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Australian Schoolboys & National Championship 2010

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Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
This is not strictly Oz Schools but I'll post it here as it involves their future opponents.

Samoa Schools 69 – CCC 5

The visitors had too much class in the backs and the fullback was outstanding. Sometimes there seemed to be brown clones of JOC (James O'Connor) playing together and with a great joy in their play.

One time the scrummie got the ball near touch but lost his balance a bit and bumped into the Samoan no. 7, running beside him. Nobody in front and the scrummie could have scored but the 7 had already nabbed the ball out of his hands to get the try himself. They both laughed and so did the crowd.

The CCC lads were forced to run around in circles chasing the ball and didn't have much of the play but the 15 was very good with the few chances he had.

I think the Samoa forwards will be in trouble against our lads but their backs have to be watched.

Fiji Schools 53 – CHS 10

CHS had a scratch team and were missing players such as Wessels, Muller, Satini, McCallum, Northam and Seage - and a prop was playing in the 2nd row. Schuster had to play 10, and Ahofono was at 13, but nevertheless it was a poor effort from CHS. There were 8 Hills lads in the starting XV, most playing their 3rd game in 6 days and it showed.

It wasn't just them: the whole team began grabbing at ball runners in the 2nd half instead of tackling low or getting shoulders on bodies. CHS's cause was not helped by 3 yellow cards, all for shoulder changes (I think) to Nuito, Lolohea and Havea.

Big Willy had a good game though, and scored a nice try knocking a few visitors over. Another good point was the scrum in the 2nd half when they had Fiji running backwards a couple of times. A pity about the scoreboard at the time.

The Fijians had bigger players than Samoa and had a better structured game than them. They had some typical physical specimens running with the ball in one hand and playing like the Borg in a game of touch. 2nd rowers Waqanilotuvou and Tuilomaloma plus 8.Tokoqio looked like Radike Samo's little brothers; not that they were small.

The star was 9. Colala. For their first try he got the ball from a scrum free kick; the CHS lads were starting to go back 10 but he grubbered past them anyway and picked up the ball behind them to score. For their 2nd try he just picked up the ball from the base of the scrum and ran diagonally to his winger ostensibly to link with him but he just straightened up and kept going. He's bloody quick.

Some nice tries were scored and there were a few big hits in the day. If that wasn't good enough you could remember the Samoan parents singing at half time of their game and the Fijian connections chuckling at the pronunciations of the ground announcer. Lovely.

PS: I was talking to the ground announcer before the game and I said something like: ”I hope for your sake that no.12 and no.23 score most of the points for Fiji today.” He looked at the list and laughed, but unfortunately I can't recall that Brown and Swan scored a lot of points.
 

observer

Tom Lawton (22)
I think the Samoa forwards will be in trouble against our lads but their backs have to be watched.

This is the second comment on the Samoan forwards. This comment was posted in the official match report on their game against Country;

In one area they dominate (ie country) and this is in the scrum. Samoa have a lot of homework to do in this tour.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Who are the main chances in Aus A of making the overseas trip for Oz Schools? i belive 25 players will be touring Samoa and NZ so it would seem that some of the AusA team will be selected to tour.

It was easier up until 2008. Then they always picked 15 for the 1st XV and 23 for Oz A Schools - and Oz A played visitors first. The Oz A game was in effect a trial to pick 8 guys to be reserves for the Schools test. If they were touring these 23 were the first ones picked to travel unless their form was crook, and they added another couple of guys for the tour.

But in 2009, and again this year, they have picked 2 lots of 23 players. Since I wasn't at the Schools Championship this year I can't guarantee that the 23 in the Ones are actually the top 23 players. You'd think so, but schools selections in Oz are like a Chinese puzzle.

In the past NSW and Qld have reportedly selected their 15 best players and numbered them 1 to 15 in the programme for their Ones team. Then they chose their 2nd XV and gave them numbers 1 to 15 in the programme for their Twos team. The third lot of players in ranking became the 8 reserves for the Twos and the fourth lot in ranking became the 8 reserves for the Ones. Give or take a bit of fine tuning balancing the 23s that's how NSW picked their two teams and Qld copied the system later.

Reportedly.

Getting this info from selectors was like pulling teeth and hearsay was king. It changed this year anyway in NSW because Papa went for the vibe. [No let's not go there]

What's this got to do with Oz Schools? Maybe nothing - but did the Oz Schools selectors choose their 2 lot's of 23 in the manner mentioned above - or are the 23 in the Oz Schools Ones the best 23 in the minds of the selectors.

I should have answered your question by saying: "I don't know," but how dull would that have been?

"But your actual answer was even duller"?? Maybe true - but unkind.
 
