Rugby Match Reports – June 2, 2018

St Patrick’s College 1^st XV d Haileybury (H) (02/06)

Full time: 135 -“ 7 (HT 80-7)

Try scorer/s: Ethan Jessop 4, Josh Wilson-Stanton 4, Eddie Sauvao 3, Chris Tuitea 3, Kayne Councillor 3, Mitch Hammond 2, Josh Cooper 2, Elijah Kelly 2, Koni Wolfgramm, Jayden Cooper, Pou Siola’a, Tarquin Schreenan

It is important to contextualise this game. Throughout the week it had appeared that this game would not happen. Schoolboy rugby in Victoria is cyclical at best, by which I mean that one year to the next the strength of a school side can be very varied. Last year Haileybury were able to field two senior sides and were competitive. This year, with their school APS football champions last year, they are having difficulty attracting new talent to their rugby program. Results for them this season have been one-sided in the opposition’s favour and last week they valiantly fronted up against St Kevin’s College. Ultimately, we played, and that is to the credit of their Head of Sport, their U16 coach (who travelled with their side for this game) and their thirteen players who did not stop competing throughout the game. The second half was brought to a close early and we determined before the start to not take conversations, to keep both teams moving.

When there is great difference between the two sides it can be hard for the stronger side to maintain structure as tackles are broken with greater ease then they would usually do. This sets up more broken field play, rather than sustained phase play, however, to our players’ credit they worked hard to sustain pressure and play from our platform. A reduced players game meant there were no loose forwards, which meant a reshuffle for a number our players into unusual positions. It also proved to be a game that we could utilise our wider squad before our 2s game against Melbourne High.

Immediately after the game, as a coaching team, we decided not to award a 5-1 as we would usually do, because it would be both difficult and somewhat unfair given how the game unfolded. That said, I share with you the comments of their coach, which I believe best surmises today’s game -please pass on to your boys our thanks, your boys have been the best to our boys than any other team we have played this year. We absolutely respect them.- (We absolutely respect Haileybury)

Weekend off this coming weekend and then Trinity in Melbourne before the College holidays.

St Patrick’s College 2^st XV d Melbourne High School (H) (02/06)

Full time: 12 -“ 10 (HT 0-5)

Try scorer/s: Tarquin Schreenan, Jayden Cooper

Conversion/s: Jovesa Ravisa (1/2)

5 -“ Tarquin Schreenan 4 -“ Jayden Cooper 3 -“ Bryce Stevens 2 -“ Luke Griffith 1 -“ Tyrese Thompson/Jacob Michalik

Unfortunately, the game was somewhat soured by the inferences of our opponent’s support group, however we shall take nothing away from our senior group who fought so hard to come out on top of Melbourne High School’s 1stXV. This was always going to be one of our hardest contests and so it proved. Melbourne High were aggressive and kept the ball well for large periods of the game. If stats (possession, etc.) could have been taken then they would surely have favoured our opponents, however what no stats could show is the heart and repeat efforts that our players showed for the full game. The first half was one-sided and our opponents scored first with some naïve defence allowing a strong run that ripped through the heart of our team and saw a try scored in the corner. The conversion was missed.

The second half was full of niggle, which just epitomised the desire that all players showed, desperate for the win. Melbourne High scored first after a series of strong runs through the middle of our team, however again the conversion was missed. These misses would prove costly as the game started to swing in our favour as the game reached its climax. Our players started to show belief with their ball carries as Melbourne tired and tackles were missed. Tarquin had an outstanding game, and was our deserved first try scorer, and then Jayden Cooper continues to show his athleticism and power, since moving from football, to score our second try. Jovesa drop kicked Jayden’s try and inspite of a couple of mistakes that gave our opponents territory and possession our 2nds held firm and captain, Bryce Stevens, was left to kick the ball to end a tense affair.

It continues to be a remarkable sign of our development that we are able to field a 2ndXV and whilst our numbers will always be sought on a -‘week by week’ basis, today, we can enjoy a significant victory. I offer my congratulations to all in our senior squad as this game was awarded our -‘Performance of the Week’.

St Patrick’s College U15s d Melbourne Grammar School U15s (A) (02/06)

Full time: 33-10 (HT 7-5)

Try scorer/s: Escher Eastcott 2, Quinn Bogers, Xavier Hayter, Owen Pearse

Conversion/s: Owen Pearse (4/5)

It was a great performance by our SPC U15s against MGS with the first half being a close affair.- Only a conversation separated the two teams at halftime. With defense dominating the first half, both teams were determined not to let the other get the upper hand.

In the second half, our SPC U15s applied the pressure with great ball retention, strong running and excellent inter-passing between the forwards and backs. This allowed St Pats to finish the match strongly running in 4 tries to 1, capping off a good performance by our SPC U15s.

St Patrick’s College U14s lt Marcellin College U14s (A) (02/06)

Full time: 45-7 (HT 21-0)

Try scorer/s: Declan Dwyer

Conversion/s: Adam Griffith (1/1)

For a side that has an immense amount of talent this result was somewhat disappointing. With that being said for the first 10 minutes of the game, the score was 0-0 and I was happy with how the boys were both on attack and on defence. The boys let one try slip through and then, unfortunately, they all just dropped their heads and let in another two quick tries from a formidable Marcellin attack. This left the half time score, 21-0.

The second half started off really well with Declan Dwyer scoring an amazing 50m individual try. This got the boys going again and they were able to hold the Marcellin boys back for quite some time. They then tired from all the relentless defending and let through a final couple of tries. This team in particular has some good, talented players and what they need to do is believe in themselves and believe that they can come back from anything and finish on top. The things we are going to work on in practice for the next couple of weeks will definitely be one on one tackling and our defensive structure. The boys and all the coaching staff are both excited for our next home encounter against Trinity Grammar.

St Patrick’s College U13s lt Marcellin College U13s (A) (02/06)

Full time: 36-24 (HT 29-0)

Try scorer/s: Jayden Tonks, Adam Griffith, Corey Rapa, Khy Jess

Conversion/s: Adam Griffith (2/4)

The U13 game was our second game away for the season. The boys went into the game with their heads held high and expecting a win. The very first Marcellin attack gave the St Patrick’s boys a massive wakeup call when straight after kick off one of the opposition boys went under for a try. That was unfortunately only the beginning of an early onslaught as the St Patrick’s defence was no match in the first half to Marcellin’s attack as they ran through and scored four more tries, with St Patrick’s not scoring at all.

After our half time talk we went out all guns blazing and, after a wonderful individual try from Jayden Tonks, the SPC boys seemed to pick up their game a lot and got the will to fight back. The next three tries that followed after that were very pleasing. They were all well worked, team tries. As stated above the boys got their fight back and were back in the game. However, Marcellin answered back with a try and the boys went back into their previous defeatist mind set. We have a long weekend coming up which means we have two weeks to work on the issues, and by our next game the boys will be ready for the encounter against Trinity Grammar.

–