AIC First XV rugby 2025 “grand final’’ confirmed
AIC First XV rugby “grand final” confirmed after the Padua College and Marist College Ashgrove juggernauts stormed onwards and upwards in the team’s respective round 6 matches. Reports here.
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The Padua and Marist College Ashgrove juggernauts continued unabated, putting both First XV teams on a collision course for an AIC rugby grand final on June 14 at Banyo.
Premiers Padua defeated St Patrick’s 50-15, with Padua running in tries from anywhere on the field during a huge second half performance in the northside derby.
Across the river at Andrew Slack Oval, Marist also pressed the go button after halftime, turning a skinny 19-12 lead at the break into a resounding 47-12 win.
The closest match of the round saw St Edmund’s get out of jail and defeat St Peters 25-23.
For some weeks the Ashgrove-Padua grand final showdown had seemed as inevitable as the tide coming in, but for a while Villanova did threaten to interject.
As a team Ashgrove has won the breakdowns, been strong over the ball and from there on established a pattern of behaviour this season, putting on the afterburners to blow opponents away with withering second half rallies.
They did it against Iona in round one, swinging a deficit midway into the second half into an astonishing victory.
Ash also did it in round 4 against St Laurence’s after turning for home level-pegging, and they did it again on Saturday, blazing to a 40-12 lead and ultimately a 47-12 victory after Villanova closed to within a converted try, 19-12, by halftime.
After success at the breakdown, Ashgrove’s confidence to back their passing and support game from anywhere on the field has been a point of difference this season, and will pose a threat to Padua in the decider.
On five occasions Ashgrove scored long distance tries after launching raids from halfway or beyond.
On the other side of the ball, Ashgrove’s rushing defence has also put opposition teams under pressure - something they will have to repeat this Saturday if they were to prevent Padua winning back to back premierships.
And Ashgrove’s defence had to be urgent or else Villanova could easily have drawn level or even led by halftime today.
Villanova had come to play, turning over little possession and building pressure.
Twice Villa found the line, once when Sam Binney mauled and drove his way over, and when winger Angus Meredith slid over in the corner after a superb, quicksilver passing movement across the line.
They were building for a third try as well, but Ashgrove second rower Liam Farrelly ripped possession away from his Villa opponent just as the Blue and Golds were being backed into a corner.
But as the match progressed, Ashgrove’s confidence with the ball and silk ball movement proved too hot to handle.
Ashgrove’s desire to spread the ball at pace resulted in multiple highlight reel moments, including:
+ when point scoring machine, hooker Joshua Heinrich, burst 50m to score early in the match. Henrich would also go on to kick six goals from seven attempts;
+ After lightning service from his halfback Harrison Graham, Ash captain Seb Gardiner’s dynamic energy resulted in another break, a movement finishing in the hands of Joseph Cervetto;
+ Ted Clarke plunging over in the corner after a quick thinking Graham had taken a tap penalty. The ball beat the man, as possession was swept at pace to outside Xavier Howard who expertly put Clarke over;
+ possibly the best try of the day was scored in the second half when No. 10 Cervetto was prominent in the build-up. No.8 Elliot Aldridge, half Graham and centre Howard then handled during a scintillating 65m counter-attack try scored by Howard.
The match appropriately finished with a sweeping Ashgrove movement, with the heavily marked winger Liam Rice having the last laugh by being the link between fullback Ollie Millard and the tryscorer Cervetto.
Ashgrove captain Gardiner was a runaway winner as his team’s Daley Medallist, while tenacious Villanova flanker Finn Staley earned his team’s best player medal.
Staley had plenty of hard working matches in defeat, including lock Matt Linnell, gutsy halfback Alex Borger and centre Hudson Bishop.
Ashgrove’s presence at the breakdown made life difficult for Borger, but he stood up well under intense pressure.
Ashgrove’s forwards of Gardner, Aldridge, Johnson, Farrelly, Robinson, Heinrich and props Searle and McAlonan won plenty of contested ball, while Graham’s service to his No.10 Cervotto - and Cervetto’s execution - were highlights.
On Davine Oval in Wynnum, St Laurence’s marched boldly into enemy territory and never trailed in its 61-28 trumping of Iona.
The visitors started with vim and vigour to lead 21-nil after 20 minutes, but their best footy came in a five minute period in the second half when they were ahead 33-21 - but not in the clear.
A wonderful lineout play between tighthead prop Vin Rix and loosehead Luka Smith worked a charm as Rix hot-potatoed it back to thrower Smith, who steamrolled 20m to the try line.
Smith’s score made it 40-21 and then it was 47-21 and game over when Laurie’s swung the ball from left to right, giving impressive fullback Harry Taylor a slight gap to wreak havoc.
The ball started in the hands of Josh Madden, travelled through Tom Ahern, Luka Smith and Caelan Mackay before finding Taylor, whose sidestepping wizardry saw him break the line and then unload to winger Kalen Atthow who was in the prime position to score.
Taylor’s fancy feet was a theme all game and to raise the bat for Laurie’s at 54 points, Taylor took no prisoners when No.8 Tom Croft attacked the short side from a scrum which created an overlap for Taylor.
He lapped it up.
Taylor, who showed his rugby smarts and execution with a 50-22 early on, had one of his best games in a Laurie’s outfit which started fast and kept their foot on the gas to never really give Iona a sniff.
