NSW GPS – Cliffhanger at Northbridge

Riverview v. Newington

by “Anonymous Al”

Riverview beat Newington the first time around in the mud but what had changed since then?

First half

Riverview had come to play, with Beau Petterson (#4) leaping high to regather the ball off the kick-off, which afterwards put the View boys deep into Newington territory.

Despite reasonable defence, and a few scrappy phases, the Riverview back line managed to compose themselves, as Jack McGregor (#10) put wunderkind Henry Hutchinson (#13) through to score the first of three tries for the Aussie Schools’ player. McGregor slotted the conversion for View to lead 7 – 0 in the third minute.

Newington responded well with the first of many successful kick-off recoveries resulting in solid territorial advantage. The Black and White held onto the ball well, and phased it up via Piroddi (#5) and Laimani (#3).

When Riverview got the ball back they dropped it and  Newington earned a penalty in front of the sticks after an impressive scrum.  Simonsson (#11) slotted the goal taking the score to 7 – 3 (View) at the 7th minute.

Riverview received a penalty when their captain Evan Pritchard (#2) was spear-tackled. His decision to forgo a penalty shot was justified when Hutchinson scored his second try after burning his opposite man. McGregor converted again to take the score to 14 – 3.

Having accrued 14 points in as many minutes, there was a sense that things might get ugly, but Newington responded well. They showed good discipline to maintain their game plan, as Serhorn (#2) and co. continued to make metres up the middle.

But eventually Riverview put on a maul drive from a lineout five metres out and #7 Conor Menzies crossed with about eight minutes left in the half.  The conversion missed but Riverview had increased their lead to 19 – 3.

Without much time left in the half, Newington regained possession and #12 Latinipulu, whose direct running style troubled Riverview, took the ball up hard from ten metres out.  A maul developed and Laimani scored after it was driven over the line.

There was no conversion and at oranges the score was 19 – 8 to Riverview.

Second Half

The second half wasn’t so exciting because execution errors marred the performances of both sides.

Despite a few execution errors from View, the pressure began to mount on Newington; their discipline suffered and a yellow card was given for repeated team infringements.

Riverview took advantage and McGregor scooted through a gap in the New back line untouched to score under the posts. When he converted his try View led 26 – 8, and the situation looked ominous for New.

McGregor also featured when he gave an excellent short ball to Hutchinson for his third try.  When he added the extras again Riverview led 33 – 8.

With about 15 minutes left Riverview were obviously going to win but Newington never gave up.

The renaissance started with Latinipulu – a constant danger man – crossing the line after receiving a deadly short ball.  Simonsson converted for a scoreline of 33 – 15 (View).

As Newington applied pressure it was Riverview’s turn to lose discipline and with less than ten minutes left Beau Petterson (#4) was yellow-carded for repeated infringements.

With a numbers advantage Newington’s forward pack dominated and Laimani eventually scored his second try.

This was converted by Simmonson and the game ended with Riverview winning 33 – 22.

The Players

Newington

3 – Latu Latinipulu (12) was impressive with his direct straight running style,  His crash balls key contributors to Newington’s dominance in the midfield.

2 – Simon Kennewell (15) had a quiet game by his usual standards, but when he joined the backline from fullback each touch was gold. Not only did he take advantage of the space that was being created, but he also made space for others as he drew defenders in.

1 – Melie Laimani (3) executed his team’s game plan well, and was effective up the middle. He was rewarded for his hard work with two tries.

Riverview

3 – Henry Hutchinson (13) receives one point for each of his tries. He was dangerous with the ball, as usual, but showed maturity in the way that he chose his opportunities to strike.  This made his limited touches productive.

2 – Jack McGregor has showed maturity recently—his ball running and passing game is excellent, but his boot is effective. He kicked some difficult shots at goal and his kicking from hand helped Riverview get out of trouble.

1 – Bill Freeman had a top game getting Riverview out of danger with his boot and his counter-attacking ability. A lot of Riverview’s points came off the back of his play..

The wrap-up

Riverview should be happy with their performance, but there’s a lot to work on.

They drop their heads in the last ten minutes of the first half and last 20 of the second. Whether this is a physical, or mental thing, remains to be seen, but the coaching staff need to address it. Their scrummaging and restarts were also problematic in this game.

Apart from all of that the Blue and White played well and always had the game in hand.

Newington will be ruing their inability to take advantage of their opportunities. They did some good work but lacked penetration in the backline, though that is partially attributable to Riverview’s impressive defence.

Their scrummaging and restarts were excellent and that is something they can take from the game.

Scoring

Riverview 33 (H. Hutchison 3, C. Menzies tries; J. McGregor try, 4 cons) beat Newington 22 (M. Laimani 2 tries; L. Latunipulu try, 2 cons, B. Simmonson pen)

There was no formal report of Kings  v Scots but here is some informal information from our Schoolboys forum:

Scots 71 – Kings 12

•  It was an ominous start, Scots fielded the kick off, put it through eight pairs of hands  [interrupted by a breakdown] and had seven points on the board before Kings had even touched the ball.

• It was a game of two distinct halves. Kings did a great job containing them in the first half with great commitment at the breakdown and some solid defence.

•  Scots played the second half with only 14 men following a red card to their no. 6 at the tail end of the first half. Despite the reduced team they came out in the second half and just turned it on.

Scoring

Scots 71 (T. Strang 3, J. Prindiville 3. T. Rudolf, M. Cowley, R. McCauley, C. Smith tries;  A. Crichton try, 8 cons) beat Kings 12 (D. Ballantyne, Laferia tries; J. Kane con)

There win be a video of highlights of the game in “Discussion” later.

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