There’s two rounds to go of the regular season and the main protagonists are jockeying for position down the final stretch. With Eastwood only needing a bonus point win over Parramatta to be crowned Minor Premiers, the competition for 2^nd spot on the ladder and a week off in the first round of the finals is now a four horse race with Randwick adrift in 6th.

Two of those sides involved meet in the ABC match of the round when Sydney University host Eastern Suburbs at the birthplace of Australian rugby and as well as going a long way to deciding their finals fate, there is much at stake when these historic rivals clash once more.

Uni will be out to avenge their 16-13 defeat at Woollahra Oval back in Round Ten whilst trying to maintain their eight game unbeaten streak. Easts meanwhile, are on something of a roll themselves, winning ten of their last eleven and giving cause for cautious optimism amongst the Beasties faithful of a first Premiership since 1969.

There is also the matter of ownership of the Sir Roden Cutler Shield. The Students lost possession of it in Round One after an incredible 4 year run but after passing through the hands of four different sides, it returned to Uni Oval in Round Nine. An Easts victory would give them the chance to hold onto the trophy until next year should they overcome Norths at home next week.

Last Saturday night’s hard fought victory over Manly was another big step towards a 6^th successive title for Uni and they’re doing it the hard way this year after a first half of the season that saw them lose seven of their first twelve games. Pushing hard for Man of the Match honours on the night was Waratah flanker and Australian Sevens captain Pat McCutcheon. Although very pleased and relieved after the 3pt win, after the game he was keen to keep everyone’s feet on the ground regarding their finals chances:

“That’s eight from nine so far in the 2^nd half of the season so we’re fortunate that we’re getting a bit of a roll on going into the finals but in saying that, we’re not there yet. We’re just trying to focus on game by game as that’s the position we’re in this year and hopefully that can put is in a better place going into the finals.”

Having been subjected to a barrage of physicality from the Marlins, McCutcheon was wary of the different challenges that high scoring Easts may pose on the day:

“Manly are quite a big, physical side, they hit it up with one out rucks and pick and drives and you’ve got to set your defensive line and number up on that. Easts can play with a bit of width, some of their backrowers are quite mobile and have got a bit of speed and in defence, we’re going to have to aim up around the ruck, spread out and mark men, rather than space. That’s something we’ll work on this week at training and hopefully we can bring it on game day.”

Head coach Greg Mumm agreed with his star backrowers assessment:

“Easts will test us with width and short kicks and pose a different kind of test. I think we passed the physical test tonight, whether or not we pass the ‘trick’ test I guess you could call it next weekend will be the mark of where we’re really at defensively.”

Easts currently average over 39pts a game for the season and have scored more than 40pts a game five times in the second half of the season alone. Mumm had a simple answer when asked how Uni could contain such a pointscoring threat:

“We’ll just control the ball. They will test us defensively because they do play a high risk game so we’ll look to defend with a lot of linespeed, get in their face and let them know we’re there and just not give them the ball.”

Despite their turnaround in fortunes as the season has progressed, the recent wins over Gordon and Manly did offer some hope to their opponents that the Sydney Uni of 2010 hasn’t quite acquired the ruthless streak of previous vintages…yet. Post Manly, Mumm agreed, offering different reasons as to why that maybe the case but he was confident that attaining that cutting edge is not all that far away:

“It is a disappointing fact that we couldn’t go away with it as we would have liked to tonight and I think that probably comes down to the scrum and the kicking. Last week against Gordon, that was down to a little bit of mental relaxation and guys switching off whereas tonight I think it was not being able to execute those two areas that would have enabled us to get into attacking situations. Tonight, definitely the intensity was there and as long as we get our execution right in the next two weeks, then we’ll be in good shape come the first round of finals.”

Easts head coach Lachie Fear is looking forward to finals footy for the third year in a row. Having taken an unfancied Gordon side to 2^nd in 2008 and 3^rd last year, he has completed the hat-trick with his new club and fulfilled the first part of his ultimate challenge - to deliver a title to a success starved club and it’s long suffering supporters.

Although keen to finish 2^nd and enjoy that week’s hiatus from the competition and also to achieve a rare double over Sydney University, he isn’t approaching this game as a be all and end all for the year. Rather than focusing on the much vaunted opposition, Fear sees the clash as a chance to see just how far his side have progressed in their quest to become Premiership material:

“We are looking at this game as a challenge for us as opposed to anything from the opposition. Generally, it would be standard for Uni’s opponent to hope for a tight game and possibly jag a win but we want to test ourselves out to see if they can go with us.”

A potential Grand Final rehearsal, the game will see both sides culled of talent that may well be on display should they make it to the Concord Oval finale on October 2^nd. Uni are without Julian Huxley who’s been in stellar form since his return to club rugby and Waratah warhorse Phil Waugh is still a couple of weeks away from his first game since fracturing a kneecap against Easts back in June. Add in the probable return of touring Wallabies Dean Mumm, Berrick Barnes and Luke Burgess and Uni’s side could take on a familiarly ominous look for the knockout stages.

