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

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

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.

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.

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

The big match of the round is the live ABC clash between Manly and Eastern Suburbs at Manly Oval. Just as Manly coach Phil Blake was confident that the Marlins were a much stronger, wiser outfit this year and wouldn’t capitulate down the final straight like last season, the wheels have just fallen off a little bit. Granted, their still top of the ladder so it’s hardly cause for panic but it’s been a horror last two weeks for the boys from the Village Green.
 
Defeats to Eastwood and Gordon alongside the loss of Nemani Nadolo to France permanently and Adam D’Arcy to Ulster indefinitely must have tested the resolve of former league legend Blake. Going into the last four rounds of a season with a potential Minor Premiership and preferential ladder position for the finals at stake minus two players that have scored almost half your team’s points across the season is a big ask.
 
Blake will be hoping that last year’s Ken Catchpole Medallist Andrew Smith continues his resurgence after a long term injury and if the former Norths utility can get anywhere near his best over the next seven weeks, it could go a long way to deciding Manly’s fate. For today’s match, Mark Swanepoel should see off a troublesome knee injury to resule his position at flyhalf and Blake has been impressed with what he’s seen so far after drafting the South African born playmaker into the side to replace the injured Ben Seymour:
 
“It’s a big ask because the kids never played there but over the last few weeks he’s kind of embraced it. He brings a wealth of experience for a 19yr old kid, he’s enthusiastic and he’s slowly but surely getting his head around playing 10. He’s got some really lovely skill sets and they’re skill sets that can accommodate our backline and our team and he’s making a good fist of it.”
 
Blake was also full of praise for one of Manly’s unsung heroes, scrumhalf Chris Cottee:
 
“He’s probably been our most consistent all year. He’s a player that unfortunately has never tasted the next level but could quite easily have played or still could play Super 14 football. It’s a shame he’s never been given the opportunity but he’s the soul of this club, he’s been here for a number of years and he has a lot of impact in this side not only with his playing ability but also with his presence and the respect he holds within the joint.”
 
If the Marlins are a side looking to get back on track, Eastern Suburbs are merely wanting to maintain the rage. Having lost only one of their last nine matches and coming in off the back of victory over Southern Districts at Forshaw Park last week, the Beasts are definitely in red hot form and keen to continue their push for a top two spot. Coach Lachie Fear was feeling confident after victory over the Rebels and believed a week’s rest after the end of the regular season would be a much sought after tonic:
 
“The final six are set, it’s just where you finish and with a couple of results like this against sides that are above us, well, it would be very nice to come in the top two. If we could achieve that, it always helps because the way the season’s structured, to get a rest at that end is probably really important. We’ll get momentum anyway if we go well with the games we play and just having a rest will help our guys I’m sure and we’ll come in fresh to the finals. We’ll be targeting that as well as four other sides or at least three.”
 
He sang the praises of his Wallaby and Super rep players for their part in the club’s run and admits that the chance to work with the group currently at his disposal was a big factor in his return to a club that he used to call home as a Junior:
 
“It’s an awesome challenge and that was the major excitement about coming back home to Easts. We’ve got Huia, Shepherdson, Hodgo, To’omua, Cross and that’s five past or present Wallabies all wishing to be present Wallabies and then we’ve got Brendan McKibbin, Ofa Fainga’anuka, Andrew Shaw and Will Brock. Pat Dellitt, everyone’s having a look at him so it’s a pretty impressive list we’ve got now and if we can keep those guys on the field for as long as possible it’d be really good.
 
“I think the key is that when those guys came in here, we didn’t want them to take over, we just wanted them to add to the team and they’ve done that. We haven’t focused on them, haven’t made them try and change us and it’s not an ‘us and them’ situation so it’s been really positive and all credit to them.”
 
Fear is however, wary of a Manly side that put them to the sword at Woollahra Oval earlier in the year, a loss he equates with the defeat – also on home soil - by Southern Districts:
 
“Manly and Southos, they’re very workmanlike, very solid and they’ll turn up every day so you’ve got to be on your game against them. When we played both those teams [in the 1st Round], we just weren’t in the contest and they deserved their wins. When I look back over the season, I definitely don’t look back over those two games and think ‘If only’ – they smoked us on the day.”

