Went to the Uni v Easts game today and it was very encouraging from a Uni point of view. Uni played their usual game focussing on a strong set piece. They were very good at scrum time and clearly dominated what should be a good Easts scrum with Shepherdson, Edmonds and Ofa up front. Line outs were a bit patchy in the first half but improved when Nathan Charles came on in the second half for Uni. The blustery conditions didn't help. Huia Edmonds had his problems throwing in as well. Uni seemed to click just before and just after half time and played some of their best rugby of the year in this period scoring some excellent tries capped off by a beauty for the bonus point from Trist hitting the ball hard on a great angle about 35m out and sprinting through untouched.
Best for Uni were Tilse who had his best game for the year, Dave Dennis, Tim Davidson and Cutch. Tom Carter had some good moments and a fierce duel with Ryan Cross and Inman looked ominous in his 1st grade return with some big hits and strong runs.
None of the Easts forwards stood out for me, but McKibbin looked sharp and threatening even behind a beaten pack, and To'omua had some nice touches. Cross had a crack and made some hard hits and Debartolo scored a freakish try that only he could conjure up.
All in all an excellent game to watch especially considering the conditions and very encouraging for Uni. This is still a very open comp and the finals will be fascinating.