GPS Round 2

Joeys v. Scots

    by “Rich_E”

With the GPS teams to be announced that evening, the big guns from both sides stepped up in what was an exciting game that surprised many.

First half

Premiership favouritism had shifted from Bellevue Hill (pre-season) to Hunters Hill (after Round 1). But from the kick-off, Scots made it clear they wanted to reverse that.

In the opening minute Scots 7, Charlie Smith, made a clean break, but was called back due to a forward pass. In the next play, Smith was hit high in a tackle and Joeys were penalised. Both plays became part of a theme that influenced the outcome.

For the next ten minutes, both sides made some line breaks and handling errors. But Scots were on top and nearly scored twice.

At the twelve-minute mark, Scots sent the ball quickly from a line-out win to 6 Max Girdler, whose line bust and offload in the tackle ultimately set up a try by n0. 8, George Miller. The try was converted by flyhalf Dan England.

For the rest of the half, the Joeys scrum dominated and their backs made some strong runs, especially inside centre Nicholas Wilkinson. But Joeys also made several misguided kicks into the corner, only to give away possession.

With six minutes left in the half, Joeys were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. But rather than taking the three points they opted for a scrum, which they won, and a couple of quick passes found flyhalf Tom Wright in space.  He scored in the corner but the conversion was unsuccessful.

A minute later, Joeys hooker Tom Horton charged nearly half the length of the field only to be taken into touch in goal by excellent cover defence.

With three minutes left, Smith from Scots made another clean break up the middle only to be hit in a high tackle again, this time by opposite number, Lachlan Simpson, who was yellow carded.

Half time score: Scots 7 – Joeys 5.

Second half

Virtually straight after the kick off, Horton from Joeys busted through off a short pass and outpaced the lone defender to score. Too big, too fast; conversion missed.

At the eight-minute mark, after several raids in the Joeys 22, Scots’ winger, Strath Yeo, scored in the corner. The difficult conversion from the sideline was successful.

Shortly after Simpson returned from the bin, Joeys opted for a scrum from a penalty in a kickable position on two occasions, only to turn over possession both times.

Moments later, Joeys were penalised yet again for a high tackle, this time by Nathan Gittoes on Theo Strang. A few plays later and after a solid build-up, Prindiville scored Scots’ third try and the extras were added once more.

For the next ten minutes, the possession was evenly shared and both teams defended aggressively. The feature was counter-rucking from Scots that resulted in several turnovers.

On the bell, winger Blaise Barnes scored for Joeys in the corner but the conversion missed.

Final score: Scots 21 – Joeys 15

The teams

Joeys tried hard all day and played well in patches, but will need to work on keeping their tackles down and think about kicking away less possession. They will rue opting for scrums over penalty kicks on two occasions in the second half, but the failure to convert all three tries could have been part of the decision.

Scots were much improved on their Round 1 effort and it appears some of the old firm (in this case Strang, England, Girdler and Smith) are starting to re-develop some dangerous combinations. They could benefit, though, from keeping it simple occasionally, because over-playing their hand in Round 1 contributed to their loss against Newington.

The players

Joeys
2. Tom Horton – 3 points. What can’t he do. Strong scrummager. Good tackler. Scored one long-range try and nearly another.
10. Tom Wright – 2 points. Despite making few tackles he was always a threat with ball in hand, making some of his usually dazzling runs.
5. Nathan Gittoes – 1 point. Worked hard all day. Strong performance in loose and tight. Will be interesting to watch him play at six for GPS.

Scots
2. Charlie Smith – 3 points. Made at least five telling breaks up the middle off short balls from Dan England. Also responsible for pilfering possession at the breakdown.
6. Max Girdler – 2 points. Also made several telling carries including the one that set up the first try.
10. Dan England – 1 point. Controlled the game well for Scots and kicked three from three.

Scoring

Scots 21 (G.,Miller, S.Yeo, J. Prindiville tries; D. England 3 cons) def. Joeys 15 (T. Wright, J. Horton, B. Blaise tries)

 Video – courtesy of “sidesteppa”

Click on Page 2 below for informal reports of other games