Easts have been cruelled too, most notably by the loss of the form flyhalf of the tournament, Matt To’omua who’s combination with new Waratah scrumhalf Brendan McKibbin has been a feature of the Beasts’ surge up the ladder in recent weeks. Wallaby Matt Hodgson and gun fullback Pat Dellitt are still on the recovery table whilst recent addition Peter Kimlin is also injured and yet to wear the tricolour jersey. Fear admits that the absentees will have a bearing on the result but sees it as a positive in the long run:

‘It has weakened us slightly but it also enables us to have good preparation for the finals by building up our depth.”

With an average weekly scoreline of 47-26 in their favour since Round Eleven, the Beasts are unquestionably the most exciting team to watch in the Shute Shield at the moment. Capable of running in tries from anywhere, they have two of the top three tryscorers in the competition in Damon Anderson and Anton LaVin and a player in Huia Edmonds, who belies his position of hooker to be one of the most skilful and unpredictable players in Australian rugby. Conversely, they are also prone to switching off at times and leaking points as a result.

Whilst Fear is mindful of the sides worryingly high points against column, refreshingly, he isn’t about to sacrifice his attacking mindset because there’s a possible trophy at stake:

“We would like to cut out the lulls in our game and that’s the focus over the next two weeks but we don’t want this to hinder our flair. It’s a good mental challenge for the guys at the moment, if we can get our game functioning for the entire 80 minutes and control the tempo changes in the match, then we can have great confidence not only to succeed against Uni but against anyone in the finals. Our levels of belief and concentration are key for our guys at this stage of the season as opposed to how we play the game.”

If that means a 47-26 Grand Final win then every neutral club rugby fan in New South Wales will be as happy as those down at Woollahra Oval. Play on…

Saturday September 4^th – 3pm – Uni Oval No.1

Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Ben Roberts, 3. Jeremy Tilse; 4. Dave Dennis, 5. Dave McDuling; 6. Pat McCutcheon, 7. Jono Jenkins, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Dan Kelly; 11. Peter Betham, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Mitch Inman, 14. Lachie Mitchell; 15. Nathan Trist.


Eastern Suburbs: 1. Ofa Fainga'anuku, 2. Huia Edmonds, 3. Guy Shepherdson; 4. Phil Mathers, 5. Ed Brenac; 6. Talalelei Gray, 7. Will Brock, 8. Andrew Shaw; 9. Brendan McKibbin, 10. TBC; 11. Damon Anderson, 12. Ben Ward, 13. Afusipa Taumoepeau, 14. Anton Lavin; 15. Gavin Debartolo.


Referee: Steve Walsh

By Paul Cook

Sydney University have put up their best defensive display of the season to hold out Manly 20-17 and make it eight wins in a row in the process. Played under the lights at Uni Oval No.1, the match was fiercely contested from kick-off to final whistle as both sides flexed their finals muscles with bruising physicality. The Marlins had the better of the 1^st half and looked to be going into the break with a 9pt lead but a try on the bell from Dave McDuling gave the Students some much needed momentum and a second score after the break put them in the box seat. Manly got their second wind to pummel the Uni line in the last 20 minutes but a masterclass in goal line defence kept them at bay to secure the narrowest of victories.

Having let Uni off the hook in their first encounter of the season back in Round Nine - going down to a controversial penalty try in the dying minutes – the Marlins started the match with a real sense of purpose and a desire to stop the rot of three successive losses. Playing with pace and intensity, they found some holes in the Uni line early on but couldn’t quite finish the job until the 10^th minute.

Good support play from Dylan Sigg and Chris Cottee finally made the numbers count and Chris Yarrington was on hand to profit. Handed the role of goalkicker in the absence of the departed Adam D’Arcy, he stepped up to convert his own good work and improve Manly’s advantage.

It took until the 25^th minute for Uni to get on the scoreboard with Dan Kelly knocking over a penalty but Manly continued to have the better of territory and possession and only handling errors at crucial times were costing them the chance to increase their lead. Despite the best efforts of flyhalf Mark Swanepoel, their desire to move the ball wide and create overlaps was often cruelled by being simply too flat in attack.

Consequently, their most likely chance of success was through their powerful pack and minutes before half-time, it was they who did the hard yards to earn try no.2. After multiple phases inside Uni’s red zone, patience and discipline were rewarded when skipper Will Brame twisted through the melee to cross from 5 metres. The passage of play that followed was the most significant of the match with Manly suffering a 9pt swing in favour of their hosts that shifted the balance of power in the game.

Yarrington wasted his conversion attempt by hesitating and watching in horror as Nathan Trist raced off the Uni line to kick the ball off the tee. Then, following a shabby restart, a terrific run from Pat McCutcheon took play back to the Marlins twenty-two, Trist grubbered through the legs of a would be tackler, and a bouncing ball that should have been dealt with sat up for Peter Betham to put McDuling in for the try.

Kelly added the extras and from a position of ascendancy, Manly were left shaking their heads at the paucity of their lead while a reinvigorated Uni practically sprinted to the sheds to plan their 2^nd half comeback.

They were obviously concerned enough about Manly’s threat to adopt a ‘take any points that present themselves’ approach when they returned. Their first foray of the new half ended with a drop goal from Kelly that gave them the lead for the first time in the game.

