Australian Schoolboys & National Championships 2018

[Garry Owens]

That is a very, very, very good (almost kiwi-esq) NSW 1s pack. I like it a lot.

All very mobile, athletic and skillful, but still strong in set piece.

Bell sometimes slips into playmaker role for New and is a strong ball runner.

Pollard was a flanker until recently and is a wrecking ball runner.

Lambert was named one of the best at the Scots 7s.

Williams and Harris are two of the quickest in Scots team, backs included. Williams is a try scoring machine.

Freeman won NSW schools player of the year in 2017.

Reimer and Moretti are quick, physically imposing and link brilliantly with backs.

Great forward pack. Should go real well at Riverview.
.

First time I’ve seen these guys - they were all very good - but Bell , Williams and Freeman are a notch above

 

[Garry Owens]

Thanks AS

That ACT pack are hungry and tough

Their goal line defense and their resolve in the defensive ruck was exceptional

 

[rod skellet]

Opening Day: Australian Schools Rugby Championships

Game 1. NSW2 v Combined States

In what was probably the best game of the day, where the final score line did not reflect the closeness of the teams, NSW2 defeated CS 45/22.

Despite having quality possession and field position, CS were unable to capitalise on their early dominance and NSW2 took advantage and lead 12 nil after 15 min. But CS found their mojo and their set piece started to dominate with Flaherty and Gillies providing plenty of grunt to Fonua and Saunders in the front row. At 19/17 NSW2 hung onto a 2 point lead but the swagger was all CS. Then the changes occurred for both sides, and the momentum swung 180deg and NSW2 started to dominate in the forwards allowing Tejcek and Minogue to get the backs on song and NSW2 ran away with the game.

Best for NSW2. Holz, Dring, Minogue, Tejcek, Heaven

Best for CS. Bryden, Fonua (Xavier College), Flaherty, Gibbs

Game 2. NSW1 v Victoria

This game really was a training run for NSW as this year’s Vic team is not as strong as years gone by. Final score was 80 points to 5 with NSW dominating all aspects of the game.
With many of the NSW reserves starting and the opposition weak it is hard to gauge where NSW1 is v QLD1, but given the quality of next game ACT v Qld2, NSW1 should be in the final.

Best for NSW1: Reimer, Edmed, Bell, Williams, Tricks, Pollard

Best for Vic: Fonua (14)

Game 3. Qld2 v ACT

ACT won 18 nil in a game where skill speed and fitness won over brute size.

QLD2 should have been in this but poor execution and fitness let them down. For ACT, Apensisa Driti (1) had a fine game with a strong set piece and some quality offloads and passes for a big lad. The ACT backrow of Bailey (7) and Scott (8) won the breakdown while in the backs Cory Toole (11) had his opposite in knots scoring a fine individual try and was ably supported by Jimenez (15).

For QLD2Harry Fox (4) never stopped trying and was error free while Manu 7 was having a good game before a knee injury put him out.

Best for ACT: Driti, Scott, Toole, Atkins

Best for QLD2: Fox, Tevaga, Mellish

Game 4: Qld1 v Western Australia

Qld1 defeated WA 67/12

Qld1 have a strong side with a big strong forward pack and a back line that has plenty of speed and skill. With a 45 nil lead at half time, changes came and a bit of fluency was lost but the marker had been certainly put down. Downes (prop 17) Kopua (2) and Nongorr (3) made light work upfront while Frewtrell (5) and van de Schyff (6) were brilliant ball in hand.

The real class though was in the backs with the centre pairing of Pasitoa (12) and Waight (13) putting all teams on notice, while Vaihu (11) scored 4 tries.

Best for Qld1. Waight, Pasitoa, van der Schyff, Downes
Best for WA. Sinclair 8, Plane 10, Stafford 17

 

[Armchair Selector]

Thanks AS

That ACT pack are hungry and tough

Their goal line defense and their resolve in the defensive ruck was exceptional

Dogged defence by ACT especially in first 15 minutes.

For my mind I thought the ACT #10 Crowe was very impressive as was their #14 Haddad and #15 Jimenez.