Eastern Suburbs survived an early barrage and a late flurry from Southos to score their first win this season over a side higher in the table with a 38 point salvo either side of half-time. The Rebels controlled proceedings for the first half hour, scooting to a 16-0 lead before Easts found their rhythm and took advantage of errors to be only 2pts down at half-time. The Beasties went on a four try rampage in the second half before the home side regrouped and went for broke in the last ten minutes. It was an exciting, see-sawing game of eight tries and attacking football but also plenty of mistakes and - on this evidence - although both sides have plenty to offer, some significant defensive improvement is required for them to survive the pending finals series.
 
The first half hour of this game was almost one way traffic with Southos racing out of the blocks through a combination of speed, power and invention. They were also helped by an Easts side that took a long time to settle into their game and produced a pretty costly error rate.
 
The warning signs were there after 5 minutes when Marshall Milroy put towering centre Gareth Morton through a gap to the line only to be called back for a forward pass. Five minutes later and Tongan international Kurt Morath – playing at no.10 with captain Josh Gamgee moving to scrumhalf in place of Nathan Sievert  - punished an indiscretion to land the first blow from a superb long range penalty.
 
The flyhalf produced a piece of magic minutes later, slicing through the line on an angle and passing inside to Ita Vaea for the opener under the posts. He added the extras with aplomb and having scored 21pts from the boot the previous week against Parramatta, looked to be on target for another impressive haul.
 
The Rebels were moving the ball wide at pace and stretching the play but their trademark aggression at the breakdown was also paying dividends. A turnover following a break from Easts’ fullback Pat Dellitt gave Rome Nifo a sniff of the tryline but he didn’t quite have the legs to make it count. However, another penalty came from the ensuing ruck and Morath made it 13-0.
 
That soon became 16-0 when referee Steve Hardy awarded a scrum penalty in front of the posts and the mistakes were causing much consternation to the Easts coaching team who were shaking their heads in disbelief.
 
Their frustration was momentarily subdued when the Beasts finally put together a passage of play that took them into the red zone and come away with points. A dazzling run from Anton LaVin down the right flank beat three defenders before he offloaded to Dellitt. McKibbin picked up the baton and fed a long, raking pass infield to Huia Edmonds who straightened for the posts but was hit with a high shot. Playing the advantage, Easts had an overlap on the left flank and Damon Anderson crossed for his 14th try of the season.
 
If that score was as a result of great teamwork and execution, the next can only be described as an absolute gift. A minute before half-time, the talented Dellitt was racing through the midfield before a seismic tackle halted his progress and sent the ball spinning backwards towards Milroy. As the fullback bent down to scoop up the rolling pill, he inexplicably let it pass straight through his legs leaving chaser LaVin to grubber forward and gleefully touch down.
 
The mistake plus McKibbin’s accurate boot had turned a 9pt lead into a 2pt buffer and the effect it had on both sides’ body language was palpable. As Easts coach Lachie Fear said “We were very pleased to get that try and it definitely helped us. We know we’ve got some points in us so we weren’t in panic stations or anything like that but I definitely heard the group say ‘We’re back in it’ so it did help massively.”
 
The momentum had definitely swung in favour of the visitors and they came out a different side in the 2nd half to take the game away from their opponents. The first blow was struck from a lineout a metre from the Rebels line, Easts went for the catch and drive and after all the forwards had spent themselves in a heap, a cheeky McKibbin dummied to throw inside and instead launched himself gridiron style over the heaving mass to touch down. His conversion from the angle gave his side a 21-16 advantage.
 
Morath briefly returned fire for the hosts with a 50th minute penalty but is was a brief respite as the Beasts turned up the heat with three tries in 10 minutes. A combination of attacking verve, lacklustre defence from the home side and a questionable refereeing decision all contributed to the quickire salvo of scores.
 
From another Easts lineout on the twenty-two, the ball was taken in and spread to skipper Ben Ward. His cut-out pass released Dellitt who palmed off two tacklers far too easily to stride through. He should have been stopped. Then, on the hour – controversy.
 
