AIC First XV Rd 3: Iona alive, Padua, St Laurence’s power on
AIC First XV rugby latest: Iona defeated their old foes while Padua and St Laurence’s powered on in round three. Read how it all unfolded here.
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Padua and St Laurence’s College remained unbeaten after three rounds of AIC First XV rugby, while Iona College also remained in contention as the outstanding schoolboy rugby competition took another big step today.
Iona defeated Ashgrove 17-14, St Patrick’s turned a three point lead at halftime into a 36-7 WIN, Padua beat St Edmund’s 60-7 and St Laurence’s defended well to beat Villanova 31-5 as the AIC First XV rugby premiership race went up a notch.
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Iona College escaped a gallant second half comeback attempt by Ashgrove to win a thrilling Davine Oval contest 17-14, swamping the visitors with a superb defensive masterclass.
Ashgrove pounded away but Iona’s dam wall defence held firm and repelled everything, before the home side landed the dagger not long before time to halt dangerous momentum mounting by Ashgrove.
Iona’s two try hero Lachie Smith scored the dagger, dashing over after Iona’s forwards Sam Hodder, Fononga Tuitahi and Hopo Leota mauled powerfully towards Ashgrove’s goal line.
Leota’s vision and pop pass near the goal line put Smith over for the decisive blow.
“It was great, it was really good to have good boys inside me. If it wasn’t for our shape I don’t think I would be in a position to score so I was really impressed with the boys,” said Iona winger Lachie Smith.
Smith said losing to St Laurence’s in round one really hurt but he was happy to be back on track.
“We were really pumped three weeks out, everyone was getting pumped for the big game. Everyone was just like we didn’t want it to happen again after the loss. We did not want to lose two.”
The Year 11 student said Ashgrove had always been tough “ever since 5As, 6As,” so he “knew it was going to be tough again”.
The contest lived up to expectations and it wasn’t until Hopo Leota put him in for a decisive try late in the game that Iona could catch their breath.
“I sort of just saw Hopo and I was like I just need to be there. He is a powerful ball runner and I tried to feed off his energy and he put me into space so props to him,” Smith said.
“It’s really big (winning to stay in the premiership race) honestly we tried so hard to get this win, move onto next week, try to snowball effect and keep it going.”
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
After defending courageously for the entire second half, Iona’s defences finally broke on the cusp of time with Ashgrove midfielder Tom Millard muscling over to draw Ashgrove closer 17-14.
But it was too late. Iona’s heavy lifting on the defensive end had won them the game, and more importantly, kept them in the hunt for the AIC rugby premiership.
On the other side of the fence, Ashgrove, despite playing their hearts out, were now out of the premiership race.
THINGS THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE
+Iona No. 8 Charlie Hanson pilfering and winning the ball early in the game;
Ashgrove flanker Ben Caughley spotting space near the ruck and spearing away, only to be brought down just shy of the line thanks to a courageous Iona defender.
+ Iona midfielder Matt Doherty getting his side onto the front foot with his crash runs;
+ Ashgrove debutant Nate Roberts dislodging the ball from Hopo Leota’s grasp with a great tackle and then nailing a solid clearance kick the play after;
+ Ashgrove open side flanker Seb Gardiner following suit of Roberts with a strong pilfer moments later;
+Iona’s Campbell Rolfe having a great display with his kicking for touch;
+ Towering Ashgrove lock Christian Kurylewski scored with a vicious pick and drive just shy of oranges to bring Ashgrove within five, down 12-7. He was busy, both the line outs and at the breakdown where he won the ball midway through the second half;
Ashgrove backrowers Jasper Barry and Ben Caughley were relentless with the ball in hand and on defence for the entire contest.
DEBUT BOY
Ashgrove fly half Nate Roberts relished a start in the blue and gold with a steady performance where his passing was wonderful.
Roberts had been gaining ominous pace in the Seconds and earned his start in one of the biggest games of Ashgrove’s season and he rose to the occasion well.
His direct running and accurate passing on both sides saw Ashgrove apply tremendous pressure on Iona’s edge defence.
WINGS WORKING
Iona had success spreading the ball across its backline, with Connor Quinn crashing over first, then Lachie Smith second as Iona mounted a healthy 12-0 lead.
