2nd Grade (Colin Caird Shield)
By Ray Hudd (Coach)
Round 9 represents the halfway point of the 2017 season.
Southern Districts arrived to SUFG ready to take on the students after a strong win against Eastwood the week before.
Some strong performances by Saosi Halaifouna and Jack McCalman managed to stifle some of the Rebels attack. Some individual brilliance from our fly-half Sam Renton who kept the score board ticking over for the students. Southern Districts maintained the momentum up the competition ladder wining 26 -19.
Man of the Match – Saiosi Halaifouna
Special Mention – On behalf of everyone involved in 2nd Grade we would like to congratulate Scott Stumbles on his 200th SUFC Club Game, well done Stumbo!
Southern Districts 26 def. Sydney Uni 19
3rd Grade (Henderson Shield)
By Ed L’Estrange (Player)
Reigning premiers Sydney University sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition with a comprehensive 33-3 win over Souths. On a perfect day for running rugby, Uni came out of the blocks firing, with Saia Tanginoa crossing after a period of sustained pressure. Souths hit back immediately with a penalty goal but the Students continued to dominate set piece, with go-to-man Tanignoa crossing again. Celebrating his 50th Grade game for the Club, Byron Wicken then extended the lead with a 30m break to score under the posts, leaving the Students in full control. Up 19-3 at halftime, Uni found themselves in a familiar position to past weeks. Unlike those occasions, however, they pushed on to extend their lead through opportunistic tries to Harrison Blake and Stew Nutt.
Whilst errors began to creep into the Students’ game towards the end of the second half, it was nonetheless an impressive performance, particularly in defence. Notable performances included: Saia Tanginoa with two tries and countless linebreaks, Koni Tuitupou with several strong carries in the midfield and Harry Potter who continued on his strong form. Next week the Students will have their premiership credentials tested as they travel to T.G. Millner to face traditional rivals Eastwood in what is shaping up as an absolute cracker.
Sydney Uni 33 def. Southern Districts 3
4th Grade (Henderson Cup)
Sydney Uni 43 def. Southern Districts 5
1st Colts (W.McMahon Memorial Shield)
By Rob Taylor (Coach)
Souths played a very physical game on Saturday, there were quite a few sore bodies post the encounter. They had a big forward pack and had a game plan to be direct in their attack, the statistics clearly reflect the match; we had to defend 114 rucks, which dwarfed our 42 attacking rucks, we also had to make 148 tackles, whereas Souths only had to make half of those tackles.
With the amount of work we had to do up front, there were some notable performances by the forwards in defence with Miti Tuinakauvadra, Peter Fenwicke, Rory Suttor, Ratu Rotasolia and Tom Horton getting through a mountain of work in defence by making ten plus tackles each. The backrow of Miti, Rory and Milan Basson hit 64 rucks between them, add on a number of ball carries into contact, scrums, mauls…etc it is clear why there was a few sore bodies after the final whistle.
In attack; Guy Porter had a strong carrying game with five dominant carries and two linebreaks, Banjo Travers kicked exceptionally well and had one of his strongest running games I’ve seen with one of his two linebreaks setting up Jay Spencer for a try under the posts.
James Armstrong had a very strong defensive game as always, with a 100% tackle rate including 1 dominant tackle and 1 tackle that resulted in a turnover, he also made 9 carries with one being dominant, one linebreak and two tackle busts.
The players of the day, should go to the forward pack, the set piece, defence, ruck work and general work ethic was the ultimate difference. The backs should be buying them a few hot dinners this week, maybe Jay should be the one buying Banjo though.
Of note, it was excellent to have a good number of supporters in parents and friends of the team down at Forshaw Park. The players, coaches and support staff really appreciate it and hope to see you all again this weekend at Eastwood.
Sydney Uni 47 def. Southern Districts 14
2nd Colts (Shell Trophy)
Sydney Uni 57 def. Southern Districts 22
3rd Colts (Bill Simpson Shield)
By Gabriel Enright (Coach)
Forshaw Rugby Park is home of the Colts Finals Series and Sydney University 3rd Colts last outing on this pitch was their emphatic 2016 Grand Final victory over Eastern Suburbs. Relive the Grand Final with the match highlights
With a string of late arrivals the team sheet was torn up and a handful of regular starters hit the pine for the first half as a response to failure in the “No talent required” behaviours. The starters seized their opportunity and played some gritty footy to be two tries to one up at the break. It wasn’t pretty but the storm had been weathered reinforcing the depth in the squad and an important peg had been put in the sand.
Keen for redemption the late comers were swapped in for the second half and with a point to prove they took control and overpowered the home team to close the game out by 45 points to 12. While the young Students consolidate top spot in the competition they will need to lift considerably to beat the bookies favourite Eastwood in this week’s Top of the Table clash at T.G Millner.
Toby Dickinson continues to shine out wide and finished some classy plays to snatch man of the match and 3 points. Hooker Tim Lilomaiava put in a tradesmen like performance that you would expect from a player with significant 1st grade experience for the 2 points while Josh Hardie kept the scoreboard ticking over at No.10 only missing one conversion, scoring a try and anchoring the win for a point.
Sydney Uni 45 def. Southern Districts 12