2nd Grade (Colin Caird Shield)
By Ray Hudd (Coach)
A week is a long time in Rugby.
Our front row Alex Massima, Declan Moore and Ezrah Amituani had immediate impact with our Locks Nick Champion de Crespigny and Calum Buckling working tirelessly to hold up the tight five.
Our loose forwards, Byron Wicken, Jack McCalman and Saosi Halaifouna made tackle after tackle and chased down anything that crossed their path.
Daniel Calavassy and Ben Hughes led by example straightening up our attack.
With less than 4mins to go the score was 36 points all. Uni moved the ball around trying to find an opportunity.
Jack McCalman made a bust from half way then passed it on to Declan Moore who was tackled 5m out from the try line. Two passes from the ruck saw Harry Potter score under the posts right on Full time, with Ben Hughes adding the extras.
Man of the Match – Jack McCalman
Sydney Uni 43 def. Eastwood 36
3rd Grade (Henderson Shield)
By Ed L’Estrange (Player)
The clash between Sydney Uni and Eastwood 3rd Grade lived up to its pre-match billing as one of the games of the season. Eastwood came out the far stronger side, scoring after only five minutes. Despite this shaky start, the Students settled into the game and began to control both field position and set piece. This dominance was rewarded through a try to Richie Williams, which was duly converted from the sideline by James Kane. Uni went into the break up 7-5 with the game still delicately poised.
The Students were reduced to 14 men early in the second half and Eastwood looked to push home their advantage. Uni, however, showed enormous character to not only repel this attacking pressure, but also respond with a length-of-the-field try to Hugh Summerhayes. An ensuing penalty to James Kane pushed out the lead, before two tries to Eastwood squared the game up at 17-17.
With only minutes left on the clock, Kane then stepped up as the man of the moment, scooping up a wayward Eastwood pass to run 80m and win the game for Uni.
All players must be congratulated for an incredible team effort, but notable performances included Ben Stanton, Richie Williams and Hugh Summerhayes. Special mention must also go to Al Ryan for his game awareness in the final stages of the game!
Sydney Uni 24 def. Eastwood 17
4th Grade (Henderson Cup)
By Dylan Oldfield (Player)
With the Club Championship on the line the feisty 4s came out firing with a turnover at kick-off that saw 1st Grade Head Coach Tim Davidson, go under the posts early to gain a 5-point lead. While the Woods sat behind the posts scratching their heads, Sydney Unis all-time great Scotty Stumbles, sunk the 2 to put 4th Grade 7 points in the lead.
Eastwood however, remained unperturbed, utilising the tried and tested method of pick and driving from their 30m resulting in an equalizer that saw the score to 7 all. Uni fell under further heat as the Woods quickly capitalized to push the score to 12-7 before the half time buzzer. After consulting the wise words of the Coaches, Uni were bound by a new-found enthusiasm going into the second half. Carries were stronger, runs were faster and passes longer as the Students set themselves upon the incoming Eastwood defence with neither side willing to give an inch. However, the tenacity of the Students was rewarded with 20 to go as Hamiora Mihaka slipped through to score, 12-12. Scott Stumbles stepped up to the plate, he is no stranger to pressure and with over 200 grade games of rehearsed ease, he hits the conversion giving Uni the lead.
The job for the Students was not over, Eastwood were not finished, launching a tirade of attacks and a Uni defence that would go down in history rivalling the battle of Thermopylae and their 300 Spartans. The Students defended their line for what seemed like an eternity, until the saving grace of the full-time bell. Victory! A win to remember for the 4s and the pace-setter of the day as Sydney University go on to dismantle their opponents in 6 of 7 Grades. Up the Students!
Sydney Uni 14 def. Eastwood 12
1st Colts (W.McMahon Memorial Shield)
By Rob Taylor (Coach)
It is a very tough place to win at T.G Millner and Saturday certainly threw up some challenges for us to overcome. The first being our tight-head prop Tom Osborne taking a big elbow to the face in the later stages of the warm-up to be ruled out with a head knock, therefore we had to quickly drag Connor Grindal off the 2nd Colts game straight into the starting line-up.
