Coach Briggs throws challenge to Pirates’ front row
Finals Week 1 Preview by Nathan Roye
West Harbour coach Matt Briggs believes the result of this week’s crucial clash with Randwick will be determined by the performance of his front row.
“It will come down to the dominance of our front row who, with our back three, will be looking to shut down Randwick’s powerful forwards,” Briggs said of this Saturday’s vital Shute Shield qualifying final, that will be televised live on ABC TV.
The return of the powerful Pirates’ tight-head prop Vaughan Lomax is a boost for the Pirates, who need a win to progress to next week’s semi-finals. “He is arguably the best tight-head scrummager in the (Shute Shield) game, he’s capable of lifting the physicality of our whole forward pack.”
However Briggs is well aware of the strength of Randwick’s dangerous and mobile prop Toa Asa. Asa has proved more than a handful for opposition packs and backlines, scoring a number of tries from 20m or more, often surprising opponents’ outside backs. “We know he has some serious wheels for a big bloke and we need to make sure that he is contained throughout the game,” said Briggs.
Last time these two teams came up against each other was back in the first round, when a defensive slip in the dying seconds cost a dominant Randwick side victory by two points, 28-26.
“A lot has changed since then and we have developed as a unit, both in attack and defence, as have Randwick. They have a tenacious back row and a quality 10 who will control the game well.
“We have yet to exceed our own expectations and this is a chance to do it.”
Key to the Galloping Greens’ efforts to pick themselves up after last week’s thrashing at the hands of Sydney University will be experienced halfback James Helliwell.
“Last week’s scoreboard did not reflect the physicality of the game,” he admitted. “Sure there is a lot that needs fixing but, if anything, it was a wake-up call and we were lucky to scrape into the top eight.
“Now it’s time to show that we deserve to be here,” said Helliwell.
Also this Saturday, minor premiers Eastwood will host fourth-place finishers Southern Districts. After making a try-scoring return to club rugby last weekend, NSW and Wallaby prop Benn Robinson will be looking to continue that form against a Rebels team comprising five of his state team-mates, including the hard hitting Timani brothers and experienced Test centre Rob Horne.
Completing the first round of Shute Shield finals, will be two Sunday matches. The weekend’s second televised live match (ABC TV 3pm) between second-placed Sydney University and third-placed Manly will feature no less than 16 Super Rugby players from three franchises. The Marlins have named Rebels’ trio Cadeyrn Neville, Jordy Reid and Luke Jones alongside NSW halfback Matt Lucas, whilst the Students will rely on the services of NSW pair Dave Dennis and Will Skelton in the second row, Rebel Tim Davidson and the Force’s Ben McCalman in the back row and a back line comprising six experienced Super Rugby players and guided by Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley.
Finally, neutral venue Chatswood Oval will see Eastern Suburbs play Northern Suburbs after the teams finished sixth and seventh respectively. The latter will be looking to make up for a 27-14 defeat when the sides last met back in Round 1 in April.
The top two-ranked winning teams from the weekend’s four games will then progress straight to round three (preliminary finals), whilst the two lowest-placed losers will be eliminated. The remaining four teams will contest the two vacant prelim finals spots when they battle it out at Coogee Oval on August 31 and September 1.
The preliminary finals will take place on September 7 and 8, with the two winning teams playing in the Shute Shield Grand Final at Concord Oval on Saturday September 14. A full fixtures list, together with weekly previews and all the results can be found at www.nswrugby.com.au.
Rugby fans across NSW can tune in to ABC Local Radio’s new rugby show, settling the score with Niav Owens between 2pm and 5pm every Saturday, for all of your country rugby and Shute Shield news. You can TEXT the program with score updates from whichever game you’re at on 0467 920 222 every Saturday afternoon. Make sure your team gets a mention each week and keep Niav up to date with the latest scores from your competition. A full fixtures list, together with weekly previews and all the results can be found at www.nswrugby.com.au.
