Queensland I 32 — ACT 15
by “Hugh Jarse”
The light southerly wind dropped off as the teams ran on for the second game of the day: Queensland lead by 5. Reece Hewat, and ACT by 2. Sione Tai.
ACT seemed to be close to full strength, while the Qld I coaches took the opportunity to give a number of their bench a starting run.
First half
ACT went onto attack from the kickoff to show that they were here for business and made some headway into Qld territory but the Qld defence held and ACT were penalised for several breakdown infringements giving the Queenslanders easy gains.
In the 7th minute, 10. Alex Horan kicked a penalty goal 30 metres out to open the account for Qld I.
Some inaccurate lineout work from ACT, more breakdown penalties and some quick phase ball saw QLD I 11. Joey Fittock get the first try of the game two minutes later when the ACT ran out of numbers in defence. With the conversion attempt from wide out missing, the score remained 8-0.
The game see-sawed for the next period with both teams probing their opponents defences with little success. At the 22 minute mark, ACT 12. Ben Darmody scored a crowd try under the sticks, but he was called back for an earlier ACT knock on.
It was a Qld defensive scrum 10 metres out from their own line, but the smaller ACT scrum took a tighthead and they were awarded a penalty which 22. Harry Tyson duly knocked over to open the account for the ACT. Qld I lead 8-3.
This gelled the QLD team into action and they dominated the remaining six minutes of the half. 14. Sam Edwards broke through two lazy tackles out wide before scooting across to the goal posts to score and try to make the conversion attempt easy. 10. Horan sliced the conversion to the right. Qld I lead 13 – 3.
In the shades of half time, busy 7. Connor Moroney darted over the line to score under the posts after #8. Harley Fox bent the ACT line before offloading to 17. Joshua Taylor who drew defenders and opened the gap for Moroney.
Relief goalkicker, 22. Fred Dorrough knocked over the easiest of conversions to take the score to 20 – 3 in favour of the Queenslanders at oranges.
Second Half
The Second stanza opened with about 5 minutes of scruffy play from both teams: kicks for touch not making it, multiple turnovers at breakdowns, and inaccurate lineout work from ACT, until Qld 1. Gavin Luka made a tremendous 50 metre burst downfield leaving multiple defenders in his wake before feeding 22. Dorrough.
He offloaded to 15. Clifton Setu who dived over in a desperate covering tackle to score about 5 metres from touch. 22. Dorrough was unable to add the extra points from near the sideline. Qld I 25 – ACT 3.
This forced the ACT coach to almost empty the bench, yet there wasn’t an immediate improvement in their play. After 12 minutes, 2. Tai appeared to be badly injured and there was an extended break in play while he was attended to, finally leaving the field on the “golf cart”.
Despite the ACT lineout issues, he had been playing very well up to that point, and the fear was that without their captain, they would drop their bundle and the Queenslanders would run away with the game.
To the contrary, ACT seemed to regroup and even though their lineout woes worsened, they were able to score twice through 15. Jordan Fulivai, which was converted by 10. Jordan Jackson-Hope and with five minutes to go through 14. Samuel Ross which was not converted. Qld I 25 – ACT 15.
With time almost up, Queensland’s classy fullback 15. Setu put on two great steps to leave the defenders grasping at air as he danced his way to the goal posts to seal the game with a try. This was easily converted by 22. Dorrough to make the final score 32 – 15 in the Queenslanders favour.
The Wrap Up
Too big, Too tall, Too fast, Too strong, Too accurate, Too disciplined, Too good, Queensland confirmed their favouritism to win their Pool.
Queensland used their height advantage to great effect and made life miserable for the ACT at lineout time, and they seemed to be more accurate at the breakdown. They played with more patience and were better able to build and maintain pressure as a team. They seemed to do just what was necessary to comfortably win this game without showing their hand too much.
ACT seemed to rely more on their more talented individuals to keep them in the game, and were often panicked into taking poor options by the aggressive defence from the Queenslanders. The unfortunate loss of their Captain, Tai, will be a major blow for them, but they should be able to bounce back for their next “must win” game against WA.
The Players
Queensland I
5. Reece Hewat and 8. Harley Fox were very dangerous both on attack and defence continually making good metreage. 12. Calvin Pritchard could be relied upon to to bend the line and made some bonecruncher tackles. 1. Luka toiled manfully in the tight stuff, and showed a deceptive turn of pace to set up a try. Both 15. Setu and 11. Fittock showed pace and guile and an ability to ghost through the slightest of gaps in the defence.
ACT
1. Jordan Jackson-Hope was a real bundle of energy and along with 15. Jordan Fulivai continually proved a real handful for the defence. Until his injury, 2. Sione Tai was involved in plenty of piggy grunt work. 22. Harry Tyson called the shots reasonably well from five eighth.
The Scoring
Qld I 32 : 5t (11. Fittock, 14. Edwards, 7. Moroney, 15. Setu (2)), 2 Con (22. Dorrough, 10. Horan), 1 PG (22. Dorrough) def ACT 15 (J. Fulivai, S. Ross tries; J.Jackson-Hope Conversion, H.Tyson Penalty Goal)
Half Time: Qld I 20-3
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