The previously quiet Matt To’omua put a kick in to the right corner resulting in a foot race between LaVin and Rebel Ben Schreiber. Schreiber got there first but what happened next depends on which side you were cheering for. If it was for Easts, Schreiber failed to control the ball and LaVin profited with a touch down. If it was for Souths, Schreiber failed to control the ball because LaVin shoved him in the back then touched down.
 
Five minutes later, the argument was almost made irrelevant as Easts crossed again and LaVin claimed his hat-trick. After To’omua knocked on under pressure following a break from halfway, the Beasts powered into the resultant scrum to make amends. A significant shove earned possession and play was spread wide to Andrew Shaw who fed LaVin to step inside and touch down. McKibbin converted one of the three tries and Easts had turned around a 16pt deficit into a 19pt lead.
 
It was only then, with the game seemingly settled that Easts powered down and the Rebels got their second wind. With 10 mins left on the clock, Radike Samo emerged from a ruck with his signature one handed ball carry and put Schreiber across in the corner. Morath’s conversion made it even more interesting.
 
Souths were on top and a bust from Vea took him close too but he was held up. They continued to pepper the Beasts and it was only impressive goal line defence from the visitors that repelled any further score and they eventually held firm to claim what could be a vital win psychologically for their season.
 
FT Southern Districts 26 Eastern Suburbs 38
 

Eastern Suburbs scrumhalf Brendan McKibbin:
 
“When we got the ball in the 1st half, we either kicked it or made some mistakes, we couldn’t seem to hold onto the ball for more than two or three phases. When we did hold it and didn’t kick it away, their big boys tired and we started to get a bit of pay out wide. We knew that if we could make our first up tackles and get a couple of turnovers then our faster guys could maybe do a job on their tight five and we did that.
 
“We hadn’t beaten anyone that was above us on the table until today but we’ve got the ability to score points, we can probably score from anywhere. But, when it comes to finals time and you start playing those better teams - the Sydney Uni’s, Warringah’s or Manly – they don’t leak as many points so if we keep letting teams score, we might struggle. Our attack’s taking care of itself but we might need to tighten our defence up a little bit. I thought our second half defence was really good, I think they only scored two tries today so we’re very pleased with that.
 
“We’ve held the same backline together now for a few weeks and you can see those combinations are starting to work and the more you’re playing, the stronger those combinations get and the more you start to understand. I’ve played against Matt [To’omua] a few times and hadn’t really played with him so the first couple of weeks, we were finding our feet. Now, we’ve got a pretty good understanding, we’re using each other whether it’s through kicking or passing and we’ve just got to keep developing that combination and the stronger that gets, the better for the team.”
 
Southern Districts head coach Darren Bray:
 
“There were a couple of good things that came out of today but if you’re not going to play 80 minutes at this level, you’ve got no hope. We just didn’t do that and it was pretty disappointing to be honest with you. We dropped off, made a couple of mistakes late in the 1st half and they made us pay. The try before half-time was the turning point and the heads were down at the break.
 
“It was six tries to two but it wasn’t just that, it was the softness of the tries that disappointed me, there were a lot of missed tackles and there were two tries that just weren’t tries. A guy’s running and ends up in the dead ball line so he didn’t get a shot at the ball but anyway. That was pretty crucial and it was still only 26-19 at the time. I was also pretty disappointed with the way the breakdown was refereed. There were plenty of penalties there and he let it go, he just wasn’t consistent enough but that’s life, we’ll move on.
 
“I thought Gamgee went ok at halfback there and got them going forward – especially in the 1st half – but they put a lot of pressure on us and we just didn’t react quickly enough. I’m just having a look at a few things to see if we can improve a few areas. Obviously, we dug a hole for ourselves a few weeks ago and probably some complacency was setting in so I wanted to freshen things up a bit and make sure everyone knows where their roles are and that nothing’s guaranteed.”
 
