After disappointing losses in round two, Sydney University and Eastern Suburbs will be hungry for a win this Saturday, as they look to mend their positions on the 2013 Shute Shield ladder.
The two teams come head to head in round three as they run out in the ABC TV game of the week at Woollahra Oval.
After getting steamrolled by rugby powerhouse Eastwood in their 34-13 defeat last week, Sydney Uni will look to its up and coming talent, with coach Chris Malone this week backing 20-year-old fly- half Jock Merriman to provide the extra spark needed to secure an away win.
Said Merriman, who has just this morning been named in the Australian Under 20s squad for the IRB Junior World Championship in Paris this June, “I’m privileged to have been given this opportunity to play for such a high class premier rugby team.
“Hopefully I can help the team come away with a deserved win, although it won’t be easy. We broke down the mistakes we made last week and have looked at where we can focus our attention to target certain areas in the Easts’ defensive line.”
Easts, however, have the biggest point to prove, coming from back-to-back narrow losses to Norths and Souths. Last week they showed that they are not a team to be taken lightly, falling just inches short of victory against last year’s grand finalists Southern Districts in a nail biting 28-27 loss.
The last time these two teams met it was a wet grudge match at Woollahra. And with rain forecast for the remainder of the week, Merriman says he’s prepared for another tight encounter. “It doesn’t matter what the conditions are, it comes down to who can use them to their advantage.
“Yes it will be wet but it will be wet for both teams, Easts have some big forwards but hopefully we can tire them out and find holes to exploit,” he added.
Round three also features Warringah at home to Souths at Pittwater Rugby Park, Penrith hosting Norths at Nepean Rugby Park, Gordon take on Wests at Chatswood, the Woodies take on the Wicks at T G Millner and Parra host Manly at Merrylands RSL Rugby Park.
As always the match of the round will be broadcast live on ABC1 throughout NSW and the ACT on Saturdays from 3pm. Interstate viewers can watch a full replay of each week’s Shute Shield game at 3.30am on Tuesday mornings on ABC1 nationally, and rugby fans everywhere can catch all the action online at anytime on ABC iView.
Alternatively, 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.
By Nathan Roye
Eastern Suburbs v. Sydney University at Woollahra Oval (3pm live on ABC1)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Sione Kolo, 2 Alex Walker (c), 3 Rob McMicken, 4 Keliti Vaingalo, 5 Richard Stanford, 6 James Graham, 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Andrew Shaw, 9 Luke Irwin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Charlie Clifton, 12 Tom Azar, 13 Kukki Ma’afu, 14 Anton Lavin, 15 Will Fay.
Sydney University: 1 Jeremy Tilse, 2 Matthew Mafi, 3 Sam Talakai, 4 Oliver Atkins, 5 Will Skelton/TBC, 6 Liam Winton, 7 Benn Melrose, 8 Tim Davidson (c), 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Jock Merriman, 11 Greg Jeloudev, 12 Tom Carter, 13 Michael Hodge, 14 Levi Dodd, 15 Nathan Trist