Nerves now settled, Uni started to control possession and dictate the pace and it wasn’t long before they built a 20-12 advantage. They’d gone close in the 50^th minute when a Trist run to the line was scratched from the records for a foot in touch but two minutes later, they crossed legally to make it two tries apiece. Intense pressure forced a poor clearance and from a swift counter attack, Lachie Mitchell streaked past three blue shirts to find Tom Carter who offloaded in the tackle and put Greg Jeloudev in under the posts.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, history dictated that Uni would go up another gear and turn a hard fought contest into a comprehensive victory but the Marlins obviously didn’t read the script. Showing admirable courage and mental discipline, they took the game back to the reigning champions, hammering the line in determined fashion and what ensued was akin to Custer’s Last Stand.

All hands were on deck for Uni as they repelled wave after wave of attack and the hits kept getting bigger and bigger. Manly kept it in tight and just kept on coming but having dominated large parts of the game, Uni’s stout refusal to concede left them empty handed and it wasn’t until the last minute that Yarrington found a crack in the armour to score a consolation for a losing bonus point.

His conversion fell short and – though in no way blaming the promising youngster for the defeat - those two missed kicks would have given them a 1pt win had they been successful. Now, where is Adam D’Arcy when you need him?

FT Sydney University 20 Manly 17

Sydney University flanker Pat McCutcheon:

“[After Manly’s second try] we were behind the posts and we said to each other that we needed to be the next to score before half-time because you find in a lot of games that whoever scores just before the half-time bell, that gives them a lot of momentum for the 2^nd half and we were able to capitalise early in the 2^nd half. At half-time we spoke about being a bit more clinical in our set-piece with the forwards, to execute our lineout with speed and accuracy and our scrum getting pumped for the ball and us focusing on the simple things gave us a bit of momentum for the 2^nd half.

“The game was played with the intensity of finals footy and it’s good to have that two or three weeks before the finals come around. It’s good to know that you’re up for the test and up for the physicality that Manly threw at us and we can take confidence from holding out a team that’s 2^nd on the table. They’re not there by mistake, they’re a great side and they’ve been doing well all season so for our defence to hold them out for those final 20 minutes when they were in our 10 metre channel, we can take a lot of confidence from that going into the finals.

“We weren’t as clinical as we wanted to be, we gave away a few silly penalties in the scrums such as not binding and wheeling. It’s the individual who’s accountable for that and we need to sit down, look in the mirror and take action that will put us on the front foot for next week.”

Manly captain Will Brame:

“The boys started off well, getting up off the line, making their tackles and making it hard for Uni and I’m sure at one stage they were a bit worried. They were pretty lucky to get that try just before half-time and at the end of the day, that was probably the difference. We gave it away with a couple of guys maybe switching off for the last 30 seconds of the half and that kills you against these kinds of sides and that’s something we’ve got to be aware of for next time. I think next time we play them, we’ll win. They’ve had their two wins, it’s time we took one back off them – if we get that far.

“The last few games we’ve lost and I probably haven’t felt as confident but after tonight’s performance, I definitely feel confident and I think we’ll take a lot away from this game. I’m very proud of the boys, they played really well and we came up just a little bit short. we’ve lost the last three against them but after tonight, I think there could be a turn. We may have lost but that was definitely a turning point for the team so we’ll just go on from that and work through our errors during the week.”

Sydney University head coach Greg Mumm:

“Scoring both sides of half-time was important and the try before half-time was definitely a plus and would have ripped their heart out a little bit but the chat was quite calm in the sheds and I think it would have been anyway. We’ve seen a lot of Manly because we trail them every week and we knew that that was probably the best half of footy they’ve played in five weeks so we weren’t too concerned, the aim was always just to stick to our guns in the knowledge that we’ve got a strong 2^nd half in us.

“We’re a little bit disappointed with our ability to control territory and obviously our scrum’s still a bit of an issue so we need to keep working on that. We’ve got a lot of focus on getting our set-piece right in terms of delivering the ball at a certain standard that allows us to get into the game in the way that we want and we’re not happy with the way we’re getting the delivery. For us, scrum and lineout ball needs to be perfectly delivered so that we can get over the gain line and get into the game and if that’s not happening, we get frustrated. 

“I was very pleased with our defence, that’s probably our best defensive effort of the year. Just the fact that we were able to defend well up close and then there were other times where we were able to push up and defend well in the centre of the field and with width. Tim Davidson said to the boys at the end that that’s as close defensively as you’ll get to finals footy so we’re really happy with that part of the game.”

Sydney University 20 (Dave McDuling, Greg Jeloudev tries; Dan Kelly 2 cons, pen, drop) d Manly 17 (Chris Yarrington 2, Will Brame tries; Chris Yarrington con) at University Oval No.1. HT: Manly 12-10. Referee: Stuart Dickinson.

Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Ben Roberts, 3. Jeremy Tilse; 4. Sam Carter, 5. Dave McDuling; 6. Dave Dennis, 7. Pat McCutcheon, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Dan Kelly; 11. Greg Jeloudev, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Lachie Mitchell, 14. Peter Betham; 15. Nathan Trist.
Manly: 1. Eddie Aholelei, 2. Elvis Taione, 3. Tim Fairbrother; 4. Dylan Sigg, 5. Greg Peterson; 6. Will Brame [c], 7. Chris Westenenk, 8. Tevita Metuisela; 9. Chris Cottee, 10. Mark Swanepoel; 11. Lui Siale, 12. Tyrone Smith, 13. Luke Johnson, 14. Chris Yarrington; 15. Damien Reti

By Paul Cook

Eastern Suburbs have cemented their status as genuine title contenders with a 45-29 victory over Warringah at Woollahra Oval, lifting themselves up into that all important second spot on the ladder in the process. They certainly didn’t have it all their own way as the Rats fought fire with fire in a desperate attempt to maintain their own flickering interest in the finals series and with both sides promoting attack over defence, it was merely a question of who had the greater firepower. With an hour on the clock, it was Warringah who had crept into a 1pt lead, however, Easts responded, putting the pedal to the metal and running in 17 unanswered points to seal the deal and claim their tenth victory in the last eleven matches.
 
Anton LaVin has been in a rich vein of form lately and it was he who proved a thorn in Warringah’s side in the early exchanges to help Easts open up a 14pt gap. He claimed his 16th try of the season after five minutes before turning provider when he fed Matt To’omua to the posts after intercepting a suicidal pass along the backline from Brett Sheehan.
 
However, the Rats weren’t fazed and set about taking the game back to their hosts. A tactic of grubber kicks in behind Easts’ wingers was causing concern and after a 10 minute barrage, one effort finally gained reward when a kindly bounce gave Dylan Smouha the chance to pluck from the air and step inside Gavin De Bartolo for the line.
 
Rats’ centre Sam Harris drew his side back to within 4pts from a penalty before a certain try from a To’omua grubber at the other end was called back for the attackers being in front of the kick. It was a brief respite for the visitors as an overthrow from a 10 metre lineout on the half hour gave To’omua the chance to retrieve possession from the ensuing scramble, scurry forward and put lock Phil Mathers across for Easts’ third.
 
This drew an immediate response from the Rats when Luke Holmes took a tap and go, Sheehan dummied, drew two and fed Josh Holmes who stepped outside and around to the posts to give Harris an easier conversion. For all their attacking prowess, the Beasts could only take a 21-17 lead to the sheds and with the Rats changing their point of attack up nicely with a mix of bombs and grubbers, the home side knew they still had plenty to do to bring this one home.
 
When To’omua pounced on another loose crossfield pass in the 55th minute to notch the four try bonus point, the expectation was that they would go on and finish the job. But, as happened against Randwick in my last visit to Woollahra, they took their foot of the throat and invited their opponent back up off the floor, coughing up two tries in five minutes to give the Rats the lead for the first time in the match.
 
Firstly, Easts took a leaf from their opponents book to gift Ed Doyle an intercept from the edge of their twenty-two. Harris’ conversion was embarrassingly charged down but it didn’t matter as Sheehan took control of proceedings on the hour.
 
Having just pulled up short with a long range penalty, the ‘recently discovered’ flyhalf made amends as he broke through a gap, palmed off one, span through another and dotted down. Harris too, made amends and with 20 minutes to go, Warringah had hit the front.
 
It was then that Easts showed just why they could be a major player come finals time. Having merrily skipped along with a mantra of you score, we’ll score more, the realisation of actually going behind seemed to hit with full force and the team as a whole rose to the occasion and finally blew away the Rats resistance with 17 unanswered points.
 
Afusipa Taumoepeau only made his comeback from long term injury last week but his arrival at the pointy end of the season may just be that extra x-factor that pushes Easts all the way. His two ‘match-winners’ to decide this game could be merely the start of a significant contribution from the Brumbies utility.
 
His first was all down to the brilliance and teamwork of Damon Anderson. The winger put in a lovely step on the left flank to bamboozle the last man but with a covering defender racing across, he unselfishly put in Taumoepeau to make certain.
 
The always impressive McKibbin converted and added a penalty for good measure moments later to make it 38-29 and after Harris had superbly thwarted an Anderson try with a last ditch tackle, the extra intensity being applied by Easts told once more. To’omua and Huia Edmonds combined off the back of a scrum to put Taumoepeau over again although Smouha’s missed tackle gave him the time and space to profit. Game, set and match to Easts.
 
FT Eastern Suburbs 45 Warringah 29
 
 
Warringah head coach Ben Manion:
 
“We gifted them a couple and some of our more senior boys made a couple of glaring errors which really cost us. We’re a dumb team sometimes, we got to 29-28 and you’re thinking ‘right, switch on, restart, you’ve got the wind behind you, one phase and then maybe kick to the other end’ but instead we gift up a turnover from the restart and they scored with their next touch and that was just the sum of it, we gifted away far too many tries. It’s just frustrating because I know we’re good enough to be able to compete but that’s the story of our season.
 
