QLD NRC Derby delivers tries and niggle

Brisbane City have denied QLD Country the Andy Purcell Cup for the third year running with a NRC record 58-52 record scored at Ballymore today. The loss left QLD Country nailed to the bottom of the ladder for the first time in the NRC having finished the previous two years second last. For Brisbane City this will be their first NRC without a finals campaign, nor indeed the premiership trophy, as they recorded just their second win of the year to finish just two points above QLD Country.

The match was what you would expect between teams made up of club and state mates, playing off for the wooden spoon. Attack was at the forefront and when defence took centre stage it was of the questionable variety as the game was full of niggle, mostly of the friendly variety.

Brisbane started like a shot out of a gate and patrons had barely settled into their seats when their centre, Toby White was over the opening try of the match. While Ted Postal barged over for QLD Country soon after, White was in again from a poor defensive read by Country which saw the City centre through almost untouched from 30m out.

Luke Beauchamp was over in the corner soon after and then Chris Kuridrani followed suit, Brisbane City were out 28-6 lead with the sustained confidence we’ve rarely seen this year.

Those thinking that QLD Country would roll over, were proven wrong as Taniela Tupou first muscled his way over the tryline and then James Tuttle backed up some enterprising backline play by Liam McNamara. It meant the teams went to the change rooms at the break with City in the lead by 28-22.

City started the second half as they did the first and it was that man Isi Naisarani who picked up the ball from the back of the scrum and monstered his way to the try-line, sans a boot. When Tupou was yellow carded for playing silly buggers after a penalty was awarded to City, Naisarani was able to take advantage of the numbers overlap by scoring his 2nd of the day.

Again though QLD Country fought their way and it was there go-to man, Izaia Perese, who did the damage. Perese took a quick tap 5m out and took on 300kg+ of Brisbane City front row meat only to come out trumps with an impressive try.

When Tuttle backed up again for his 2nd try, and Paia’aua was again successful with his conversion attempt, QLD Country were behind by just 6 points (38-44) with 18 minutes to play.

As was standard for this match, another try came soon after with McIntyre chipping over the top close to the line for Alex Gibbon to charge through, claim the catch and score under the posts. Some more smart work by McIntyre, as he took a quick tap close to the line and fired a pass out wide to Gibbon, gave Brisbane another try.

It meant QLD Country were down by 20 with just over five minutes to play. Game over? No way! First Tyrone Lefau found more space out wide to score before Tom Banks backed up some backline interchanges to race away under the posts and the score was 58-52 in City’s favour.

Despite the last minute endeavor by QLD Country, Brisbane City held on the claim the win, the trophy and the off-season bragging rights.

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The Game Changer

This game changed every couple of minutes so it’s tough to nail down a specific game changer. QLD Country probably entered the game as slight favorites however when City scored their third try at the 17 minute mark (to Luke Beauchamp) it set the tone for the rest of the match as QLD Country were always chasing from then.

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The G&GR MOTM

There were no actual out and out standouts. Duncan Paia’aua created much for QLD Country but ruined plenty too. Izaia Perese was excellent too, but had a real quiet patch in the middle of the match. For City Lukhan Tui and Isi Naisarani bossed themselves around a fair bit. In the end I opted for Jake McIntyre who was at the heart of most of Brisbane City’s key tries and his attack was enough to offset some defensive lapses.

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Oz Baabaa Watch

Toby White started strongly for City with two tries within the first 12 minutes and ran strongly at other times. For Country Alex Casey at hooker was again impressive and wings Liam McNamara and Tyrone Lefau were a constant danger.

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The Details