SPC v Marcellin – May 9, 2015

St Patrick’s College 45 d Marcellin College 34-

(HT 19-10)

Try Scorer/s: D Tippett (3), J Coward (3), C Saunders (1)

Conversion/s: J Coward (4), M Kaponga

In a little over twenty four months we have played Marcellin on seven separate occasions, contested two Grand Finals with both sides enjoying success on one occasion.

The record reads in favour of Marcellin in the recent -‘head to head’ -“ so it would be fair to surmise that a healthy rivalry exists between both schools.

Both have much in common though -“ both have joined Division I this year and both started the season with strong performances against established first division sides. So on another sunny day in Melbourne these two developing -‘power houses’ went -‘toe to toe’ with much on the line.

Marcellin are a well-structured outfit, keep the ball well and have strong midfield runners. Early pressure came on both sides in the early engagements but it was an impressive set piece score that gave Marcellin the early advantage.

A line out near to the SPC line was cleanly gathered by Marcellin and an -‘all in’ team effort saw the first score to the home team, easily converted led to a 7-0 lead. St Pat’s weas failing to convert territorial advantage and capitalise on ill-discipline at the breakdown by Marcellin. However, after learning to show better temperament and patience, captain Josh Coward darted through the opposition line to score under the posts. He converted his own try and the scores were levelled at 7 apiece.

A penalty goal to Marcellin gave them the edge heading into the second half of the first term. At this stage though St Patrick’s College reverted to their successful structures, kept the ball well and converted this pressure with two scores by fly half and vice-captain Dyvontae Tippett. This resulted in a 19-10 lead at halftime to the visitors. The message at the interval was simple -“ play with patience, run the phases, stop trying to defeat the opposition on first phase play. This, combined with improved discipline, would reap deserved rewards.

After the break St Patrick’s College played some exhilarating rugby -“ with some wonderful team pressure and individual scores.

One of the highlights was prop forward and SPC rugby stalwart Chris Saunders intercepting a pass 22m out and running under the posts unopposed. In this period after halftime there were also further scores to both Josh Coward and Dyvontae Tippett, completing both players’ hat tricks. Both players have remarkable footwork, pace and timing, as evidenced in their scores in this half.

With 15minutes to play the lead had blown out to 45-10 and SPC were cruising. It is at this point that the best lesson of the day was given and will need to be learnt as the competition progresses. Changes were made to the side on the field but it would be unfair to blame these individuals for what unfolded.

The team’s success is built on the collective, we will fail as individuals and that is what happened. Marcellin would score four unanswered scores in this last period to give respectability to the scoreline for the home team when, if truth be told, there should have been only one winner from this encounter.

The final score was 45-34 -“ certainly an entertaining contest and one fitting for the competition between these two schools. The positives are obvious -“ SPC remain at top of the VSRU Division I table with a maximum ten points and two wins on the road to start the season.

Scotch College at home will be a classic. Scotch were once a rugby great and always play at a high level. We will welcome them to Ballarat next Saturday and look to continue our impressive start to this inaugural season in Division I. We hope all in town will come to watch and support us -“ we always appreciate the vocal crowd. Let’s make Ballarat a fortress. – –

Best:

Sean Howard, Dyvontae Tippett, Brady Butler, Josh Coward, Chris Saunders

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