St Josephs College 22 St Augustines College 35 Trial game
That was one of the best exhibitions I've ever seen by any school but unfortunately it wasn't by Joeys, the team I follow. I didn't see the BSHS team last year but this SAC team might have had a good chance of rolling them. Their only blemish? With the game easily won they relaxed and let Joeys in for two late tries to save a few blushes and to give the Joeys lads something to hold on to for when their comp starts in June.
To be fair: St Augustines had played earlier trial games and it was Joeys' first run. My pimply informant said SAC had played 8 matches but let's divide by 2 and say 4. Joeys had 3 guys missing, and SAC had fresh reserves running on in the 2nd half whereas Joeys just used reserves from the twos who had already played a game when players were injured ..... but still, it was magnificent rugby by the visitors.
There were a lot of CHS Schools and NSW Schools candidates in the SAC team and, if not, the standard of those two teams is going to be high this year. There may be a few Tahs Academy candidates too, and since St.Augustine's is just a punt or two away from Brookvale Oval, the Manly Sea Eagles' home ground, they will have a few pencilled in too.
Two years ago I saw giant LHP Salesi Manu from SAC push through the Joeys scrum and go into the Oz Schools team, then into the Tahs amateur Academy in 2009 and is starting with Manly in 1st Grade this year. Now they have another whopper with the 1 jersey: John Mokofisi, who gets around the park better than Salesi. Let's hope the Tahs had someone at the game. Then when he was off the ground another good big guy whose name wasn't in the programme came on. Needless to say their scrum was tough.
From the 2009 NSW Schools U16 team: 4 Rhys Dombkins, recruited from Hunter Sports High in the Newcastle area, and 12 Jack Purcell, had top games. My MOTM Purcell has everything to his game including a huge boot, breaking tackles at will and good goal kicking. 13 Malietoa Hingano was just as impressive and trouble every time he had the ball, and trouble to opponents if they had it.
A majority of the St. Augustine players were stand outs and few more so than Sam Vaka, a hard skills 6 player, and 10 Sam Brisby, who like 13 Hingano, was picked as a reserve for NSW Schools last year. If Brisby and Hingano don't make it in the NSW Schools run on team, nor 12 Purcell either, the guys who do get picked will be very good indeed.
Not too many Joeys lads shone on the day but more of them later in the season. They should be credited with never giving up at the end and even improving their scrum as the game went on against opponents who had dominated them earlier on.
There was a buzz at the ground after the game at the good rugby we had seen and there were many favourable comments by the Joeys faithful about the visitors who had just beaten their team in a trial for the second year in a row.
:lmao:
