Here are seven reasons why the St Edmund’s College First XV rugby win the premiership

Here’s seven reasons the St Edmund’s College First XV team can pull off Mission Impossible and win Saturday’s “grand final’’ against St Laurence’s College.

St Edmund's College rugby action against Padua College.

From cellar dwellers two seasons ago to premiers - that is the prize dangling in front of St Edmund’s College’s AIC First XV rugby side if they beat St Laurence’s College in Saturday’s “grand final’’ in Ipswich.

The recent competition strugglers enter the match unbeaten after a stellar season and are now just one match from a fairy tale finish.

Here we present seven reasons why Eddies can unseat the resigning premiers and pull off what seemed Mission Impossible at the start of the season.

St Edmund's College First XV rugby team.

1. “T” is for team:

The Eddies’ First XV are a very even side. Even tempered. Very similar to their Rivals. Just a team. A unit.

There isn’t one area they have to go to to be successful. They work away. They work for each other.

They dig themselves out of trouble as a unit, without relying on individual brilliance as an escape route.

Eddies' scrumhalf Tafito Falaniko Ah-Ki

2. “T” is for Tafito:

Just like a rudder that steers the ship, halfback Tafito Falaniko Ah-Ki is one of Eddies’ best and he will look to conitnue his red-hot-form in the premiership game this Saturday.

“T” is a good organiser. He’s sharp. He’s fast between the ears— a quick thinker with good on the spot decision making.

Tafito has got the full box of tricks. A try scoring threat with a great box kick and a cracking running and passing game.

Alarm bells ring when u pack a scrum and there’s a wide blind. He uses both sides of the field, and will make you pay if he catches you napping.

If “T” is on his game, it’s anyone’s game.

St Edmund's College First XV rugby team running out to play.

3. The hunger:

2014 was the last time St Edmund’s won an AIC First XV schoolboy rugby premiership. It has been eight years.

The boys in this team haven’t been at the school at a time where their First’s team was competing against the likes of Padua College and Marist College Ashgrove.

There’s a ton of emotion attached to this 70 minutes that lurks around the corner. Passion. Pride. A team hungry to prove themselves.. They will be itching to snap the eight-year-drought and give their rugby program the success it has been starved of.

St Edmund's College First XV rugby team.

4. Home ground advantage:

It’s going to be loud. Really loud.

With families and boys of the College coming out to Tivoli to erupt in support, the boys in blue will feel the passion and love as it radiates from the stands. They can rise to the occasion.

The St Edmund's College First XV.

5. A dose of self-belief:

There’s a good old fashioned belief in the Eddies’ Firsts unit

As the season has progressed, the boys from Ipswich have believed more. At the start of the season, they were uncertain how far they could take this premiership hunting campaign.

Every game they have played, they have progressively gotten better, and showed the fight and fire within what has proved to be a band of brothers.

The best example of this fight was Saturday’s game against Villanova College. Villa could have scored five tries early, and got off to a cracking start to put Eddies’ entirely on the backfoot.

In other years, Eddies’ would have remained on the backfoot. Not this team. They recovered to convincingly win 27-17, with a late try by Villa that shouldn’t have been. It’s this sel-belief in their ability to come back as a team that could see them upset the reigning premiers.

St Edmund's College First XV celebrating.

6. Nothing to lose:

There’s no doubt this Eddies’ team will settle for anything less than the title. They are going for first place, not second.

But this season alone they have done a world of good for the school’s rugby program. They have instilled belief in the younger boys that one day they can do the crest proud.

Not underdogs, but something of the sort, the Eddies’ First XV are coming into this with no pressure. This can work in their favour.

With nothing to lose and a heart full of determination, they might just be able to shock the boys in black and gold.

St Laurence’s College. The reigning premiers going for back-to-back outright premierships have it all to lose.

Eddies' First XV team packing a scrum.

7. The Coach and culture:

St Edmund’s College First XV rugby coach Andrew Kirk has been coaching for 10 years, and has coached the boys he is going to battle with on Saturday since they were in Grade 8.

Since his arrival to the College four years ago, he has gotten players like Zane Kaatz, Logan Costello, Tyler Cuthbert-Hough and Regan Payne ready for their giant-killing assignment that awaits.

Kirk said these boys have been exposed to the First XV program for three years now and are bringing invaluable experience to the squad.

There is a special bond among this squad that we haven’t seen come out of Ipswich in quite some time.

This year’s squad has been proactive in building a culture of rugby, increasing participation numbers across the College, and building the ‘Eddies Rugby Culture’.

The last piece of the puzzle lies at 3:15pm on Saturday afternoon in Tivoli.

Originally published as Here are seven reasons why the St Edmund’s College First XV rugby win the premiership