I wasn’t particularly impressed by QLD2 who had the size in the forwards but played with little integration in the backs. Lot of one off stuff.

ACT will be a far better test for NSWI on Tuesday. Victoria desiccated by NSWI who tore them up out wide. Tricks was loving the space.

 

[William88]

Thanks Rod. No mention of The 7th Barker boy that made the Comp in your summations though. Did he not play?

 

[rod skellet]

Thanks Rod. No mention of The 7th Barker boy that made the Comp in your summations though. Did he not play?

Gus Collison (the other Barker lad) started at prop for NSW1. But he finished the game at 7. Donny Freeman only played 20 min. Not sure why that was. He did not seem injured.

 

[rod skellet]

My go at selecting a Schoolboys and Barbarians team after the first day’s play.

Bound to create a bit of talk.

Australian Schoolboys

1 Bell (NSW 1)
2 Pollard (NSW 1)
3 Driti (ACT)
4 Williams (NSW 1)
5 Chaffey (Qld 1)
6 van der Schyff (Qld 1)
7 Reimer (NSW 1)
8 Moretti (NSW 1)
9 Jeans (Qld 1)
10 Edmed (NSW 1)
11 Bryden (CS)
12 Pasitoa (Qld 1)
13 Waight (Qld 1)
14 Vaihu (Qld 1)
15 Connolly (NSW 1)

Australian Barbarians

1 Downes (Qld1 Res)
2 Kopua (Qld 1)
3 Fonua (CS) or whoever played 3 for CS.
4 Dring (NSW2)
5 Flaherty (CS)
6 Wellington (CS)
7 Freeman (NSW 1)
8 Harris (NSW 1)
9 Tejcek (NSW 2)
10 Gordan (Qld 1)
11 Tricks (NSW1)
12 walton (NSW 1)
13 (Ilias (NSW1)
14 Kapi (Qld 1 Res)
15 Jimenez (ACT)

 

[rod skellet]

If I was predicting the Saturday matchups it would be

7th v 8th Vic v WA
5th v 6th CS v Qld2
3rd v 4th NSW2 v ACT
Final NSW1 v Qld 1

 

[Gary Owen III]

Update from Div 2 Nationals and Gold Coast Rugby Carnival.
Day 1 was a 10 aside tournament. NSWJRU U18 won it with wins over South Australian (31-5), The Associated Schools (Qld) 44-0 & Northern Territory/Tasmania Combined (40-7).
Day 2 NSWJRU U18 had wins over Waiuku (NZ) 41-0 and Gold Coast U18 Rep 51-0. Rest day tomorrow.

 

[CatchnPass]

I thought the N2 reserves Hickey and Rizk (wing and FB) were very good and combined well for a couple of tries. Great to see some boys from outside the GPS/CAS cohort standing up

 

[Garry Owens]

Opening Day: Australian Schools Rugby Championships

Game 1. NSW2 v Combined States

In what was probably the best game of the day, where the final score line did not reflect the closeness of the teams, NSW2 defeated CS 45/22.

Despite having quality possession and field position, CS were unable to capitalise on their early dominance and NSW2 took advantage and lead 12 nil after 15 min. But CS found their mojo and their set piece started to dominate with Flaherty and Gillies providing plenty of grunt to Fonua and Saunders in the front row. At 19/17 NSW2 hung onto a 2 point lead but the swagger was all CS. Then the changes occurred for both sides, and the momentum swung 180deg and NSW2 started to dominate in the forwards allowing Tejcek and Minogue to get the backs on song and NSW2 ran away with the game.

Best for NSW2. Holz, Dring, Minogue, Tejcek, Heaven

Best for CS. Bryden, Fonua (Xavier College), Flaherty, Gibbs

Game 2. NSW1 v Victoria

This game really was a training run for NSW as this year’s Vic team is not as strong as years gone by. Final score was 80 points to 5 with NSW dominating all aspects of the game.
With many of the NSW reserves starting and the opposition weak it is hard to gauge where NSW1 is v QLD1, but given the quality of next game ACT v Qld2, NSW1 should be in the final.