S

sportsfan

Guest
PRESIDENT'S XV TEAM ANNOUNCED TO PLAY SAMOA 4 SEP KNOX GRAMMAR

Wednesday, 1 September 2010


AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT XV

V SAMOA 4 Sept 2010

1
Jack
JONES
Marist College ACT

2
Clarrie
MOORE
The Scots College NSW

3
Philip
KITE
St Josephs College Nudgee QLD

4
Michael
OAKMAN-HUNT
Erindale College ACT

5
Michael
WELLS
St Ignatius College NSW

6
Usaia
O’SULLIVAN
Trinity Grammar School NSW

7
Gordon
BROOME
Asquith Boys High School NSW

8
Caleb
TIMU
St Josephs College Nudgee QLD

9
Clinton
DALE
MacKillop Catholic College ACT

10
Jack
DEBRESCZENI
Trinity Grammar School NSW

11
Saia
TANGINOA
Prairewood High School NSW

12
Josh
McCORMACK
The Kings School NSW

13
Alan
FAALAVAU
Endeavour Hills VIC

14
Alex
NORTAM
Killarney Heights High School NSW

15
UJ
SEUTENI
The Southport School QLD

RESERVES:




16
Ezra
AMITUANAI
Newington College NSW

17
Silatolu
LATU
South Sydney High School NSW

18
Allan
Ala'alatoa
Newington College NSW

19
James
WILLIAMS
St Josephs College NSW

20
Dean
OAKMAN-HUNT
Erindale College ACT

21
Jock
MERRIMAN
Shore School NSW

22
Nathan
ROYE
Newington College NSW

23
Chris
SMITH
The Hills Sports HS NSW
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
I can't argue that this is the best 23 out of all the schools players in Oz not chosen for Oz Schools or Oz A Schools, but I like the concept.
 

observer

Tom Lawton (22)
No Sam Muller, Stewart Dunbar or James Vaka. I'm surprised at their non inclusion however they may be injured or otherwise unavailable.
 

Elfster

Alex Ross (28)
The team also appears to include a few who were injured earlier this year or went missing in some of the previous rep games, alowing them to have a go. Though I am not sure what the driving force of the President's XV is: I don't think it can be as a final selection criteria for the touring Australian sides as surely the numbers would be in the Australian school and A sides. Though perhaps the may need the additional numbers if some of the players previously highlighted drop out through academic reasons (as alluded to previously).

Though other fun news with the game on Saturday: not only will it be raining, but for those punters using public transport will be undoubtedly happy with the news that there are no trains running on the North Shore line this week. So getting to Warrawee (or even Waitara :) ) could be a little harder than normal. In general it is better to get off the State Rail Bus at Wahroonga and walk towards the school (towards Warrawee) than getting off at the stop at "Warrawee", which is really nowhere near Warrawee, but a dumping point on the pacific highway where you can admire the architectural wonders getting put up courtesy of Sartor, Kenneally and Meriton et al. (Slums of the future....) Else there is a fair bit of parking, though coming off Woodville one should be aware that that part of the school is a building site and there may not be direct access into the grounds from Woodville Ave. And if there are too many happy campers parking around the area, the local constabulary try to balance the state budget with some rather officious parking infringement bookings.
 

FTS

Billy Sheehan (19)
Have heard ARU Presidents side defeated Samoa roughly 26-12. Good win from those boys after only training together a couple of days
 

lily

Vay Wilson (31)
can't. I believe Lee is saying that everyone is a selector and to say these are the next best 22 is something that can get debated for a long time or maybe untill all 3 teams get subjected to colts and grade rugby.
 

crofty

Allen Oxlade (6)
Had a look at the A side beat Fiji this afternoon - think it was 5 tries to 2 - maybe 29 - 10 in drizzly conditions. While I had an a personal interest in following Goodman at 7 and Keary at 15 who both played well (Keary bagging 2 tries and giving the final pass for 2 more) there were a number of quality performers. Thought Melrose at 5 and Holloway at 8 had particularly high work rates in the forwards. The inside centre Patrick was strong in attack, feeding off the lovely hands of the flyhalf, Davies. Ingate and Wesells both had played well when they came on in the second half. After a strong start the boys lost their way a bit in the latter stages of the first half but they regained composure and played some attractive rugby in difficult conditions in the second half.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Oz Presidents XV 26 – Samoa 14 [Half time: 12-0]

Samoa couldn't get any of the good ball they got against CCC on Wednesday and their backs withered on the vine. That didn't stop 15. Mai showing his class again from broken play, and there was a lot of that because of the wet ball and lads sliding around and spilling the pill. The visitors got a bit more ball in the 2nd half and more chances, but the better structured play of the Aussies saw them home.

