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The Ladies Day crowd enjoying a Uni try-fest. Photo courtesy of Josie Douglass
AU Rugby News: 31st May 2018
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The Club Goes on Tour to Elizabeth!
Last week saw two great wins by the seniors against Barossa. We also had a very successful Ladies Day, which was well organised by Melanie Ralph with support from her family and Terry Wilkinson. Big big thanks go to Mel for organising such a fantastic event.
This week, all junior and senior teams will be travelling to Elizabeth for a day of back to back rugby starting at 10.30am, and concluding at the end of the As game around 5pm.
With a decent weather forecast, it’s a great opportunity to make a day of it – it’s well worthwhile to get out there early and see some of the junior teams in action, before seeing what should be two well-matched senior teams doing battle. The game schedule is as follows:
10.30am Under 6/7s
10.30am Under 8s
11.10am Under 10s
12.00pm Under 12
1.00pm Under 14s
2.00pm Senior Bs
3.20pm Senior As
Senior Match Reports
A Grade v Barossa – won 86-3
Bron on the rampage - photo courtesy of Josie Douglass
Our A Grade team had its strongest win in living memory – none of the venerable Old Blacks present could recall a victory of such magnitude.
Perhaps it was the presence of the Ladies Day crowd immediately behind the southern dead-ball line, but for the first time this year, Uni was switched on and purposeful from the kick-off, with the first try scored in the first minute or so of the game. Barossa was able to rally briefly, and was rewarded with a penalty, but from then on the traffic was all one-way. Uni scored 8 first half tries running up the Waite Hill (towards the Ladies!), for a half-time lead of 52-3. A further 6 tries were scored in the second half, for the final score of 86-3.
Uni was dominant in most phases of the game, notwithstanding that Barossa remained a competitive opponent throughout and continued to contest and tackle strongly. However, for Uni, the scrum was as strong as usual, the lineout was working well, and the team played with confidence and a much lower error rate than we have seen so far this year. Not a single player had a weak game, and it was a fantastic team effort. However, some players deserve a mention.
Max Douglass scored 3 tries (restoring his “2 tries a week” average in his debut season for the Club). Max is a strong and confident runner with ball in hand, and shows a mature sense of anticipation of where the ball will be, so he is well-positioned to support his team-mates.
Dave Jones is looking great on the wing! On Saturday, he was enthusiastic and bustling, and was able to inject himself into the game at critical times, being rewarded with a late try.
Bron Lett was back to his dominating best, charging into the Barossa pack time and again with ball in hand, destroying the Barossa scrum at will, and crushing in defence.
Ben Russell had a superb game. He was ostensibly playing as a back rower but was everywhere – taking responsibility for line-out throws, showing some superb passing skills clearing the ball at the breakdown, unstoppable in attack and resolute in defence. Ben is superbly fit and his ability to run out the full 80+ minutes of the game makes him a tremendous asset to the team.
The team faces a new challenge this week, up at Elizabeth. Provided the players can muster the same intensity from the start of the match as they showed against Barossa, we will be very competitive. It is critical we start strongly and do not concede early points. And there is still room to improve: while our defence at the breakdown is vastly improved, we can still get caught out in the tackle when in attack, with players still being penalised for being slow to release the ball and allowing our opponents to counter-ruck.
Max Douglass leaves a defender in his wake on his way to scoring one of 3 tries. Photo courtesy of Josie Douglass
B Grade v Barossa
A win’s a win’s a win… Uni won a close-fought game 24-10 against Barossa, after leading 17-5 at half time. Uni still managed to score 4 tries against a plucky opponent to get the bonus point.
In a game that was marred with errors, Uni had plenty of ball and always looked in control, yet into the final minute of the game, was only leading 17-10 with Barossa in attack. However, Uni was the lucky beneficiary of a classic “falcon” near the attacking 22 right on full-time, with a try being scored off the rebound from the Uni player’s head!
A final score of 24-10 was a fitting reflection of the game.
John Mangira had another good game, showing an ability to glide past opposition defenders at will. Tapi Mapuvire in his debut for the Club played well at full-back and was unlucky not be rewarded with a try in his first game.
Ian “Canada” Sarich was everywhere – belying his antique status by playing like a teenager! Paul Blaze was also outstanding.
Bring on Elizabeth – let’s hope we can put together a strong effort. If we can reduce our error rate and take advantage of the try-scoring opportunities that come our way, we should be able to get a win.
