University Pirates hold on to down Casuarina and maintain unbeaten run in A-grade rugby competition

A SWIFT start negated late discipline issues to help maintain University Pirates’ unbeaten run through Round 6 of the 2020 Darwin A-grade rugby competition with a nail-biting 23-22 win over Casuarina

Strong leadership in defence from Ben Parkes stood out in University Pirates win over Casuarina.

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A SWIFT start negated late discipline issues to maintain University Pirates’ unbeaten run through Round 6 of the 2020 Darwin A-grade rugby competition with a tight 23-22 win over Casuarina.

The Pirates enjoyed an electrifying start with three tries in the opening 13 minutes to Robbie Butcher, David Taylor and Matthew Hall.

But the Cougars kept their heads even with the scoreline against them taking advantage of lapses in University’s discipline to score the next two through Eric Erickson and Sunia Radravu.

Though it was the Pirates who struck the final blow of the try heavy opening half with Joseph Kado crossing for his side.

Injury and discipline woes shook the Pirates in the second half with Matt Vitucci going off injured while Ryan Oakley was twice referred to the sin bin.

Cougars took advantage scoring twice more through Erickson and Daniel Jarman but University held on to the slimmest of advantages with Liam Walker and Ben Parkes with strong showings in defence.

Player-coach Butcher was proud of his side’s determination throughout the contest but acknowledged they would need to work on discipline.

“It was a tricky one, we started off well but discipline let us down near the end so we will need to work on that,” Butcher told the NT News.

“Our quick start really helped us and it was something we had the week before and then we started to face issues in the second the heart and courage started to show through as we held on.

“Everyone is loving being back out there now and they all know that our good start pre-COVID means nothing if we don’t back that up with similar results now.”

The Pirates will next face off against South Darwin who will be looking for revenge after suffering defeat to Darwin Dragons on the weekend.

Hirini Murfitt with two tries stood out for the Dragons in their first match back post-COVID restrictions though the match ultimately came down to kicking accuracy.

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University triumphed 31-28 last time the two sides met but will be on the guard against a side they know to possess plenty of attacking threats.

“Souths always have a free-flowing style of play and can be dangerous on the counterattack,” Butcher said.

“They have a well-rounded squad that has plenty of power up front and in the backs so we will have to keep an eye on them there.

“We will need to focus on playing our game and just doing the little things well as we will need to lock in the smart, error free game that we want to play while building on our discipline.”