“It’s one of those games that hinged on one or two little things. We had a lineout penalty deep in the twenty-two and we did a back of the lineout move, dropped it and they get out of jail and that was with 15 minutes to go. From there, they put the pressure on and we just couldn’t get back into the game and it swings on little things like that, they’re the coach killers. We kept trying but credit to Easts, they’re a good attacking side. They got a few good bounces and a few dubious decisions but you get that when you’re at home.
 
“We’re probably going to miss out, we’re 8pts behind Randwick with two to play but they keep falling in a hole for us and they’ve got a tough couple of games. They’ve got Gordon - who are starting to find a bit of form – at Chatswood and then Manly at home. We’ve got Norths at Norths and Wests at home. Norths at North Sydney Oval, they grow an extra couple of legs, it’s when they’re away that they seem to be struggling so they’ll be tough. Where there’s life, there’s hope but we’re not confident. We’ll just keep turning up and doing our best.”
 
Eastern Suburbs head coach Lachie Fear:
 
“I think we make decisions at times that play the opposition into the game a lot more than we have to and it’s because we’re a very attack focused team and we probably look at that too much. It would be handy for us – in the manner of old school rugby league – to maybe ‘take a settler’ every now and then. There’s two ways of looking at it, either you score more points than the opposition or you prevent them scoring more than you. You either take that attacking philosophy or adopt a defensive one and I guess I’m weighted more to the attacking side and I enjoy that. I think that helps you in being successful or in getting a group of guys enjoying what they’re doing. It’s so much better – even if you’re losing – if you’re scoring points.
 
“There’s a bit of an assumption with our defence and probably sometimes our guys don’t deserve that. I think we tackle well, we don’t miss tackles and I think we have people in the right areas. Structurally wise, we are alright, it’s just that – like in the 1st half – we gave away back to back penalties that just brought them into the game. We had a kick-off that didn’t go 10 metres and that prevents us from putting it back into their zone as opposed to them coming in to attack us. We switch off through our actions, not by not acting.
 
“We played Souths, Manly and Warringah in the middle of the season and quite frankly, those teams wanted to win it more than us but we’ve turned every one of those losses around in the last three weeks which is really impressive from the guys. We had a bit of arrogance before as opposed to confidence and our arrogance was that we probably expected to win, we expected that it would just happen for us and I think that’s what happens to teams that are going ok. We were close to that again today but I think that half-time was an indication of where this teams got to. Today, they were really dirty on themselves and I think that’s something that might be different to what happened in the middle of the year, they’re starting to be more accountable for their actions.”
 
Eastern Suburbs 45 (Matt To'omua 2, Afusipa Taumoepeau 2, Phil Mathers, Anton Lavin tries; Brendan McKibbin 6 cons, pen) d Warringah 29 (Josh Holmes, Brett Sheehan, Dylan Smouha, Ed Doyle tries; Sam Harris 3 cons, pen) at Woollahra Oval. HT: Eastern Suburbs 21-17. Referee: James Leckie
 
Eastern Suburbs: 1. Ofa Fainga'anuku, 2. Huia Edmonds, 3. Guy Shepherdson; 4. Phil Mathers, 5. Ed Brenac; 6. Talalelei Gray, 7. Will Brock, 8. Andrew Shaw; 9. Brendan McKibbin, 10. Matt To'omua; 11. Damon Anderson, 12. Ben Ward, 13. Afusipa Taumopeau, 14. Anton Lavin; 15. Gavin Debartolo.
Warringah: 1. Pek Cowan, 2. Luke Holmes, 3. AJ Whalley; 4. Brent Murphy, 5. Tom Hockings; 6. Beau Robinson, 7. Paul McGugan, 8. Trevor Richardson; 9. Josh Holmes, 10. Brett Sheehan; 11. Dylan Smouha, 12. Sam Harris, 13. Ed Doyle, 14. Joelin Rapana; 15. Hamish Angus.

Reigning champions Sydney University have risen to 5^th spot on the Shute Shield ladder after defeating Gordon 42-27 at Chatswood Oval to claim their seventh straight victory. However, despite putting six tries on their hosts, their performance was far from polished and a plucky Highlander outfit made them work right up to the final whistle for the win. Crossing for four tries and a bonus point themselves, Gordon certainly kept Uni honest and but for some poor execution and decision making in the 1^st half, they may have pushed the Students even closer but Uni had just enough about them to see the game out and take another step towards finals footy.

If Gordon were hoping to hold the Students at bay early on, their plans were scuppered in the first 5 minutes by Nathan Trists’ opener. Dan Kelly has assumed the mantle of goalkicker in recent weeks and his conversion, added to a 15^th minute penalty for a high shot on Julian Huxley, opened up a 10-0 gap and posted worrying signs for the home side.

The Highlanders finally started to take a foothold in the match, competing well at the breakdown and forcing turnovers but they couldn’t capitalise on the increased territory and possession their forwards were earning them. They did cross in the 18^th minute but winger Barry Mansfield’s foot was correctly adjudged to have gone into touch before he dotted down.