The Oz forwards were more willing in their work and diligence around the tackle and ruck. On the other hand the backs took a long time to know each other and were typical of a state team in the 1st game of a national schools tournament. There was some talent there but they would have been better with a game under their belt already because they left a few tries on the park.

12. McCormack (Kings) showed what good hands he has when he wants to pass the ball, and reserve 9. Merriman (Shore) looked very snappy, but the star of the back line was 13. Fa'alavau (Endeavour Hills) from Victoria.

He looked good in the U/16 tournament last year too and I reckon that Macqueen will be interested in him for his academy one of these days. Queensland folks will know Chris F'Sautia and JOC (James O'Connor), of course; well, this bloke looks like a cross between the two – and like JOC (James O'Connor), socks down.

7. Broome (Asquith) was a goer as usual and 6. O'Sullivan (Trinity) had a good all round game that he always seems to have, but the star forward for me was 3. Kite (Nudgee). He had a good work ethic in the tight stuff and loves the hard hits. Then when he was rested it didn't get any easier for Samoa because 16 y.o. 3. Ala'alatoa (Newington) came on and played the same way. This bloke seems to be a bit wasted as a THP; so LHP may be his go later.



Oz A 29 – Fiji 10 [Half time: 12-0]

This was a similar game and similar comments could be made. Fiji were more structured that Samoa were, but Oz A Schools was a step up in class too. Oz had trouble clicking to convert their early possession and territory into points. The visitors looked dangerous when they pounced on lose pill and 9. Colata had another top sniping day, frequently catching the Aussies not back 10 on FKs.

It was good see see 3. Hoskins (Scotch College, WA) play again. The lad weighs 122 kgs these days and is about 192 cms and not a fatso. His hero is Carl Hayman and that's not a bad fellow to emulate. He was a handful, but they gave him only one half though he looked good for three of them.

In the backs I liked the look of 10. Davies ( BGS) who played well in the U/16 tournament last year when the games opened up and he looked like a good all round flyhalf today in the greasy conditions.

The MOTM was 15. Keary (Oakhill) who did everything right. For a fullback has a great ball sense whether he is receiving the ball, or passing it at the right time, or capturing it bouncing near him. One time he overplayed his hand when he should have passed earlier but he did the Quade pass off his backhand and Klaassen was over.

There's a whiff of Horan about him when he plays well.

That was a highlight of the day for me and another was the performance of the THPs. Considering that Kite, Ala'alatoa and Hoskins aren't good enough to get in the Oz Schools Ones and knowing that Millar and Brodie deserve their spots, then there may be a couple of their names being listed in Super15 programmes a few years down the track; though who knows which ones?
 

FTS

Billy Sheehan (19)
Lee did you have any thoughts in particular on how Clinton Dale (halfback) or the Oakman Hunt twins (backrow) from Canberra went in the presidents side?
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
I thought that Dale's passing was found wanting and he took a while to adapt to the wet conditions. The flyhalf from Trinity was much the same. Had they both played in those conditions recently and at least once together it would have been different I am sure, as you could see a bit of class.

Of the twins I made a favourable comment in my programme about Michael to whom they threw a lot of lineout ball which he handled well, but had nothing about Dean.
 

FTS

Billy Sheehan (19)
I thought that Dale's passing was found wanting and he took a while to adapt to the wet conditions. The flyhalf from Trinity was much the same. Had they both played in those conditions recently and at least once together it would have been different I am sure, as you could see a bit of class.

Of the twins I made a favourable comment in my programme about Michael to whom they threw a lot of lineout ball which he handled well, but had nothing about Dean.

Cheers Lee, brumbies have big raps on Dale, while the Oakman Boys are only year 11 so watch for them next year pushing for an Australian jersey.
 

Iluvmyfooty

Phil Hardcastle (33)
Lee heard that the OZ A side performed better in the 2nd half than the first with players such as Wessels, Ingate and Dombkins coming on. Is this true? How did these three go
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Yeah - Oz A were better in the 2nd half, especially if you take away a snap try Fiji scored just after oranges.

I always have a big rap on Dombkins who plays lock at school but who I think will be a good 8 as a senior. He played OK, but unfortunately got injured just before the final bell. St. Augustine's fans should be aware that he may not be available to play in the WS final on Monday. With Hingano and Kaufmann (probably) already out, Hills may fancy their chances. But I digress

9. Wessells was very busy as usual, but so was the guy that started the game, Molimau, a Victorian, and somebody I had never heard of. It sounds like faint praise of Wessells, but in the conditions ordinary reliable delivery had to be given a premium. 13. Ingate was Ingate: he will probably be in the Oz Ones next year - solid, hard as nails, but not without guile: like Cam Shepherd was at Barker.
 
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