Eastern Suburbs head coach Lachie Fear:
 
“In the 1st half, we gave silly, ill disciplined penalties away. Our good players made a lot of mistakes but I guess the reason that they’re good players is that they really fronted up in the 2nd half. I was really disappointed with them in the 1st half but I’m really pleased and blessed to have good players that can fix their problems up within the game, that’s a quality so that’s credit to those blokes for sure. And they can be much better than that today, much better, so that’s a positive for us.
 
“Our defence was very good today at certain stages but we also lapse at times. We gave a lot of penalties away and they scored a lot of points off that. I think he [Morath] kicked every single thing today so I guess if we can limit in those areas, we limit the points conceded. We would like to be a bit better defensively and we speak about it a lot that when we get past the first or second phase, we’re a very good defensive team, it’s just those first two phases that we need to get a little more organisation and make sure our set-piece is rock solid.
 
“It was very important for us to say ‘Yes, we are the real deal and will be a competitive finals team’, you’ve got to do that for a start and we don’t have the luxury of a final at Woollahra – it may work out that way – but usually that doesn’t happen so we’ve got to be able to win away from home against big, strong teams so to do that today was important. They weren’t fully loaded, they had a few injuries definitely so I’m not going to understate that but to do that today, that’s a good win for us.”
 
Eastern Suburbs 38 (Anton Lavin 3, Pat Dellit, Damon Anderson, Brendan McKibbin tries; Brendan McKibbin 4 cons) d Southern Districts 26 (Ita Vaea, Ben Schreiber tries; Kurt Morath 4 pens, 2 cons) at Forshaw Rugby Park. HT: Southern Districts 16-14. Referee: Steve Hardy.
 
Southern Districts: 1. Tetera Faulkner, 2. Nick Seymour, 3. Nic Henderson; 4. Rome Nifo, 5. Kane Douglas; 6. Ita Vaea, 7. Hamish Paterson, 8. Radike Samo; 9. Josh Gamgee [c], 10. Kurt Morath; 11. Ben Schreiber, 12. Gareth Morton, 13. Brackin Karauria-Henry, 14. Ben Connolly; 15. Marshall Milroy. 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. Ryan Cross, 14. Anton Lavin; 15. Pat Dellit

The on-off saga of Nemani Nadolo’s move to French side Bourgoin was finally settled in the week and the powerful winger was set to play his last game in a Marlin shirt before jetting off for the thrills and spills of Top 14 rugby the following day. Naturally, he wanted to go out on a high with a win and a couple of tries in the process but even though he didn’t manage to cross the white line, he did play a major hand in setting the Manly bandwagon on a roll.

The visitors came out with their game faces on and a clear sense of purpose, determined to dictate play on their terms and it was no surprise when they struck first. Nadolo showed everyone just what they’ll be missing as he set off on a charge just inside his own half, surging past three defenders before passing inside to the predatory Adam D’Arcy for his twelfth of the season.

In soccer, they’d call D’Arcy a goalpoacher, someone with an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time to punish a defence. Ironically, it’s with his feet that he can do most of his damage, converting his good work with his seventy-first successful kick of another fantastic campaign. The loss of Nadolo and the recent injury to Australian Sevens star Brian Sefanaia makes D’Arcy’s contributions to the side even more important as they look to go deep into this year’s finals.

The Pirates hit back with a magnificent long range penalty from Henry Seavula but you got the impression it was merely a brief respite before Manly struck again. Showing their strength across the park and ability to score from a variety of ways, it was a succession of pick and drives and forward dominance that got them over the line a second time.

Towering 19yr old lock Greg Peterson – all 204cm and 115kg of him – powered his way through at least three goal line tacklers, spinning, twisting and driving his way over. Already a Junior Waratah, watch this kid go when that height is fully complemented by a mature physique, it’s a scary prospect.

D’Arcy added the extras and despite Seavula missing a second penalty attempt to close the gap, Manly were well worth the 11pt lead they held after half an hour. The Pirates just weren’t at the races and appeared to have no real answer to their opponents desire and application. As coach Stu Woodhouse said afterwards “We were poor from the start. We’ve not been too bad in our defence this year but we were poor in that area, a few players were not switched on so, obviously, the rot set in pretty early.”

Things got worse for the hosts as Manly crossed twice more in the final five minutes of the half.