The tall, long striding Quinn was silky lurking behind his backline and his ball playing was on show when creating an overlap and putting Smith over for Iona’s second try of the first half.
Head gear wearing goal kicker and fullback Campbell Rolfe was also classy, with his kicking for touch chewing off valuable metres.
NEW CAPTAIN
Ashgrove were without their captain and fullback Tom Howard (hamstring), but in his place Jasper Barry provided an inspirational performance as stand in captain, putting in a huge shift on both sides of the ball.
At Curlew Park, St Patrick’s College rebounded from a modest finish to the first half to climb above a resilient St Peters and claimed a 36-7 victory at Curlew Park.
The match was evenly balanced at halftime, but St Pat’s improved its ball control and shape to overcome a gutsy St Peters.
St Peters No. 10 Wallace Charlie had challenged Paddies with his at times magical football, and as a result St Patrick’s led just 10-7 at the break.
However, the home side ramped up its performance, with Doubles Daley Medal winner Cohen Taylor and five-eight Riley Horn leading the way.
Taylor, a real effort player who a week earlier tried his heart out, continued to cut down on his mistakes and as a result he was honoured with the Player of the Match award.
But young Horn also did well directing his side around from five-eight.
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St Peters coach Cameron Wright saw an improvement from the week before which he was happy about.
“I was stoked with the first half. There was a night and day difference between the games,’’ Wright said in praise of his side.
He said his side matched the opposition in the forwards and in the scrum, and the team’s speed in defence was spot on.
But St Pat’s found St Peters out on the edges, and with a yellow card and a series of injuries compounding the team’s performance, St Peters lost its way.
St Peters Wallace Charlie earned the Doubles Daley Medal for Player of the Match for Saints, while his outside centre Johnny Nona defended well and played more directly in the backs.
At Andrew Slack Oval, St Laurence’s College defeated Villanova College 31-5.
Laurie’s conceded just one try in heavy conditions which impressed coach Welmar du Plessis.
“We showed character in defence and we took our opportunities. The guys upfront did well,’’ du Plessis said.
The match was lit up by a thrilling try scored by outside centre Will Kartelo, who supported a break from No.8 Ben Davis to cross.
Villa coach Eddie Harris was impressed with Laurie’s discipline, structure, pressure and pick and drive execution.
Indeed, Harris said his team’s goal line defence prevented even more points by St Laurence’s.
However, in general play Villa missed too many tackles and became unconnected.
St Laurence’s inside centre Lewis Blaikie was crowned his team’s Double’s Daley Medal winner, but it would have been a close call, so well did work horse flanker Liam O’Callaghan play. O’Callaghan impressed with his work rate.
Villa’s Double’s Daley Medal winner was inside centre Ned Godwin, while tighthead prop Sam Binney and loose head prop Harry Higgins did well against quality opposition in muddy conditions.
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At Tivoli, Padua enjoyed a 60-7 win in its build-up to play Iona in round 4.
While St Edmund’s were courageous and tried hard, Padua were ruthless in attack, did not surrender possession easily and kept the opposition to just one try.
So well did they play, Eddie’s coach Andrew Kirk said they would give the premiership a “red hot crack’’.
“They were well structured and played well,’’ Kirk praised.
Padua’s charge was led by fullback Jayden Solien who produced a Doubles Daley Medal winning performance.
A slick attacker and a great defender, Solien is a tremendous asset to Padua’s campaign this season.
Tight-head prop Callum Rooney also enjoyed scoring three tries, while winger Tyrone Burr continued to improve after playing in the Second XV last season. Burr has been good for three successive weeks now.
St Edmund’s were starved of possession, with a mounting penalty count putting additional pressure on the side, but still the green shoots were evident.
“We were courageous and didn’t stop trying,’’ said coach Kirk, who lost both his centres to injury.
The Double’s Daley Medal winner was Jack Breuer, while flanker Will Tatt also did very well.
ROUND 4
Villanova v St Edmund’s
Marist v St Peters
Padua v Iona
St Laurence’s v St Patrick’s
Originally published as AIC First XV Rd 3: Iona alive, Padua, St Laurence’s power on
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