Best for NSW1: Reimer, Edmed, Bell, Williams, Tricks, Pollard

Best for Vic: Fonua (14)

Game 3. Qld2 v ACT

ACT won 18 nil in a game where skill speed and fitness won over brute size.

QLD2 should have been in this but poor execution and fitness let them down. For ACT, Apensisa Driti (1) had a fine game with a strong set piece and some quality offloads and passes for a big lad. The ACT backrow of Bailey (7) and Scott (8) won the breakdown while in the backs Cory Toole (11) had his opposite in knots scoring a fine individual try and was ably supported by Jimenez (15).

For QLD2Harry Fox (4) never stopped trying and was error free while Manu 7 was having a good game before a knee injury put him out.

Best for ACT: Driti, Scott, Toole, Atkins

Best for QLD2: Fox, Tevaga, Mellish

Game 4: Qld1 v Western Australia

Qld1 defeated WA 67/12

Qld1 have a strong side with a big strong forward pack and a back line that has plenty of speed and skill. With a 45 nil lead at half time, changes came and a bit of fluency was lost but the marker had been certainly put down. Downes (prop 17) Kopua (2) and Nongorr (3) made light work upfront while Frewtrell (5) and van de Schyff (6) were brilliant ball in hand.

The real class though was in the backs with the centre pairing of Pasitoa (12) and Waight (13) putting all teams on notice, while Vaihu (11) scored 4 tries.

Best for Qld1. Waight, Pasitoa, van der Schyff, Downes
Best for WA. Sinclair 8, Plane 10, Stafford 17

I thought the opening ACT try was the right winger ( Haddad )

???

Whether it was Haddad or Toole - it was all class

I agree with you re : Fox in QLD 2 but Zac Crothers ( 2 ) was exceptional , and for mine , was the 2 of the day

Ben Geraghty ( 6 ) can also hold his head up in a very productive outing - I think with 3 x turnovers won in the contest .

Not much to talk about in QLD 2 outside of Crothers , Geraghty and Fox

Driti ( 1 ) Hogan ( 3 ) Haddad ( 14 ) and Jiminez ( 15 ) were a cut above

ACT back Row were good but allowed to dominate as much as they did with sloppy handling by QLD 2 and a large part of the team seemingly indifferent to protecting the attack ruck

 

[Knoxdad_89]

I thought the opening ACT try was the right winger ( Haddad )

???

Whether it was Haddad or Toole - it was all class

I agree with you re : Fox got QLD 2 but Zac Crothers ( 2 ) was exceptional , and for mine , was the 2 of the day

Ben Geraghty ( 6 ) can also hold his head up in a very productive outing - I think with 3 x turnovers won in the contest .

Not much to talk about in QLD 2 outside of Crothers , Geraghty and Fox

Driti ( 1 ) Hogan ( 3 ) Haddad ( 14 ) and Jiminez ( 15 ) were a cut above

ACT back Row were good but allowed to dominate as much as they did with sloppy handling by QLD 2 and a large part of the team seemingly indifferent to protecting the attack ruck

Crothers was very solid today and did his state proud no doubt. However the NSW 1 starting hooking pollard had more of an impact on his match with the limited game time he received as he was taken off and rested for the upcoming and more dangerous games. There’s something really special about this kid Pollard, every run he has he seems to get over the advantage line and his 1 on 1 defence is no doubt one of the best if not the best in this competition. One of his best attributes though for me is his speed and footwork we saw this with the try he scored today. IMO he is the best hooker at this tournament and I hope he can keep his Stella form up for the remainder of the Championship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Armchair Selector]

My go at selecting a Schoolboys and Barbarians team after the first day’s play.

Bound to create a bit of talk.