Referee: Rohan Hoffman
Warringah v. Southern Districts at Pittwater Rugby Park (3pm)
Warringah: 1 Ben Ryan, 2 Luke Holmes, 3 Wayne Borsak, 4 Vincent Wright, 5 Ben Adams, 6 Sam Ward, 7 Mark Porpiglia, 8 Boyd Killingworth, 9 Joshua Holmes (c), 10 David Harvey, 11 Michael Dalton, 12 Nathan Daly, 13 Michael Adams, 14 Conrad Gillingham, 15 David Feltscheer
Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Andrew Sulter, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Jed Holloway, 6 Mick Kauter, 7 Jono Hayes (c), 8 Lopeti Timani, 9 Grayson Hart, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Apo Latunipulu, 13 Denny Godinet, 14 Oleni Ngunguatu, 15 Paul Asquith
Referee: Edward Martin
Penrith v. Northern Suburbs at Nepean Rugby Park (3pm)
Penrith: 1 Peter Niumata (c), 2 Ethan Robinson-Mate, 3 Sione Matangi, 4 Willie Tooala, 5 Sione Pusi Fifita, 6 Pita Tupou, 7 Owen Crozier, 8 Leo Burgess, 9 George Magalogo, 10 Fokolulu Taumalolo, 11 Kome Leoliifano, 12 John Maumau, 13 Paueli Halafihi, 14 James Umu, 15 Paula Katoa
Northern Suburbs: 1 Nic Curtis, 2 Will Weeks, 3 Cruz Ah Nau, 4 Ben Matwijow, 5 Chris Thompson, 6 Sam Figg, 7 AJ Gilbert (c), 8 Pat Sio, 9 Tim Duchesne, 10 Liam Windon, 11 Corey Brown, 12 Lachlan Porteous, 13 Bill Meakes, 14 Blake Murray, 15 Sam Myers
Referee: Michael Hogan
Gordon v. West Harbour at Chatswood Oval (3pm)
Gordon: 1 Tobias Gukibau, 2 Ron Hobden (c), 3 Willy Maumalanga, 4 Lex Fairley, 5 Seb Murphy, 6 Lex Fairley, 7 Gordon Broome, 8 Luke Rissman, 9 Terry Preston, 10 Mitch Walton, 11 Vesi Tokalaulevu, 12 Tom Matthews, 13 Lucas Simkin, 14 Richie Williams, 15 Will Shirvington
West Harbour: 1 David Lolohea, 2 Reg De Jager, 3 Vaughan Lomax, 4 Chris Simons, 5 Tom Games (c), 6 Aisea Namoa, 7 Cohen Masson, 8 Matt Coles, 9 David Osofua, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Tito Mua, 12 Winston Wilson, 13 Alofa Alofa, 14 Dylan Taikato-Simpson, 15 Shaun Treweek
Referee: Angus Gardner
Eastwood v. Randwick at T G Millner Field (3pm)
Eastwood: 1 Marty Plokstys, 2 Todd Pearce, 3 Dylan Brass, 4 Steve Cummins, 5 Mitch Lees, 6 Sione Tau, 7 Hugh Perrett (c), 8 Jared Barry, 9 Shanin Proctor, 10 Jimmy Hilgendorf, 11 Nick Batger, 12 Tyler Spitz, 13 Michael McDougall, 14 Nick Reily, 15 Ben Batger
Randwick: 1 Steve Noriega, 2 Nio Halangahu, 3 Richard Aho, 4 Junior Taavili, 5 Bryce Speechley, 6 Tom Bennet, 7 Seilala Lam (c), 8 Nathan Paella, 9 Harrison Boileau, 10 Toby Browne, 11 Finau Makamaka, 12 Terrance Hepetema, 13 Tim Wright, 14 Rennie Lautolo, 15 Ethan Ford
Referee: William Houston
Parramatta v. Manly at Merrylands RSL Rugby Park (4.30pm)
Manly: 1 Eddie Aholelei, 2 Pat Leofa, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 4 Ed Gower (c), 5 Dylan Sigg, 6 Harry Bergelin, 7 Kotoni Ale, 8 Andrew Davis, 9 Adam Crerar, 10 Sam Lane, 11 Richard Hooper, 12 Peter Gilmore, 13 Brian Sefanaia, 14 Will Helu, 15 BJ Hartmann
Parramatta: 1 Nick Blacklock, 2 Myles Hunkin, 3 Chris Seuteni, 4 Charlie Leaeno, 5 Adam Coleman, 6 Evan Olmstead, 7 Rodney Ma’a, 8 Andrew Cox (c), 9 Troy Lobendahn, 10 Tom Woods, 11 Dan Yakopo, 12 Tukia Muli, 13 Damien Fakafanua, 14 Tui Fa’asisila, 15 Dan Rawaqa
Referee: Anthony Moyes