A flowing crossfield move ended when flyhalf Mark Swanepoel cut inside two and fed Tyrone Smith who put a grubber in for – guess who? - D’Arcy to cross in the corner.

Then, almost straight from the restart, the Marlins concocted a fine team try. The ball had been through several pairs of hands before a lovely pop up pass from the floor put Swanepoel away down the right flank. He danced inside one, drew the last man and put Elvis Taione in on his outside, much to the delight of the powerful prop and his celebrating team mates. D’Arcy failed to add the icing on the cake to both tries but that was the only blot on the Marlins copybook as the sides went to the sheds.

Having been 29-13 up at half-time in the first meeting of the two sides this season at Manly Oval, only to go on and lose 31-29, the message to the Marlins players was no doubt ‘more of the same’ but a side as potent in attack as the Pirates can be – albeit far too sporadically – was always going to have a period in the game where they threatened.

This was exactly the case after the break as they hammered the Manly line for almost 15 minutes but a combination of outstanding defence and poor decision making and execution from the Pirates meant that the scoreline remained unchanged. They went wide, they went through the middle, they set up rolling mauls, went for pick and drives but nothing was giving in the miserly Marlin defence and having expended all their energy with their fruitless assaults, they were now vulnerable to a clinical counter.

And picked off they were with a veritable heartbreaker of a score to concede. A ball across the Pirate back line was knocked on just inside their half, Manly centre Luke Johnson pounced to kick ahead to open space, grubbered again as the defence frantically backtracked and Tyrone Smith got their first to claim the vital touch.

With the game officially over as a contest, Wests contrarily went and managed what they’d failed to achieve in the previous hour by coming away from a visit to the red zone with 7pts. Dogged perseverance with their pick and drives finally paid off as Sione Tau emerged from the back of one such effort to crash over and Seavula successfully bagged the extras.

Manly simply went up another gear once challenged and after an initially poor pass across the backs seemed to nullify the threat of attack before it started, D’Arcy decided to take matters into his own hands. He ran it back with interest down the touchline before slipping the pass inside for the waiting Siale to sail to the corner for try number six.

After D’Arcy had uncharacteristically missed the previous three attempts, the kicking baton was passed to Nadolo – actually the club’s second string kicker – to try and go out with a fairytale finish. Alas, a decent effort from out wide drifted past the posts and signalled the end of the match and the end of the Fijian flyer’s association with the Shute Shield. At least for now…

FT West Harbour 10 Manly 34

Manly’s departing winger Nemani Nadolo:

“Going into a finals series at the back end of the weekly competition, if your defence isn’t going well, it’s going to be pretty hard. The boys worked really hard in the pre-season and through the first round and they’re reaping the rewards now in the second half and it’s probably one thing we’re really happy with going into the finals. It’s an old saying but defence wins you titles and if they can keep that going at every level of each game, every week then anything can happen.

“It would have been nice to go out with a ‘meat pie’ and with this being such a wide pitch at Concord, there were times in the second half that we had space on the wings and didn’t use it but at the end of the day we did well, it’s another win and we just keep going forward.

“It’s a negative leaving Manly because they’re doing so well but it’s a positive for me and it’s a job I guess so I’ve got to look after my family at the end of the day. Manly have got some good wingers coming up so it’ll be good for them to have some exposure going into the finals.”

West Harbour head coach Stu Woodhouse:

“We’ve got five key players out – Rory Sidey, Jai Ayoub, Nick Reily, Kuki Ma’afu, Jeremy Su’a. They’re your main ball players and the reality is that you’ve got to resort to something else because the boys out there don’t have the experience and don’t have the temperament to play 1^st Grade. They drop in and out of focus and that’s the area we’ve got to resort to, we’ve got a big forward pack but no backs.

“Today was just terrible I thought and I’m disappointed. I’ll cop it on the chin for most things but you’ve got to be able to motivate yourself, pick yourself up and make another tackle and a bit of personal pride is what some of these boys were lacking today. The crowd can sit there and if they see a performance where they’ve tried, they can live with that but it’s just the lack of effort. Some boys out there were trying very hard and Manly were monstering us but there’s others out there who are a bit shy of contact and it falls in the too hard basket.