Captain Dave Harvey got them on the scoreboard with a penalty after more good work from the pack moved them within striking distance of the posts and Gordon bossed proceedings for the next 10 minutes but in what has perhaps been the story of their season, they couldn’t convert pressure into points and eventually they paid the price as Lachie Mitchell showed a clean pair of heels to skirt around some static defence and cross in the corner for try no.2.

Things got worse for the home side as Uni struck again before the break to build a powerful – if a tad unworthy – 22-3 lead. The industrious Nath Nicol was trying to make headway for the Highlanders when he was hit like a sledgehammer by Uni captain Tim Davidson. The turnover ball found its way back to Huxley who put up a bomb, ran through to regather unhindered and waltzed through to the line far too easily.

Nicol set about making amends five minutes into the second half as Gordon worked the short side and caught Uni unawares with the powerful hooker brushing aside a couple of soft tackles to reduce the arrears. Heeding the wake up call, the Students almost constructed an immediate response when Huxley put Trist away and into the corner but he too was called back for a foot in touch. Even stevens in the disallowed try stakes.

Gordon heightened their aggression at the breakdown but when an over zealous Kingsley Seale was given ten minutes to cool off, it acted as a green flag to Uni who profited almost immediately. A tap and go from a scrum penalty eventually saw Dave McDuling emerge from a heaving throng with the last touch for the bonus point try and further punishment ensued on the hour when slack defence allowed Davidson to snipe 25 metres from a scrum just inside halfway before feeding fellow Melbourne Rebel Nick Phipps to the posts to seal the result. Or so we thought.

To their great credit, the Highlanders lifted themselves up off the canvas, dusted themselves down and decided to go out swinging with a three try burst in the next eight minutes that took Uni, the crowd and possibly even themselves by surprise.

Chris Alcock set the ball rolling, running hard at a retreating defensive line before waiting until just the right moment to gift Tobias Gukibau with the try near the corner flag. Two minutes later and a quick play from a tap and go penalty saw Jared Barry smash his way through Tom Carter, centre Luke Duncan pick up the baton and fight his way past two Students before Harvey stretched for the line despite being the meat in a Uni sandwich.

The impressive Barry made a real game of it when he acted as a battering ram from a Gordon lineout, taking the ball at speed and blasting a path to the line for a well deserved try. Harvey’s second conversion of the game made it 37-27 with 5 minutes on the clock and local hopes of a comeback had turned from a fanciful notion into a distinct possibility.

But a champion team knows how to win even when they’re not at their best and Uni simply stepped on the accelerator, got into the Gordon red zone and played the percentages with their dominant pack. A succession of pick and drives moved them within striking distance and McDuling was the right man in the right place to grab his second and bring an end to hostilities.

 FT Gordon 27 Sydney University 42

Sydney University captain Tim Davidson:

“We made a lot of mistakes which allowed them to get a bit of momentum and keep them in the game, our seam from set-piece to first phase was a bit off and they’ve got a very good backrow so they caused a lot of havoc round there and were a real handful for us. Full credit to them, they definitely turned up to play and they gave it to us and they’re not far off the pace. They knocked Manly off last week and we knew they’d be up for it today and they were exceptional.

“Our urgency was a little bit down, they were about a yard and a half in front of us and beat us to the ball exceptionally well and I think with a few of our boys, the mind was willing, the body wasn’t able. The attitude’s alright, it’s just the execution that was missing today and that’s the top two inches you really need. That comes from experience and I think we’ll learn a lot from that game and it’s probably better to have that now than later on.

“Our aim is just to play as well as we can and then we can go into the finals on the right track. Manly and Easts are the acid test, they’re obviously playing some good footy and we’ll know where we’re positioned going into the finals after them because they’ll be the two tough games in a row that we’re looking for. The good thing for us is that we’re still winning games and scoring points but there’s a lot of errors that we can work on which should hold us in good stead provided we can get them right.”

Gordon joint-head coach Dave Dinning:

“The first 40 minutes were disappointing, although I didn’t think the scoreline at halftime reflected the game. We had a lot of possession in the 1st half but - like most of the season - we simply push passes, are not patient and have a general lack of respect for the ball when we enter the 22m. To the boys credit we fixed it and the 2^nd half was much better in regards to scoring four tries and beating them 24-20 through building pressure, being patient and converting this into points but you need to do that for more than just a half.

“The forwards played very well and really took it to them. Jared Barry is now establishing himself as a 1^st grader, still with plenty to learn but is building confidence at a young age. Paulie Tuala has been our form player for most of the season along with Chris Alcock so these two are working well together. The backs have now been relatively settled for the past few weeks and their alignment, timing and execution is getting better with consistent combinations in place. We still need a greater respect for the ball but over the past few weeks, we have certainly broken the line, especially when going wide.

“Uni rely a lot on their first two phases from a set piece, getting over that advantage line with strong ball carriers from the backs which allows the forwards to come around the corner to be on the front foot. Our focus was on chopping them down with low tackles to stop this momentum on the first phase but more importantly, the second phase. We did this well throughout the 1^st half and they were at 6’ and 7’s for periods due to this but doing it for a full 80 minutes is the key. We need to be consistent and that’s what our focus will be for the remaining three matches.”

