Queensland II 19 — Victoria 17
by “Lee Grant”
First half
It didn’t take long for Queensland II [Qld] to get going. After 4 Dylan Leyland drew defenders and gave a nice pass to reserve back Kallab Coventry he appeared to be covered. But when one Victorian [Vic] back missed him he got in the way of the second defender who had to hurdle his team mate. Coventry was off to the races and under the posts while they were sorting this out to make the score 5-0 at three minutes.
The Vics looked in for a long day and it looked worse when reserve back Brock McNulty converted: 7-0.
At 15 minutes electric fullback Geoffrey Robertson appeared to be stopped on a run in the Vic half but somehow he kept going before dishing the ball out to 11 Christopher Afamasaga who flew to the corner to score For Qld II. That made the score 12-0 at 15 minutes but unfortunately the try scorer damaged his knee in the process and will likely be out of the tournament.
When the Qld lads got a scrum 30 metres out from the Vic line you could see their backs cooking up something behind it. Sure enough they put on a set piece move that had the no. 8 Agassi Stowers taking the ball from the base of the scrum, giving a no-look pass to the reserve scrumhalf Reuben Wall, then onto to Robertson who bamboozled the defenders by stepping inside them and he was in like Flynn. The extras by McNulty made the score 19-0 at 23 minutes.
Victoria was passive in the physical contests and waited to see what Qld was doing instead of applying pressure and forcing errors.
There was a sniff of Vic resurgence just before the break. They had Qld scrambling but the play broke down and the score remained at 19-0 at oranges.
Second half
The Victorian coaches must have given the guys a rev up at half time because they came out a different team and the centres 12 SioneTuipulotu 13 Ah-mu Tuimaleliifano played some commanding rugby.
A couple of minutes into the second half Victoria swarmed into the Qld 22 and reserve forward Denzil O’Meagher got credit for scoring a try in the corner after some pick and goes than were more run and goes.
Their recovery looked on track after a dodgy looking scrum when 10 Billy Gray got the ball and passed to Tuimaleliifano on the charge. After a no-argue fend he scored in the corner, six minutes in.
Victoria was on the way back—one of the two tries was converted; so Qld II was still ahead but by only19-12 now.
There followed a long period of play where Victoria had the upper hand but could not finish things off.
Inside centre Tuipolotu was putting on a masterclass of weaving running. After one such one episode 15 Graig Semisi emerged with the ball and passed to reserve back Jerry Lemalu. He then came off his wing and swerved inside to be met by four tacklers. When the support arrived 9 Matthew Euse picked up the pill and stretched over for a try.
The score was 19-17 to Qld II with the kick to come to tie the game, but it missed.
There were still four minutes to go but Victoria could not get another score to win.
The Players
Queensland
In the first half 8 Agassi Stowers had a powerful running game; 15 Geoffrey Robinson was dangerous from the back and reserve back Kallab Coventry was elusive.
3. Stowers; 2 Robinson, 1 Coventry.
Victoria
Inside centre SioneTuipulotu deserved the man-of-the-match award for his second-half effort alone. He was ably supported by midfield partner Tuimaleliifano. Reserve prop JP Sauni had a storming game, broken nose and all.
3. Tuipulotu, 2 Tuimaleliifano 1 Sauni.
The Wrap up
It was a magnificent comeback by Victoria but their play was too tepid in the first half and they only have themselves to blame.
Nor would Queensland II have got too much sympathy if Victoria got another score in the second half and won the game, because they were soft themselves in the second half and were beaten at the breakdown repeatedly.
The Scoring
Queensland II 19 ( K. Coventry, C. Afamasaga, G. Robertson tries; B. McNulty 2 cons) def. Victoria 17 (D. O’Meagher, A.Tuimaleliifano, M. Euse tries, B. Gray con)
All photos by Lee Grant
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