Twas a quiet night in Brisbane so I ventured out to Ballymore, which was also quiet, to watch the QAS Reds 2nd XV defeat a thrown together mosh posh of Brisbane club players in the guise of the Australian Barbarians. More specifically I went to watch Will Chambers, and to a lesser extent Lei Tomiki, to see if our big buys of the year would bring us any glory. The match gained a slight degree of increased importance as a result of the Reds’ team humbling at the hands of the Force the night before.
From a scoreboard perspective, the Reds 2’s won, as you would bloody well hope. The score was 59-7 with Chambers scoring 2, as did his centre partner Ben Tapuai. Other try scorers were Number 8, Jake Schatz, hooker (and skipper) Saia Faingaa, replacement lock Cameron Bracewell and replacement flanker Liam Gill. Tim Walsh converted four of the tries, whilst Jono Lance booted over three of his own conversions. That should equal 59 I hope. For the ‘Australian Barbarians’ centre James Harvey scored a try with fly half Michael Zovko converting.
And so to the purpose of my trip. Will Chambers. Without overstating it, he was probably the star of the night. He scored a couple and set up at least one more, made his tackles, was very vocal in organising team mates and calling backline moves, he realigned in defense and got involved in rucks and mauls as needed. He was a little quiet in the second half, but seemed to spend a bit more time on the wing, rotating with Brando V’aaulu. The opposition was pretty average, although it must be said, for the first half at least, he was marking probably the form Brisbane outside centre from the last couple of years in Harvey. But Harvey’s no Mortlock or Conrad Smith.
But in the end? I think it was enough of a performance to suggest he must be in the match day 22 next week. Starting? Well, possibly. Even at 13. I didn’t get to see the Force game so didn’t get to see how Diggers did at out-centre, or Morgan when he came on. But Chambers is definitely an option.
His first touch of the ball was from a Tomiki turn over which had Will breaking out from about 60 out down the blind. He passed inside to fullback Aidan Toua who took it further and delivered infield to Tapuai to score under the posts. Not long after Will was over himself when Andrew Shaw this time secured a turn over and the ball was moved quickly leaving Chambers and his winger, Paul Doneley from Brothers, with a 2 on 2. Chambers used his footwork and strength to get over the line. His next try, in the 2nd half, was notable for the classy lines he ran from a QLD line-out win. A nice Walsh pass, flat to the line, and Chambers was through.As to Tomiki? Hmmmm. I’m not sold. He looks very slow off the mark for one. I referred to him as a nugget in my comments at the Lismore trial, and he just looks like one of those short, solid blokes. Other than that initial turnover, he didn’t do too much more. Andrew Shaw was a little more prominent, playing blindside all game, and was effective with the ball and more notable in defence.
The standout flanker was young Liam Gill. The Australian Schoolboys tour captain last year has earned big raves from his schoolboy days. But could he match it with the big boys? Now, admittedly he came on in the last quarter when the game was very scrappy, but he was pretty bloody good. Very busy and a lot more prominent that Tomeki and Shaw. Strong runs, with great low body height, a charge down, a good try from excellent support play from a Dallan Murphy (Brothers) break. With the retirement of George Smith, Gill is one that will very much come into contention down the track. I dare say the Rebels would be watching him closely too, if the Reds let him slip.
The other standout was probably inside centre, Ben Tapuai. He is such a strong runner, who plays the straightening game so well. He invariably gets over the advantage line, using his bulk but also some fairly handy footwork. And he also has a very handy boot on him, and seems pretty damn rock solid in defence. His second try was an example of nice angle running, and decent speed off the mark.
Other random tidbits from my notes:
– Australian Barbarians were quite shambolic, as you would expect. The numbers were coming of their jerseys pretty early, making player identification very blood hard. But there combination, or lack of it, was fairly dramatic at times.
– Liam Shaw (Brothers) playing lock for QLD 2’s was impressive. He was dominant in the line-out (incidentally, very good throwing by Faingaa) and aggressive (as always) in the loose. He just lacks the bulk, and probably finer skills (he turned over a bit of ball in the tackle) for the next level. But he was very willing.
– James Harvey is a good player. He scored his try via a break from Souths fly-half, Michael Zovko who then passed outside to Nathanual Gendle (Brothers) who dished up outside to Harvey to score under the posts. Zovko strolled through Walsh’s defense. Harvey moved to fullback in the 2nd half, but you can tell he’s a smart player and would be a handy pick up by the Rebels as a Haig Sare type signing.
– QLD scrumhalf, Brent Hamlin from Souths, was really scrappy. His passing was Burgess like, but slower and it curtailed a lot of opportunity for the Reds.
– Late in the first half the ‘Barbarians’ snagged consecutive tight heads from the QLD team. The first one at least looked like a pure faster hook. From what I could tell, the men doing the damage were Ryan Schultz (Norths) and Sam Cummins (Easts) up against Faingaa and Albert Anae (Sunnybank). Towards the end of the game it changed completely and the Reds were tearing their scrum apart. By this time the Brothers combo of Adrian Dixon and Andrew Coady were back for the baabaa’s whilst the Reds had the reserves Heath Tessman (University), David Feao (Souths) and Pat Ritchie (Easts) on.
– reserve Cameron Bracewell from the Gold Coast, as well as starting lock Adam Preocanin (Easts) both looked quite handy for the Reds. Nice, effective work rates.
– For the Barbarians, other than Harvey, blindside Martin Collins from Gold Coast and Tom Murday from Sunnybank kept busy, whilst Schultz made an impact from the bench.
The teams were:
QAS Reds 2nd XV (from fullback): Aidan Toua (Easts), Brando Va’aulu (University), Will Chambers (TBC), Ben Tapuai (Sunnybank), Paul Doneley (Brothers), Tim Walsh (TBC), Brent Hamlin (Souths), Jake Schatz (Sunnybank), Lei Tomiki (TBC), Andrew Shaw (Brothers), Liam Shaw (Brothers), Adam Preocanin (Easts), Dayna Edwards (Sunnybank), Saia Faingaa (Souths), Albert Anae (Sunnybank). Reserves: Heath Tessman (University), David Feao (Souths), Pat Ritchie (Eats), Cameron Bracewell (Gold Coast), Liam Gill (Sunnybank), Sam Grasso (Brothers), Jono Lance (University), Dallan Murphy (Brothers).
Australian Barbarians (from fullback) Thomas Cox (Sunshine Coast), Rex Tapuai (Sunnybank), James Harvey (Brothers), Nathanuel Gendle (Brothers), Nicky Price (Brothers), Michael Zovko (Souths), Sam Batty (Country), Paula Kaho (Souths), Chris Johnson (Souths), Martin Collins (Gold Coast), Tom Murday (Sunnybank), Rubin Fuimaono (Gold Coast), Adrian Dixon (Brothers), Andrew Coady (Brothers), Cole Mooney (Gold Coast). Reserves: Ryan Schultz, (Norths), Sam Cummins (Easts), Brett Nayler (GPS), Geoff Ingram (GPS), Mitch Francis (Gold Coast), Ian Prior (University), Fred Tuua (Souths), Ian Aokuso (Wests)
QAS Reds 2nd XV 59 (Will Chambers 2, Ben Tapuai 2, Saia Faingaa, Cameron Bracewell, Jake Schatz, Liam Gill, Dallan Murphy tries, Tim Walsh 4, Jono Lance 3 cons) def Australian Barbarians 7 (James Harvey try, Michael Zovko con)