Sydney University head coach Greg Mumm:

“I wasn’t happy with either half to be honest. The half-time score looked good but we didn’t execute a lot of things. The three tries we got came pretty much off their mistakes which is a good sign because good teams can capitalise on other teams mistakes but we would have liked to have been creating some of our own which was the disappointing bit. Gordon were three or four held passes off possibly having the lead at half-time so full credit to them but our guys have just got to keep working on executing when we have opportunities – we’re good at creating them but we’re just not as good at executing them.

“In terms of the weekly preparation, we’re under no illusion that we’ve got a very tough run – Eastwood last week, Gordon this week after they’ve beaten Manly, then Manly then Easts then Penrith at their home and then we’ve got to play knockout footy from there on in. I think if we can just go one week at a time, if we get Manly and then somehow manage to get over Easts then we can go into the finals knowing that we would have beaten each of the teams in there - with the exception of Randwick - in the second half of the comp as well as having the experience we’ve got of finals footy.”

Sydney University 42 (Dave McDuling 2, Nick Phipps, Nathan Trist, Lachie Mitchell, Julian Huxley tries; Dan Kelly 3 cons, 2 pens) d Gordon 27 (Nathan Nicol, Jared Barry, Dave Harvey, Tobius Gukibau tries; Dave Harvey 2 cons, pen) at Chatswood Oval Referee: James Leckie HT Sydney University 22-3

Gordon: 1. Marty Plokstys, 2. Nathan Nicol, 3. Tobius Gukibau; 4. Jared Barry, 5. Mark Johnson; 6. Paulie Tuala, 7. Chris Alcock, 8. Jason Peseta; 9. Terry Preston, 10. Josh Keil; 11. Greg Wade, 12. Luke Duncan, 13. Dion Berryman, 14. Barry Mansfield; 15. Dave Harvey [c]. 
Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Jeremy Tilse; 4. Sam Carter, 5. Dave McDuling; 6. Dave Dennis, 7. Jono Jenkins, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Dan Kelly; 11. Nathan Trist, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Lachie Mitchell, 14. Alfi Mafi; 15. Julian Huxley.

By Paul Cook

West Harbour pulled off the shock of Round Nineteen, putting in their best performance of the season to down Randwick 43-18 at a stunned Coogee Oval. The Pirates had only four victories to their name prior to the match but one of those was over the Wicks at Concord back in May and they played like a team confident of repeating that earlier success. Repeat it they did and then some, running in six tries to two against a beleaguered and unusually stilted home side with returning Waratah Rory Sidey causing havoc and striding through for a hat-trick of tries. The Wicks sped out to a 10-0 lead but never looked totally convincing and having spurned a few pointscoring opportunities in the 1st half, the Pirates were devastating in the second, putting their more favoured opponents to the sword and finally looking like the West Harbour we’d been expecting to see all year.
 
Things started well for Randwick with former England Sevens player Tom Tombleson on the end of an incisive move down the right flank in the 12th minute to open the scoring. Danny Kroll’s conversion and penalty five minutes later, after referee Steve Walsh had marched the Pirates 10 metres for backchat, gave them a 10pt buffer and it seemed like they would go away with the game.
 
Wests had other ideas and with an increasing amount of possession, they started to apply pressure to their hosts. Their work at the breakdown was a vast improvement on recent weeks and their cause was helped no end by their greater appreciation of the interpretations Walsh was employing at the contact area. He wanted quick, clean ball and for the attacking side to be allowed to recycle at speed and woe betide anyone who attempted to stifle that. His issuing of two yellow cards in the early stages – one for each side - set the tone but only one team learned their lesson.
 
The Pirates had been knocking on the door for a while before they finally broke through. A mixture of spilt ball, forced passes and the wasting of penalty opportunities through failed kicks to touch or poor lineout retention was costing them dear but to the credit of the relatively young side, they backed themselves to get the job done and eventually succeeded.
 
Rory Sidey, out for the last five weeks with a knee injury, showed exactly what they’d been missing in the 36th minute when, following a succession of pick and drives, he was on the end of a two man overlap to cross at the Dolphin Street end of the ground.
 
Buoyed by their achievement, the Pirates ramped up the ante and went in search of another and the timing of the second strike was crucial to the mental complexion of the match. A penalty on the half-time buzzer was kicked to touch, the lineout held, play spread wide and a short pass from Lester Salanoa put the eager Sidey through a gap once more to give the visitors a 2pt lead at the break. Welcome back indeed.
 
The second half began with anticipation in the air of the expected Wicks fightback but it never even got started before the visitors concocted the try of the match. Tito Mua cut across the defensive line from the left flank before the ball was hit up by Sam Latunipulu, went through another two pairs of hands at speed before a beautiful flick pass released captain Campese Ma’afu to the line.
 
Danny Kroll returned fire with a penalty to reduce the gap to 19-13 but Wests were on a roll now and the returning boost of confidence that their three tries had injected was clearly visible. Latunipulu – finally starting to look like the player who was so damaging at Norths last year – orchestrated the next score with a magnificent turnover at the ruck giving Mua the chance to run through a gaping hole and outpace a chasing Tombleson for the five pointer.
 