Australian Schoolboys

1 Bell (NSW 1)
2 Pollard (NSW 1)
3 Driti (ACT)
4 Williams (NSW 1)
5 Chaffey (Qld 1)
6 van der Schyff (Qld 1)
7 Reimer (NSW 1)
8 Moretti (NSW 1)
9 Jeans (Qld 1)
10 Edmed (NSW 1)
11 Bryden (CS)
12 Pasitoa (Qld 1)
13 Waight (Qld 1)
14 Vaihu (Qld 1)
15 Connolly (NSW 1)

Australian Barbarians

1 Downes (Qld1 Res)
2 Kopua (Qld 1)
3 Fonua (CS) or whoever played 3 for CS.
4 Dring (NSW2)
5 Flaherty (CS)
6 Wellington (CS)
7 Freeman (NSW 1)
8 Harris (NSW 1)
9 Tejcek (NSW 2)
10 Gordan (Qld 1)
11 Tricks (NSW1)
12 walton (NSW 1)
13 (Ilias (NSW1)
14 Kapi (Qld 1 Res)
15 Jimenez (ACT)

Geez Rod you must have really struggled to only fit 6 Barker Boys in your teams !

Sorry I couldn’t help but to take the bait.

Very early days.........


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rod skellet]

Thanks AS. I did make my selections on what I observed today at Riverview. And I was never one to push back on 4 Waverly lads being in the schoolboys side in 2017.

That said I am sure you noticed that there is 5 TSS lads in the teams as well along with 4 Scots boys and 2 from Trinity.

Which does make sense when one looks at which schools are leading the 3 strongest rugby competitions being Qld GPS (TSS) NSW CAS (Barker) and NSW GPS (Scots).

 

[SonnyDillWilliams]

rod, your observations are pretty good ... even though your barker goggles are very much nailed to your head

That Victorian 14 was awesome... reminded me of kings star (and absent) winger ... sualli

Freakishly good step... and that try saving cover tackle ... so the kid has all the skills

He was my only surprise from today... otherwise it was all the NSW 1 stars ... don't think rod mentioned Harris at 5 .. he got through a mountain of work ... and wouldn't have him only in babas

 

[William88]

Thanks AS. I did make my selections on what I observed today at Riverview. And I was never one to push back on 4 Waverly lads being in the schoolboys side in 2017.

Which does make sense when one looks at which schools are leading the 3 strongest rugby competitions being Qld GPS (TSS) NSW CAS (Barker) and NSW GPS (Scots).

You couldn’t push back on their selections because they were selected. These are your predictions and again some very good players miss out. The NSW 2’s boys could consider themselves hard down by to give a good showing today, but only have two boys selected(namely from Barker) in your team!

And how jack Winchester doesn’t get a run at hooker in your squad is anyone’s guess!

Scots Barker and TSS aren’t leading they are all equal first along with other schools Rod. Early days in all the competitions.

 

[Breaks_Away]

Gus Collison (the other Barker lad) started at prop for NSW1. But he finished the game at 7. Donny Freeman only played 20 min. Not sure why that was. He did not seem injured.

Freeman wasn’t injured, Coaches need to give all players Fair time on the field, therefore should imagine they rested him for the upcoming games - more time on the field


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sidelineview]

Freeman wasn’t injured, Coaches need to give all players Fair time on the field, therefore should imagine they rested him for the upcoming games - more time on the field


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're right; the Coach will need to juggle game time for his players to meet the Rule requirements.
Freeman played very strongly when he was on.
NSW1 have an awesome pack of forwards. The backs arent too shabby either.
It will take a very good team to beat them, but its still early.

 

[carl spackler]

NSW were too good but i lost count of the number of penalties blown against CS in the 2nd half. They were right in it up until halftime but couldn't maintain momentum in the 2nd half
6, 8 & 11 had good games for CS whoever they were.

The 6 was Brett Wellington (Scots), 8 was Alex Rahme (Aloys), and 11 Ben Bryden (Barker). Personally thought Rahme was the best forward for CS, though clearly others (not including SLV) didn't think so.

He was subbed off at half-time, then returned about 15 minutes into the 2nd half , with the coaches hoping he could steady the rapidly sinking ship.

 

[sidelineview]

The 6 was Brett Wellington (Scots), 8 was Alex Rahme (Aloys), and 11 Ben Bryden (Barker). Personally thought Rahme was the best forward for CS, though clearly others (not including SLV) didn't think so.

He was subbed off at half-time, then returned about 15 minutes into the 2nd half , with the coaches hoping he could steady the rapidly sinking ship.

Another player who impressed for CS was the forward with the longish hair. He may have been the 1. He had a headband on.