“Against a team like Manly that gives nothing away through opportunities, it is about patience, you can’t take a higher risk. Possession ultimately will give you points and we’ve just forgotten the fundamentals and to be honest that was probably our worst performance because at least we’ve had the go forward in other games and we didn’t even have that today. From losses you can generally learn a lot and gain from them but with performances like that, you’re not going to learn anything.”

Manly assistant coach Daniel Manu:

“It was a tough game out there, they’re physically big and strong, probably bigger than us, so we had to be a lot more disciplined and work better as a forward pack and put them under a lot of pressure and as a team we did that well. We didn’t turn over ball too many times and we kept control of it so we were able to string nine phases together and there were some good tries scored there across the team.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on our defence and to be able to put up a good defensive effort against Wests is quite good because they are a side that can score four tries if you blink and in the 2^nd half, they started showing signs of that. They put us under a lot of pressure, especially in our twenty-two and thankfully the guys stood up. If you give them a sniff, they can really punish you and a lot of good teams have come here and lost like Randwick and Uni and Easts were lucky to win a couple of weeks ago so to be able to keep our discipline and squeeze the life out of them slowly was good.

“We’re just trying to improve incrementally so that whether we win or lose, we’re not too concerned about it as long as we’re improving each week. We want to try and emulate some of the better teams like Sydney Uni who play mistake free rugby and put teams under a lot of pressure and obviously have great players as well. I think we’re playing at about 85% of what we are capable of and we need to make sure we get up towards the 95-100% over the next six weeks before the semi-finals. I thought we played good football today for about 50-60 minutes so we want to slowly get that up to 80 minutes.”

Manly 34 (Adam D'Arcy 2, Tyrone Smith, Lui Siale, Elvis Taione, Greg Peterson tries; Adam D'Arcy 2 cons) d West Harbour 10 (Sione Tau try; Henry Seavula con, pen) at Concord Oval. HT: 24-3. Referee: James Leckie

West Harbour: 1. Campese Ma'afu, 2. Todd Pearce, 3. Rodney Blake; 4. Tom Hikila, 5. Sam Wykes; 6. Steve Mafi, 7. Sam Latunipulu, 8. Sione Tau; 9. David Fong, 10. Jai Ayoub; 11. Tito Mua, 12. Lester Salanoa, 13. Henry Seavula, 14. Macquire Tatola; 15. Dave Paurini. 
Manly: 1. Eddie Aholelei, 2. Elvis Taione, 3. Tim Fairbrother; 4. Dylan Sigg, 5. Greg Peterson; 6. Will Brame [c], 7. Chris Westenenk, 8. Neil Meyer; 9. Chris Cottee, 10. Mark Swanepoel; 11. Lui Siale, 12. Tyrone Smith, 13. Luke Johnson, 14. Nemani Nadolo; 15. Adam D'Arcy. 

Sydney University’s late season surge has continued apace as they swept aside a relatively toothless Warringah 48-12 at University Oval No.1. In a rampant 1^st half display, the Students served notice to the rest of the competition that they won’t release their stranglehold on the Tooheys New Shute Shield without a fight, blistering to a 27-0 half-time lead. The Rats regrouped in the second stanza with the majority of territory and possession and got the gap back to within 15pts at one stage at 27-12 but Uni always looked like they had another gear if needed and with skipper Tim Davidson leading from the front and Julian Huxley’s steadying hand from the back, the question was always going to be not if they won but by how many.

Both sides started with a flurry, Uni playing with pace, purpose and using the width of the field, Warringah throwing down the physical gauntlet, intent on dominating the rucks and mauls but it was the Students who were first off the mark through Julian Huxley’s 10^th minute penalty.

The Rats responded by setting up an impressive rolling maul – a play which would become a feature of their attack throughout the game – carrying possession for 15 metres before referee Steve Hardy pinged them for pulling down an opponent. 

With the opportunity lost, all action Students prop Jerry Yanuyanutawa quickly turned defence into attack, finding some space and setting off on a rampaging run over halfway. He put in a neat step past last man Pat McCabe but the Brumby fullback got enough on him to halt his progress, however, the ball was recycled inside to flyhalf Dan Kelly who stepped a challenge to go over for 8-0.