Flanker Declan Hansel, instrumental lock Justin Wilson and busy No.8 Croft each scored tries in the opening 20 minutes to thrust Iona onto the back foot.
The hosts opened their account through prop Oliver Gibson but it was an uphill battle trying to return from that early 21-point deficit.
Croft was a nuisance, scoring his second try soon after to make it 28-7. What was most impressive about Croft wasn’t his two-try effort but when he made a mistake catching a kick off, the next time Laurie’s kicked off he was the first person in pursuit and his pressure forced a handling error.
So in sync and on song were the Laurie’s forwards that when they were presented a lineout 20m from the Iona try line, they rumbled all the way to the stripe and scored through hooker Brad Smith.
Smith’s sensational rolling maul try made it 33-14, with a try to Iona lock Liam Whale just before keeping the home side in the hunt. On the stroke of half, hooker Bailey Swifte scored to trail 33-21.
Swifte was destructive again which followed a string of grand performances from a raw, but awfully exciting, young hooker in Year 11.
He was forced to leave the field midway through the second half with a knee injury but his brother Kalix, also a ferocious front rower, continued the Swifte surge into the night.
But there was no stopping Laurie’s in its 28-7 second half scoring blitz. Gio Koopu’s stoic 70-minute performance in the midfield was just one positive of the black and golds’ almost-complete performance.
Outside centre Caelan Mackay kicked seven-from-eight off the tee, Josh Madden’s service from scrumhalf was to die for and the front row of Smith, Brad Smith and Rix was dominant in scrums and in pick-and-drive play.
Iona’s Mr Reliables delivered once again in the nine-tries-to-four loss where the scoreline did inflate at the end of what felt like a much closer game.
Outside centre Matt Doherty was sound, James Turner sharp and threatening at scrumhalf, flankers Fionn MacCafferkey and Cam Medley just magic again and locks Liam Whale and Joe Baker brilliant.
Big front rowers Sam Hodder, Swifte and Oliver Gibson also held up their end of the bargain and like their teammates, defended bravely for long periods of time before the Laurie’s forwards landed five first half tries off their own bat.
At Curlew Park in Shorncliffe, Padua warmed its engines for next week’s grand final with a white-hot second half performance that turned a slender 19-15 lead into a rollicking 50-15 victory.
St Patrick’s started in splendid fashion when fullback Ryan Smallhorne broke down the barn door to ignite a sizable crowd.
The home side, on its gala old boys day, also scored first in the second half to trail by just four when a decision to tap quickly from halfback Connor Inggs led to diminutive winger Oli Slater scoring a stunning try in the right corner.
Slater’s goose step to escape Damon Humphrys and then beat two defenders to the stripe with speed woke the beast because Padua then went on a 31-nil scoring spree to stun the hosts.
It was simply superb from Padua and ironically, the man who Slater slipped away from to score was the man who orchestrated that five-try blitz in the final 25 minutes.
Humprhys, in his return from a knee injury which kept him out for the last fortnight, had his hand in four of the last five tries in a silky showing where his deft grubber kicking and cut out passing was just too much to handle.
HUMPRHYS HAS IT
Down 19-15 with under 30 minutes to go, St Patrick’s had the momentum and a passionate crowd behind them. But a few missed tackles later and Padua were storming past the finish line, with flyhalf Humphrys’ hand on the trigger.
To make it 26-15, Humphrys, Jarah Chaseling, Nate Clark and Harlem Faalafi burned down the right corner to create a long-distance try to winger Harrison Vera.
That was just the start of some scintillating, running rugby from the visitors. To make it 33-15 and really move into the clear, the slippery Chaseling carved a gorge through the Paddies defence before finding support in — you guessed it — Humphrys.
Humphrys was wise to give Chaseling early ball shortly after because the dangerous fullback stepped one player, drew two and then released an offload while being tackled to ground.
Rory West, perfectly positioned on the left wing, dove over to make it 38-15.
West was a wonder on the wing where four times he scored with his sharp footwork and positioning getting the job done.
A succulent right-to-left cut out pass and a deft grubber kick into the in-goal area from Humphrys created Padua’s last two tries which put the exclamation point on a stunning close by the reigning premiers.
St Patrick’s Doubles Daley medallist hooker Mitch Wallis was again to the fore, with prop Denzel Savelino, No.8 Abe Huxtable, the Blake brothers Harry and Riley (both backs) and Smallhorne impressive.
At Tivola, St Edmund’s halfback Pat Albion kicked a penalty goal seconds from fulltime to sink an unlucky St Peters 25-23.
Albion, a fine sportsman, had a mixed day around the park but made up for it when it countered most.
He had ice in his veins when he stepped up to win the match after St Peters had scored three tries during the game.
Eddies’ run to the winning post was led by captain and No.8 Will Tatt and the forward find of the season, second rower Seb Kracht, who has now scored a try against every opponent this season.
St Edmund’s fullback Tom Wilson was also a two try hero - and should have scored a third.
No surprises who was St Peters’ best player - flanker James Kenny.
Kenny was magnificent, playing above his weight to win four or five turnovers for his side.
Lock Zane Smith continued to give his team’s a high work rate and mobility around the field.
ROUND 7
Villanova v St Patrick’s
St Edmund’s v Iona
Padua v Marist
St Laurence’s v St Peters College
Originally published as AIC First XV rugby 2025 “grand final’’ confirmed
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