I rocked up today to watch my first GPS 1st XV game between TSS & Nudgee as I plan to send my 11yo to one of these schools in the future and I wanted to check out the 'action', so to speak.
'The boy' came along with his elderly 'rugby-loving' grandmother and we settled into some seats behind this very vocal mob of young men in blue blazers. some also wearing 'blue, red and white'. Nice bunch but they kept standing up during the game singing and chanting.
I turned to my boy and noticed that his eyes were wide-open. A smile spread across his face as the chanting grew amidst the two teams running out onto the field in their respective turns. Great Stuff!!
It was then hard to notice much of what was going on due to all those boys constantly standing up in front. I noticed one of them must of agreed with me because I caught him emotionally mouthing that he wasn't too impressed about having to do another chant.
However, we did see a bit of magic as the TSS Half-Back scooted down the blind, stepping back inside to drag two defending Nudgee players whilst brilliantly flicking a blind pass outside for the looping 10 to have a challenging but successful run to the try line. Entertaining stuff!!!
Although TSS dominated the scrums, it was all Nudgee from hereon. The Nudgee pack dominated general play and went in for two trys by some simple low pick and drives near the TSS try line.
{It was interesting to me that our u11s have recently practiced against this type of attack. What was the main message I ask you? Get off your line! Not so for TSS who were unable to do exactly that on those two occasions. Easily said than done though!}
Before you knew it, the score was 5-30 to Nudgee. Not to be out done, TSS started to throw the ball around and played with more confidence. The score narrowed quickly as the TSS trys kept rolling-in. Time was running out and it sure did in the end with the final score 26-30 to Nudgee.
Summary: Nudgee simply got across the advantage line too easily, something that TSS struggled to do for most of the match. The scoreboard doesn't tell the whole story, but for me; it was the Nudgee forward pack that made the difference and also their ability to penetrate through the centres.
My highlights:
- The duel between the mascots at half time.
- Good spirits by both team's supporters.
- I love the initial try by TSS - that was pretty impressive!!
- Nudgee forwards and centres getting across the advantage line.
- The TSS fight back.
Good luck to both teams for the rest of the season!
