Kepu returns for the Wicks and Beasties favourite hoping for century to remember
Finals Week 2 Previews by Nathan Roye
Semi-final 1 Preview: Kepu returns for the Wicks
Qantas Wallabies and HSBC Waratahs’ prop Sekope Kepu is set to return for the Galloping Greens in a bid to secure a spot in the Shute Shield preliminary finals.
Kepu is expected to make an appearance from the bench this Saturday, as Randwick takes on Southern Districts at Coogee Oval in the first of the weekend’s two semi-finals, both televised live on ABC TV.
“It’s exciting to return to the green and white after such a long time,” said Kepu, who last played for the club in the 2010 Grand Final.
“Returning to the grassroots where it all began, particularly at a time when there is so much at stake and off the back of a good win, is very exciting,” said Kepu, whose return has been warmly welcomed by his club team-mates.
“It’s exciting to see what he will bring to the field, his experience and physicality is exactly what we will need come Saturday against a well drilled Souths outfit,” said centre Marc Koteczki.
As a mobile and fit front rower Kepu is certainly capable of making his presence known come scrum time and he will provide a lift to the Randwick forwards who, led by Steven Hoiles and Pete Samu, were last able to provide some entertaining and skillful rugby.
“I’m there to play Randwick rugby and I’ll do my role to the best of my ability, I know the boys stood up against a big Wests pack last week and hopefully we can do the same against Souths,” said Kepu.
After a narrow loss to the competition’s minor premiers Eastwood last week, Souths will be gunning for a victory, knowing that a loss will leave them out of the race to reach their second successive Shute Shield Grand Final. Players such as Ben Volavola and the Timani brothers are ones to watch out for in the blue and red this week and will not give Randwick an easy run home.
Semi-final 2 Preview: Beasties favourite hoping for century to remember
Eastern Suburbs prop Rob McMicken will earn his first grade century this Sunday when he runs on for the 100th time when the Beasties take on Manly in the second Shute Shield semi-final.
“It really is an incredible milestone for me to reach in front of my friends and family and I’m honored to be able to join the ranks of some of the clubs legends,” McMicken said.
A durable front rower and well-respected scrummager, McMicken will become the club’s 55th centurion and will offer an enormous amount of experience and motivation for his fellow teammates. “I guess what I will try and bring from my experience is calmness in flustering situations, what the boys have to remember is it’s an 80 minute game and it’s not always going to go our way,” he said.
McMicken has played Manly a number of times in his career and knows what needs to be done to win against them. “Stopping momentum is key for us we have to restrict their forward pack and make them work for the ball at every ruck, if we slow them down it will frustrate them,” he said.
Both games will be shown live on ABCTV at 3.10pm on Saturday (Randwick v Souths) and Sunday (Manly v Easts), with the winners of each match progressing to the preliminary finals, where they will meet Sydney University or Eastwood.
The preliminary finals will take place on September 7 and 8, with the two winning teams playing in the Shute Shield Grand Final at Concord Oval on Saturday September 14. A full fixtures list, together with weekly previews and all the results can be found at .
Rugby fans across NSW can tune in to ABC Local Radio’s new rugby show, settling the score with Niav Owens between 2pm and 5pm every Saturday, for all of your country rugby and Shute Shield news. You can TEXT the program with score updates from whichever game you’re at on 0467 920 222 every Saturday afternoon. Make sure your team gets a mention each week and keep Niav up to date with the latest scores from your competition. A full fixtures list, together with weekly previews and all the results can be found at www.nswrugby.com.au.
Shute Shield Finals Week 2 – Saturday August 31 and Sunday September 1
Saturday – Randwick v Southern Districts @ Coogee Oval 3.10pm (ABC TV)
Randwick: 1 Faitotoa Asa, 2 Nio Halangahu (c), 3 Tristan Goodbody, 4 Geoff Ingram, 5 William Munro, 6 Pete Samu, 7 Tom Connor, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 9 James Helliwell, 10 David Horwitz, 11 Ethan Ford, 12 Marc Kotecky, 13 Timothy Wright, 14 Callum Fryer 15 Rennie Lautolo.
Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Steve Fualau (c), 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 6 Lopeti Timani, 7 Jono Hayes, 8 Luke Smart, 9 Dewet Roos, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Rob Horne, 13 Apo Latunipulu, 14 Nic Cummins, 15 Ben Volavola
Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
Sunday: Eastern Suburbs v Manly @ Coogee Oval 3.10pm (ABC TV)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Sione Kolo, 2 Alex Walker, 3 Rob McMicken, 4 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Phil Mathers, 6 Pauli Taumoepeau (c), 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Tala Gray, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Charlie Clifton, 12 Mark Murray, 13 Anton Lavin, 14 Elijah Niko, 15 Will Fay
Manly: 1 Dave Porecki, 2 Pat Leafa, 3 Eddie Aholelei, 4 Ed Gower (c), 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 6 Dylan Sigg, 7 Jordy Reid, 8 Luke Jones, 9 Matt Lucas, 10 Marshall Milroy, 11 Jacob Woodhouse, 12 Brian Sefanaia, 13 Malietoa Hingano, 14 Richard Hooper, 15 BJ Hartmann
Referee: Andrew Lees