Five minutes later and the Rats were punished for their profligacy once more. After another rolling maul gained them 10 metres, Sam Harris put up a bomb behind the advancing wall of defence but instead of creating go forward ball for his side, the kick was superbly fielded by Huxley who stepped inside two, glided over halfway and fed winger Peter Betham who put Kelly over on his inside for his second. Huxley added the extras to both tries and the home side were very much in the ascendancy.

Uni were looking dangerous from anywhere across the park, stretching play and using little pop passes to put willing runners through gaps, their collective speed of mind and body consistently breaking the line. In the 28^th minute, they struck again, outside centre Lachie Mitchell – returned to the Students after a couple of years with London Wasps - almost profited from another line break but his support were swift and incisive, moving the ball wide through the hands where they created an overlap and Tom Carter put Nathan Trist into the corner for his 100^th try for the Students. A memorable milestone indeed.

Huxley’s adept touch whilst kicking from hand deserted him for the conversion as he pulled it wide and the same result ensued four minutes later after the home side wrapped up the bonus point with try number four. The Rats had no answer to a team that were simply too quick and too strong as pace, movement and desire combined to put scrumhalf Nick Phipps over for a 27-0 advantage at the break.

Warringah started the second half as they had the first, their stubborn persistence with the rolling maul effective to a point but ultimately fruitless. They were playing very narrow and it seemed like it would take a piece of magic from one of their strike players if they were to get a foothold in the match and it was no surprise that when they finally did, it was the impressive McCabe who broke their duck. A succession of patient phases took them close and with everyone expecting another pick and drive, the fullback appeared from nowhere at the back of a ruck to stroll through unopposed giving Harris a simple conversion in the process.

Uni had visibly taken their foot of the throat and the visitors gained in confidence, enjoying their best share of possession and territory in the match over the next 15 minutes and on the hour, they made it count with try number two. A quick tap and go from Josh Holmes inside the twenty-two saw him accelerate at an angle to the corner and feed it to his brother Luke. He blindly flickpassed it to Dylan Smouha who dove for the line and a 15pt deficit.

Again, the Rats attacked but a late shot from Luke Holmes saw the referee march them back to the 10 metre line for the penalty. Huxley stepped up to land his kick right on the bar before the ball bounced back into play but the near miss seemed to galvanise the Students for a final push and they wasted no time in returning to the red zone to land the killer blow. Lachie Mitchell met the ball at pace in midfield and in a play eerily reminiscent of his past deeds at Uni Oval No.1, weaved his way to the line past three or four bemused Rats to make it 32-12 and seal the result.

Any remaining fight now drained, the Rats still wouldn’t be happy with their efforts in the closing stages as they fell off tackles, made individual errors and offered up far to porous a defence to the quality of attack that Uni possess. The scoreline was blown out by two more tries as a result, firstly, Josh Holmes was caught at the back of a scrum and was intercepted by a predatory Pat McCutcheon who ran to the line. Then, another break from halfway saw Huxley race through defenders Beau Robinson and McCabe before throwing the ball back over his head in the tackle to the waiting Phipps who strolled over for his second.

The superb Huxley converted all three tries to leave the Students with a 36pt margin of victory and a rousing rendition of the club song in the sheds at the final whistle. The Rats will have to lick their wounds and regroup quickly as their season is rapidly disappearing into another of under achievement while the rest of the competition can only look on as Uni’s resurgence continues. The beast has awoken…

FT Sydney University 48 Warringah 12

Sydney University captain Tim Davidson:

“They’re a very big side and a very physical side and they drove the ball really well at us and gained alot of metres up the middle so that’s something we’ve got to look at but we were nice and direct and our backs got us over the gain line and made it easy to get around the corner for our forwards. In the first 20 minutes of that 2^nd half, they really fought back and for a period there it could have gone a bit closer but I think that 1^st half is probably the best half we’ve put together all year, it’s just a question of putting two together now.