Once we started the game, I thought we had the upper hand in attack but a few handling errors cost us from finishing a couple of promising attacks. We did score the only try of the 1st half and then three more in the second half, the best part was keeping Eastwood try-less while having to defend with thirteen or fourteen men.
We incurred a Red card against James Armstong with 10 minutes to go the in the 1st half and then a yellow for Miti Tuinakauvadra in the 2nd half. Eastwood incurred three yellows as well. It was slightly even when you have that many cards for and against, but it was still very disruptive to our attack and defence, particularly for 10 minutes when we only had thirteen players out there but it showed real determination by the team to keep scoring and defending the way we did.
Guy Porter put in a big performance at inside centre, he gave us a lot of go forward in defence and attack, while covering a lot of ground and attackers in defence with his centre partner in the bin. Other notable performances were from Milan Basson who is a key attacking threat with his passing game and sniffing out a gap, Ratu Rotasolia was very strong around the contact area, ensuring we won clean ball at our breakdown and stopped the Eastwood ball carriers getting any go forward. Tom Horton also had a very strong physical presence throughout the game and deserved a well worked lineout try at the end of the game. There were also other key moments and performances by Rory Suttor, Dan Polleto perfectly weighted chip kick to Nathaniel Tamwoy that resulted in a beautiful try, Ethan Miller chasing down an intercept, Jay Spencer putting in a two strong carries that really displayed the determination of the team to go forward, Connor Grindal basically playing two games in the front row….it was really a gutsy team performance everyone should be proud of.
Sydney Uni 22 def. Eastwood 3
2nd Colts (Shell Trophy)
By Jock Capel (Player)
After wining the last 5 in a row the Students had there heads up going to T.G Millner looking to find their 6th but knew it would be a grinding game to come away with it. The first half saw the Students defend in their own line for most of the first 20 minutes but excellent communication and connections allowed the Students to hold them out.
The strong line defence allowed Uni to score two tries before Eastwood finally hit back with a try against the run of play. The half time score was 7-14 to the Students. The half time message was to improve line speed and sort out set piece issues. The second half saw the Students score the first try but Eastwood hitting back straight away. Then the students pulled off some great goal line defence resulting in turnovers. The good defence was the turned in to a great try, though Eastwood were in it til the end scoring a late try with 5 minutes to go. Being only a converted try behind the students turned up the defence and held them out for the remainder of the game bringing the end score to 26-19.
Sydney Uni 26 def. Eastwood 19
3rd Colts (Bill Simpson Shield)
By Gabriel Enright (Coach)
With an epic Super Saturday schedule planned at T.G Millner for the ‘Top of the Table’ clash between Eastwood and Sydney Uni the alarm bells rang at first light for 3rd Colts who had to travel across the city, get changed and strapped, warm up and hit full tilt by 9.10am, deep in behind enemy lines.
And hit full tilt they did by turning in the best first half of the season in the match that mattered most – 1st vs 2nd – with another round against Eastwood to decide the Minor Premiership and a clash in the Grand Final at even money with the bookies, 3rd Colts had prepared all week to deliver this crucial psychological blow and executed it clinically before the coaches could finish their morning coffee.
In the second half the team kept Eastwood scoreless and closed the game out 19 to 7 as all 20+ players got meaningful game time against top opposition without any loss in team integrity or quality of play.
Tavena Bati Koroisau carried the ball strongly at centre and defended like a Tsunami in the midfield to contain and inhibit Eastwood from getting in the game – 3 points and looking deadly in attack. Angus Chadwick at scrumhalf marshalled the win and generated true width with his laser-like pass for 2 points while Sydney Malifa was an absolute force to be reckoned with at Number 8 and Vice Captain for the point.
Sydney Uni 19 def. Eastwood 7