calm.

“He was far and away the best player in our team.

“He was really direct and a really good communication link in our backline.”

Schmidt scored 17 points, 12 from the boot, and recorded two try assists for Kaleb Ngamanu and Beau Arscott.

His 19th minute try was a backline beauty, splitting the defence with a show-and-go to slip through for an 8-3 lead.

Syris Schmidt of TSS in action against Toowoomba Grammar during their GPS Rugby Union match at Southport on the Gold Coast. Photograph : Jason O'Brien

Schmidt stripped the ball from a Toowoomba runner and broke the line for Ngamanu to score a runaway try in the 43rd minute.

A short-ball pass from Schmidt hit winger Arscott in stride to streak away for Southport’s fourth try and the dagger blow with three minutes to play.

Toowoomba Grammar produced their strongest performance of the year to unsettle TSS but the home school’s defence was up to the challenge.

TGS crossed for two tries but were foiled by desperate goal line defence on multiple occasions, especially in the first half where only one of the six trips to the TSS 22m zone resulted in a try.

The Southport School 32 (Syris Schmidt, Carsen Patu, Kaleb Ngamanu, Beau Arscott tries; Schmidt (3/4) conversions, (2/2) penalties) defeated Toowoomba Grammar School 17 (George Wunsch, Morris Clementson tries; Clementson (2/2) conversions, (1/1) penalty)

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