“I think it’s about getting confidence, we’ve got a lot of experienced guys that have played a lot of finals football so it’s just a matter of going back to what works with us and taking confidence out of that. The playing style we had probably didn’t suit the blokes we had and we’ve gone back to what we know and back to basics and a nice, simple game and - full credit to ‘Mummy’ [coach Greg Mumm] - he’s allowed us to do that and I think in the last two weeks especially, we’re showing signs of a little bit of momentum.

“For us, it’s about working hard each week and slowly progressing. We’re happy to make the finals, from there if we have to play three games or two, it’s not going to worry us too much, we’re happy just to get there and then with the guys we’ve got and the experience we’ve got, we’ll hopefully do some damage.”

Warringah head coach Ben Manion:

“I thought we had a good shot at them today but we were schooled. They were very impressive and that first half was the best I’ve seen in club footy for a long time. Their breakdown work was unbelievable, the speed that they played at and there were no wasted bodies, everybody knew their role and did it well – we were just totally schooled. We had Manly last week and they are on top of the ladder and Uni were a long, long way ahead of them today.

“From the onset we wanted to play a lot of driving ball and we wanted to get in and try to shake up that pack a little bit but defensively they were just really strong. They never panicked, they never gave away a penalty, their discipline was unbelievable. Nine times out of ten, you put fifteen metres on a team with a rolling maul like that, somebody will do something stupid and give away a penalty, they just didn’t do that.

“Sammy [Harris] was trying to create things for us but there was no-one with him and he was doing it off stationary dead ball. Hamish Angus - our young kid at ten - he’s been impressive and I think he’s played relatively well but Sheeno’s [Brett Sheehan] irreplaceable. It is a lack of depth but the gulf between 1^st and 2^nd Grade now is wider than it’s ever been. To arrest the problems I’ve got in 1^st Grade, I don’t have anything in 2^nd Grade to be able to do it with and they’re on top of the comp.

“There’s seven rounds to go. I can’t see us catching Uni, Uni are going to march up and finish well in the four I think so Randwick’s our only hope to chase down and they’ve got to play all the big boys yet.”

Sydney University head coach Greg Mumm:

“I’m particularly happy that we had a good first half following a good start last week. Early in the season we weren’t starting games well and we seem to have got that right again which makes such a big difference to the whole tempo of the game. We pride ourselves on being fitter than other teams and I think the Rats have had two heavy weeks, they’d had Eastwood and then obviously the local derby against Manly which always takes a lot out of both teams so we spoke about being in control of the game at half-time which would mean we had a good chance of taking it out. To their credit, they fought back early in the second half but we’re probably happy with the way we finished.

“We’ve got some talented players, our bread and butter is still our structure but we want to be able to use our structure to create opportunities and then encourage people to take those which is what we’re doing. It’s not a real big step away but it’s just using our structure to put pressure on the opposition and then chancing our arm when the opportunities are there.

“At the moment, we’re only looking at the next four weeks so coming into this week, Warringah, Norths and Wests were all within striking distance of us. Eastwood away is then going to be a big game after that so that four week stretch is all we are looking at for the moment.”

Sydney University 48 (Nick Phipps 2, Dan Kelly 2, Pat McCutcheon, Lachie Mitchell, Nathan Trist tries; Julian Huxley 5 cons, pen) d Warringah 12 (Dylan Smouha, Pat McCabe tries; Sam Harris con) at University Oval No.1.
HT: Sydney University 27-0. Referee: Steve Hardy

Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Jeremy Tilse; 4. Dave Dennis, 5. Dave McDuling; 6. Ben McCalman, 7. Pat McCutcheon, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Dan Kelly; 11. Peter Betham, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Lachie Mitchell, 14. Nathan Trist; 15. Julian Huxley.
Warringah: 1. Pek Cowan, 2. Luke Holmes, 3. AJ Whalley; 4. Brent Murphy, 5. Tom Hockings; 6. Beau Robinson, 7. Michael Lipman [c], 8. Trevor Richardson; 9. Josh Holmes, 10. Hamish Angus; 11. Dylan Smouha, 12. Sam Harris, 13. Ed Doyle, 14. Joelin Rapana; 15. Pat McCabe.