CAS Rugby Merit List
Green and Gold Rugby thought it fitting to acknowledge some special players—and a special team for their efforts in adversity.
CAS Team of the year
Here is the Green & Gold CAS Team of the Year based on play for their school in the 2014 CAS competition, and paying no regard to performances in trials or rep games, nor to how they played last year.
No regard was paid either to how many players were chosen from any school. Players who were not available to play many games were not considered.
In most cases the players were chosen in the positions they played regularly for their schools
Thanks to “Elfster”, “sidelineview”, “Rugby Addict” and “SonnyDillWilliams” for their input in the selection panel.
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CAS 1st XV
1. Tom Hill (Cranbrook)
2. James Widders-Leece (Knox)
3. Austin Black (Knox)
4. Hugh Summerhayes (Cranbrook)
5. Lachlan Swinton (Knox)
6. Nick Burkett (Barker)
7. Jake Pierce (Knox)
8. Nick Makas (Cranbrook)
9. Jacob Rose (Knox)
10. James Dainton (Aloys)
11. Lucas Price (Knox)
12. Henry Patterson (Waverley)
13. Connor Watson (Knox)
14. Zac Edelstein (Cranbrook)
15. Sam Renton (Cranbrook)
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Player of the Year
James Widders-Leece (Knox)
Widders-Leece, who represented NSW Schools this year, does the things you want a hooker to do – his set-play work at the scrums and line-outs was solid, and he made his tackles.
What set him apart in 2014 was the way he played when the ball was in his hands. 17 tries set a new record for the CAS 1st XV competition, and he was a dynamic attacking threat whenever he ran. He gave Knox an attacking dimension that no other team in the competition could match.
Most Valuable Player
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Sam Renton (Cranbrook)
We were looking for a player whose value to his team, was greater than the value of any other CAS player to their team. As part of that we thought of what impact his absence would have on his team’s performance (compared to the absences of other candidates from their teams).
We expected to come up with a good player from a lesser team, but the more we thought about it, the more we came back to Sam Renton of Cranbrook, the 2014 Champions.[/one_half][one_half last=”yes”]
[/one_half]In several matches his goal kicking was important in either getting the result, or applying scoreboard pressure during the game, or both. Although he is chosen in the CAS 1st XV at fullback, his distribution and running skills at flyhalf were excellent, and he broke the defensive line regularly.
Most Improved team
Waverley
This was the team that improved the most over the course of the ten rounds of competition. Waverley lost its first four games, and allowed more than 40 points in each, but came back strongly to win four of the next six matches, including a colossal victory over Knox.
They went from early-season easy-beats to a highly competitive side. They edge out St Aloysius, who won three of its last five games after losing the first five..
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