Under 8s v Old Collegians
Old Collegians turned up to play this weekend and determined for a different outcome from our previous encounter. Our toughest game to date and this one had it all! Our boys taking on nearly double the amount of players whilst playing extended 20 minute halves certainly testing the fitness levels of all the team. OC's were once again pressing hard in the tackles and contesting the ruck very aggressively.
On paper we should have been out of this game but a fantastic showing from our 8's saw OC on the back foot for most of the first half. It was only in the second half where OC's numbers started to make an impact. An excellent team effort all round with the boys giving as good as they got and certainly holding their own. Excellent sideline awareness this week with plenty of turn over here as we were constantly able to force OC over the line. Very good ball retention this time against OC. This was definitely an area that hurt us last time we played. Great to see the boys really starting to understand whats required in the ruck and presenting the ball beautifully for us.
Once again a number of great tackles and and the offload still on show! A bag of tries for captain Aden on the day with 5 all up. Samuel throwing the offload of the season so far to set a great try for Angusto run in. Phoenix and Kai running hard and well again. All players had a great outing on the day and it took all of them to win this game.
Malcolm O’Farrell
Under 10s – v Old Collegians
Lost: 14-38
SOR: Nick M 3, Xavier T 2, Hugh 1
Tries: Nick M, Xavier T
Conversions: Hughx2
This was a game which showed the potential of this team. The first half was simply sensational and I could not be more proud of the ball retention and cover tackling. We also stole their ball a few times and completely destroyed them in the scrum. In some respects it was a pity the game had to then revert to uncontested as the eventual result may well have been very different.
Nick M and Kosta were for me the absolute standouts in the first half. Countless times they chased, tackled, got up and tackled again. Sometimes they even stole the ball in the tackle. Thank you Nick and Kosta you responded to our call and excelled giving everything to the match.
At half time we were 14-7 in the lead and looking really good, Old Cols were rattled and I could not have been more proud.
I’m not quite sure how the second half fell away so badly, in particular how the flood gates opened in the last 5 mins. Much of the action was on the far side and I couldn’t see what was going on. Poor Joe took an injury into the game and wasn’t his normal commanding presence; he spent much of the 2nd half on the bench. Similarly Nick M picked up an injury. With these two senior players on the sideline the team needed to step up. In some areas they did. The counter rucking throughout the game was sensational; although often we won back the ball but weren’t organised enough to get it out to the backs and Old Cols stole it back again.
In the first half the tackling was sensational but in the last 5mins it went to pots. Players may well have been tired but if we are to close out these games everyone has to give everything for the entire match. The score undoubtedly flattered Old Cols but they deserved to win; they are an incredibly well organised unit who, especially in the backs, had some real talent.
It is also worth noting that so far this season Old Cols have, before today, only leaked 2 tries. Brighton & Burnside only managed 1 try each against them. We managed two.
SOR: Nick M had a mammoth game and showed true leadership all around the park. We follow and admire courage and commitment and Nick had plenty. Xavier T was everywhere, nearly always the first to the ball and he rucked hard. He made several try saving tackles and of course scored one of only 4 tries thus far this season against this Old Cols team. Both our tries certainly weren’t consolation ones as the score might suggest. Hugh similarly had another huge game, leading from the front and stepping up as we knew he would for such a big game.
I am very proud of the team, but of course disappointed in the result and the final score. We can however take lots of positives from the game.
Chris Tan
2018 Draw
The 2018 Home Game Schedule for the rest of the season follows, with our senior opponents listed in brackets:
16 June (Port)
30 June (Elizabeth)
21 July (Barossa)
4 August (Port)
18 August (Elizabeth)
Junior home games will be held on the same day as senior home games listed above.
Training nights
Training nights are as follows:
Monday: Seniors, Romas
Tuesday: Juniors
Wednesday: Romas
Thursday: Seniors, Juniors
Friday: Romas
Senior training commences at 6.30pm sharp, with an 8pm finish.
The Bar is open on Thursday nights until around 9pm. All our welcome to drop by, have an ale or two, catch up with old friends, and find out about what is happening around the Club!
Volunteers wanted!
The Club runs on its volunteers.
If you want to get involved for the 2018 season in any capacity, your help will be greatly appreciated. Volunteer roles span the full spectrum of the Club's activities, but we especially need help for match days, with running the BBQ and the bar, and ground setup and packup. Let Nick O'Brien (nickhob@hotmail.com), Vikki Chave (vikkichave71@gmail.com) or Jim McMillan (jmcmillan@murraychambers.com.au) know if you can help out in any capacity.
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Support our 2018 Sponsors!
Angoves Wines
Pirate Life Beers
The Earl of Leicester Hotel
AU Sport
Nick O'Brien - Building Services
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