AIC Rugby 2014

[behindthescenes]

Some interesting results from round 1. Across the board what are people's thoughts on the standard of rugby in AIC 1st XV this season? Was it quality rugby for round 1? There's plenty of chat about certain players, any idea if the coaching staff have changed at any school ? I heard SLC and Villa had a change of coach after long standing coaches moved on / any truth in this ? What ant other schools

 

[Eric Grothe Sr]

I did not go to any matches this weekend but can tell all first hand that Luke Oxford, coach at SPC is making a huge impact in regard to culture in Shorncliffe. Having been involved in sport at three AIC schools (although biased about SPC), I love the fact that the AIC competition since at least 2008 has been so close. Gone are the days when ASH dominated but for a couple of very talented Iona, SLC or SPLC teams. What is even better is the fact that so many of the AIC boys overlooked by the upper echelon in 'rep' teams kick on after school. I have said it before but most of this comes at half the price of GPS schools.

Enjoy the season and keep playing sport boys.

 

[Amanwholovesfooty]

Mate, how could you say Villa were never really in it? Padua scored a few quick tries then Villa came back hard and scored a few quick tries. You would have to be pretty stupid to think Padua dominated. It was a tough match with Padua coming away with a win but both teams were in it till the end.

Villa scored the late tries when Padua made a lot of subs, the game was done and dusted when Padua reached 28.
Padua'a winger came off and was replaced by a smaller player the tries were conceded on his side, if the subs weren't made Villa wouldn't have crossed the line.
Villa played well and were in it for majority of the game but couldn't play the full time.

 

[Bruss_machine]

Villa were outclassed by a tight Paduan Unit. the brown and gold stuck together in a team fought win. 12 and 13 from villa were shut down pretty early and weren't a real threat. The one time torpy did break the line he was put on his arse by Padua's 15, 60 kg's the lesser. Villa ran in 2 late tries but didn't look to threaten after Padua had 28 on the board. Don't get me wrong the boys from Kedron did play well but still need to tweak their back line attack, most tries coming from forwards. Padua to finish top 4 this year in the mix with peters, pats and Iona.

 

[Scott from Scotland]

SEC must be considered the favorites for the premiership. SEC and Iona were the favorites before the season started but with Iona losing to Peters over the weekend eddies are definitely in the best position to win. Peters will be up there but will lack the consistency week in week out. Iona unless they fix their backline problems will struggle. Villa will be competitive but will lack the polish to put away the better teams. Padua seem to be a tight knit group but once again will struggle against the like of eddies. Pats will be the team that will lose by fifty one week but win the next. Ashgrove after losing to Pats will need to have a good hard look at themselves in order to turn their season around. St Lauries will be lucky to win a game IMO.

 

[Rugby_master]

Reports say that the padua forward pack was very strong on the weekend however I have heard that Sam Hinton one of the gun forwards for Padua will miss next week with a shoulder injury. I do not know the extent of the injury but it is sure that he will miss next weeks game against peters. Big loss

 

[rugby1768]

Some surprising results last round which has blown this years competition wide open. I saw the ashgrove game and their defence was average while their attack left a lot to be desired. Ashgrove seemed to lack that flair player who could give them something a little extra when needed. The pat's defence just ate up everything they through at em'. Credit to Pats for their defensive work as it was obvious that they came into the game with a plan to stifle and scrap.

I think Pats are going to cause a few head aches for the more fancied schools in the upcoming rounds.

A mate of mine whose son plays at Iona filled me in on the 1st's game. Peters were ok, their forward pack looked steady and held their own against the bigger Iona forwards and their backs are fast and tricky. Iona were simply not good enough, apart from their 7, the forwards didn't throw their weight around enough and couldn't starve the peters backline of ball.

I'll try and get to the Peters vs Padua game this weekend to see these backs of theirs in action. Should be an awesome contest after coming off big wins against much fancied opponents.

 

[Amanwholovesfooty]

With round 1 finished what is the draw for round 2 and who will be leading the comp after two rounds??

 

[ruggasXV]

Where can I find the results from all the age groups each week? Some schools fail to publish their results in the Sunday Mail each week. I remember last year there were a few tables constructed for each aggregate team.

 

[xxxx]

Anyone watch the Pats vs Ash game?
Not to take anything away from Pats but the result of this game due to a weak Ash team or a particular strong Pats team.
correct me if i'm wrong is this the first time pats have beaten ash in 1st.

over the last few years on this forum there has been a bit of talk from Ash old boys about the demise of ash rugby, there has been numerous theory's thrown around for why.
eg gps scholarships, school culture, coaching staff to name a few.
But I have mine own, which I have in the past aired on the forum and have been flamed for.
Sorry current students, but facebook iphones,consoles etc don't produce physically tough kids not in the same way as backyard footy and skate parks etc used to.
so whenever a big Ist team are around other teams lacking toughness struggle, in recent years 2013 iona 2012 peters 2011 padua/eddies (from memory) were teams which had size and easily account for their oppostion.

So more so than ever size does matter.
now saying all that, are Pats large?