Brent Kelly came on to try and give the Wicks some much needed direction but they were in disarray in the 65th minute as quick hands and quicker vision put a rampaging Sidey through to the posts for his hat-trick. Exhibiting his strong, direct running style, he palmed off one, carried two with him over the line and emphatically planted the ball to effectively seal the match.
 
Impressive young flyhalf Ben Volavola, in only his second start in 1st Grade, slotted the conversion with aplomb and when he made it 36-13 with a penalty moments later, the party could well and truly begin for the Pirates. There was still time for two more scores, good work from Mua settting up Sione Tau for the icing on the cake before the prolific Tombleson crossed in the corner for a consolation after the buzzer.
 
FT Randwick 18 West Harbour 43
 
 
West Harbour winger Rory Sidey:
 
“It was a big focus of ours to turn the season around this week. There’s no pressure on us really because we’re out of the finals race so we just said to ourselves ‘Let’s go out there and enjoy it’ and get back to the way we know we can play. When we held the ball, we were making inroads and it was just our own mistakes and our own discipline that was letting us down.
 
“We were pretty lucky to get a try right on the bell to get us ahead and we did take confidence from the 1st half even though we didn’t get that many points, because we saw how well we were playing. We knew that if we kept playing like that and kept the ball that we were going to score points and that’s what we did in the 2nd half right almost right from the kick-off.
 
“We did a lot of work on offloads during the week and Steve Walsh was looking for an attacking game and you could see that from the start. We were using little pop passes and going through the hands, not just one out hit ups and that’s when we play our best. Hopefully we can learn from this and keep doing it for the rest of the season. We spoke about really finishing off on a high so we can move into next year and keep that same sort of attitude and confidence.”
 
Randwick head coach Mark Giacheri:
 
“We’re pretty disappointed with the day. I think we’re finding in games that we’re our own worst enemy, we’re starting well, we put teams under pressure but our error rate’s pretty high and teams are able to capitalise. For example today, West Harbour – after a positive start from us – they’ve capitalised on a few of our errors and got their tails up and next thing you know, we’re under pressure and we’re just not coping with pressure too well.
 
“The referee was pretty clear early doors that he wanted the breakdown nice and policed and ball coming back to the attacking team. That was clear early on and we didn’t adapt to the ref. Our discipline right throughout that 1st half was pretty poor and it gave them the opportunity to get the try before half-time and we’ve got to be smarter than that.
 
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to give some credit to West Harbour. They came here to try and finish off their season on a high note and we knew that they were going to come and try to ambush us so to speak. We were well aware of it but they played well. We’ll regroup and it’s still in our hands and we’re still in control of our own results and making the play-offs as opposed to preying on other teams results so we’ve got nothing else but to fight back and try to finish with wins in the next three games.”
 
West Harbour head coach Stu Woodhouse:
 
“Steve Walsh didn’t give any penalties against the attacking team, it was all with the defensive team so we just said that if we keep the ball and retain possession, he’ll find ways to penalise the opposition, that was just his style today. In the 1st half we gave away too many defensive penalties so we worked on rolling away, cleaning up the ruck for us in defence and giving them nothing and in attack, flaunting the laws, securing the ball and forcing them to come offside.
 
“These boys can be exciting when they play and unlike the few wins we’ve had this year - including some good ones against Uni and Randwick in the 1st Round – today was the first day they actually played the West Harbour style. They really attacked with depth and maybe we just took the shackles off and said ‘just play’ while not allowing them to have any composure or any rhythm today.
 
“This win doesn’t gloss over the fact that we’ve been poor for the last seven weeks. It maybe shows us what might have been and it rejuvenates you I suppose, you start to question your coaching style and philosophy etc. We’re still missing a few boys – but when we get a half decent side out there, it shows that we can at least be competitive. We’ve been plugging away and the game can be cruel. We’ve been working hard and not getting results so it’s nice when something goes your way.”
 
West Harbour 43 (Rory Sidey 3, Campese Ma'afu, Sione Tau, Tito Mua tries; Ben Volavola 5 cons, pen) d Randwick 18 (Tom Tombleson 2 tries; Danny Kroll 2 pens, con) at Coogee Oval. Referee: Steve Walsh HT: West Harbour 12-10
 
Randwick: 1. Sekope Kepu, 2. Anthony Savovski, 3. Lotu Taukeiaho; 4. Mark Chisholm, 5. Steve Brennan; 6. Seilala Lam, 7. Tim McGann, 8. Ben Mowen; 9. Tony Luxford, 10. Toby Browne; 11. John Tamanika, 12. Bevu Tuqiri, 13. Gene Fairbanks, 14. Tom Tombleson; 15. Danny Kroll.
West Harbour: 1. Rodney Blake, 2. Todd Pearce, 3. Campese Ma'afu; 4. Tom Hikila, 5. Sam Wykes; 6. Steve Mafi, 7. Sam Latunipulu, 8. Sione Tau; 9. Shannin Proctor, 10. Ben Volavola; 11. Tito Mua, 12. Lester Salanoa, 13. Rory Sidey, 14. Maquire Tatola; 15. Liam Windon