Rugby fans can also follow the Shute Shield on Facebook where you can catch game highlights and a preview of the upcoming ABC TV match and on Twitter via @shuteshield where you can send your thoughts through the week and receive live updates during selected games. You can also catch highlights of every round on the Shute Shield YouTube TV channel.
Shute Shield Finals Week 1 – Saturday August 24
West Harbour v Randwick @ Concord Oval (3pm) (ABC TV Match)
West Harbour: 1 David Lolohea, 2 Reg De Jager 3 Vaughan Lomax, 4 Tom Games (c), 5 Chris Simons, 6 Vaka Manu, 7 Jack Corry, 8 Matt Coles, 9 David Osofua, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Tito Mua, 12 Rory Sidey, 13 Usaia O’Sullivan, 14 Alofa Alofa, 15 Shaun Treweek
Randwick: 1 Faitotoa Asa, 2 Nio Halangahu, 3 Tristan Goodbody, 4 Geoff Ingram, 5 William Munro, 6 Seilala Lam (c), 7 Tom Connor, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 9 James Helliwell, 10 David Horwitz, 11 Ethan Ford, 12 Pete Samu, 13 Timothy Wright, 14 Rennie Lautolo, 15 Marc Kotecky.
Referee: Angus Gardner
Eastwood v Southern Districts @ T.G Millner Field (3pm)
Eastwood: 1 Benn Robinson, 2 Todd Pearce, 3 Marty Plokstys, 4 Jared Barry, 5 Andrew Clyne, 6 Hugh Perrett (c), 7 Hugh Roach, 8 Locky McCaffrey, 9 James Stannard, 10 Jimmy Hilgendorf, 11 Nick Batger, 12 Michael McDougall, 13 Cam Mitchell, 14 Tom Hill, 15 Ben Batger
Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Steve Fualau (c), 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 6 Lopeti Timani, 7 Jono Hayes, 8 Jed Holloway, 9 Dewet Roos, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Rob Horne, 13 Apo Latunipulu, 14 Ben Connoly, 15 Ben Volavola
Referee: Edward Martin
Sunday August 25
Manly v Sydney University @ Manly Oval (3pm) (ABC TV Match)
Manly: 1 Dave Porecki, 2 Pat Leafa, 3 Eddie Aholelei, 4 Ed Gower (c), 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 6 Dylan Sigg, 7 Jordy Reid, 8 Luke Jones, 9 Matt Lucas, 10 Marshall Milroy, 11 Jacob Woodhouse, 12 Brian Sefanaia, 13 Malietoa Hingano, 14 Richard Hooper, 15 BJ Hartmann
Sydney University: 1 Laurie Weeks, 2 Tolu Latu, 3, Paddy Ryan, 4 Dave Dennis, 5. Will Skelton, 6 Tim Davidson (c), 7 David Hickey, 8 Ben McCalman, 9 Nick Phipps, 10 Bernard Foley, 11 Greg Jeloudev, 12 Tom Carter, 13 Tom English, 14 Lachlan Mitchell, 15 Tom Kingston
Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
Eastern Suburbs v Northern Suburbs @ Chatswood Oval (3pm)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Sione Kolo, 2 Alex Walker, 3 Rob McMicken, 4 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Phil Mathers, 6 Pauli Taumoepeau (c), 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Tala Gray, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Damon Anderson, 12 James Field, 13 Anton Lavin, 14 Elijah Niko, 15 Will Fay
Northern Suburbs: 1 Nick Lah (c), 2 Will Weeks, 3 Cruze Ah-Nau, 4 Ben Matwijow, 5 Michael O’Hea, 6 Michael Wells, 7 Will Miller, 8 AJ Gilbert, 9 Michael Dowsett, 10 Liam Windon, 11 Jac Cameron, 12 Chris Tuatara-Morrison, 13 Bill Meakes, 14 Elih Baillie, 15 Corey Brown
Referee: James Leckie