 

[oldcoach]

Without taking the Forum off topic too badly - take it from an old fart, Ashgrove are NOTHING like they used to be ...

We used to dread playing them eg 1998 (5 Australian Schoolboys), 2002 to 2006 (5 consecutive undefeated Premierships)

They are so soft and poorly coached now... good for the rest of the schools though ..

 

[Gary Smith]

Anyone watch the Pats vs Ash game?
Not to take anything away from Pats but the result of this game due to a weak Ash team or a particular strong Pats team.
correct me if i'm wrong is this the first time pats have beaten ash in 1st.

over the last few years on this forum there has been a bit of talk from Ash old boys about the demise of ash rugby, there has been numerous theory's thrown around for why.
eg gps scholarships, school culture, coaching staff to name a few.
But I have mine own, which I have in the past aired on the forum and have been flamed for.
Sorry current students, but facebook iphones,consoles etc don't produce physically tough kids not in the same way as backyard footy and skate parks etc used to.
so whenever a big Ist team are around other teams lacking toughness struggle, in recent years 2013 iona 2012 peters 2011 padua/eddies (from memory) were teams which had size and easily account for their oppostion.

So more so than ever size does matter.
now saying all that, are Pats large?

From what I have seen, the Pats forward pack aren't large in size but they make up for it with the fitness and ball work. The backline isn't too big, with the 12 being the only one to mention that has some decent size

 

[don't_go_latho]

Must of been interesting at Ashgrove today. I suspect quite a bit of soul searching was going on. Interesting that Lauries and Ashgrove being co-premiers last year in the 16's and both have performed well in this age group are struggling so much. One would have to guess Pat's have brought in a few players cause the result doesn't make much sense. Massive game at Mcmahon Oval Saturday now though, I honestly believe Lauries have a good chance against Ashgrove.

 

[Rugbychat101]

Isn't it a coincidence that all of the schools that were getting talked up in pre-season have ended up with upsetting results for Round 1 all talk no walk .

 

[Bruss_machine]

Any word on the Peters team and previous performances? There hasn't been a massive amount of chat regarding the peters team and it seems the teams with no talk behind their back are performing the best. It'll be an interesting game this Saturday with Padua and Peters both coming off wins. Possibly could determine the difference between premiers and best of the rest..

 

[Amanwholovesfooty]

Must of been interesting at Ashgrove today. I suspect quite a bit of soul searching was going on. Interesting that Lauries and Ashgrove being co-premiers last year in the 16's and both have performed well in this age group are struggling so much. One would have to guess Pat's have brought in a few players cause the result doesn't make much sense. Massive game at Mcmahon Oval Saturday now though, I honestly believe Lauries have a good chance against Ashgrove.

Don't count ashgrove out too early.
You see it quite often when a team gets embarrassed by an upset they all lift the following weekend and perform well. If ashgrove to happen to lose it will most likely be the season over for the boys.

 

[Amanwholovesfooty]

No buy in's from what I understand, I was told some Pats boys were in tears cause thats the first time any of them have beaten Ashgrove since they have been at school, I think they are a group of skilled boys who have trained hard and are playing for each other. I heard they have had trials against Villa and Eddies and beat Villa well and the Eddies game they only just lost but were missing up to 4 starting players.

There hasn't been too much talk around St Pats this year, so can someone give us some insight to the pack they have.
Is their forward pack big or is it small and mobile?
How do their backs compare to the other schools, do they have size ??

 

[rugby1768]

There hasn't been too much talk around St Pats this year, so can someone give us some insight to the pack they have.
Is their forward pack big or is it small and mobile?
How do their backs compare to the other schools, do they have size ??

On Pats their forward pack is not particularly big but they did work very hard and have quite a good player at 8. Their backs are solid, not spectacular, their inside center is big strong and fast and is their most dangerous player. Unfortunately for Ashgrove the Pats boys simply wanted the win more. Ashgrove were very flat...

 

[Rugby Mentor Greg]

Was it a forwards based game ? Who scored the tries

Yes the game was played for the majority in the forwards with most of Paduas tries coming through ball retention and just pick and driving until one of the forwards burrowed over the line.

 

[Rugby Mentor Greg]

You are pretty much saying that Padua's win was a fluke.
I don't think that was the case at all, the forwards took the ball for Padua up the field and were far too strong and ended up scoring. The backs did well when running their plays and Villa defended poorly and payed the price, they were really never in the game and that was due to Padua out playing them in every aspect.
"Once in a lifetime performance" if you look back to last year in the 16A's Padua beat Villanova then too I know 16A's isn't the same as 1st but they still one then and they still won on Saturday in front of a good Padua crowd.
Take the loss on the chin and move on.

I am not saying that it was a fluke at all I am merely saying it was just one of those days when everything goes perfectly for one team, in this case Padua whilst the other team seems to have everything go against them. I wouldn't expect Kendrick felu to miss in front conversions against other teams and also I doubt he will Miss kick the ball into touch so many times either. I congratulate Padua on the win and they deserved to win, however I don't think Villanova will make so many unforced errors in the games to come.