University 46 – 6 Randwick
It was déjà vu all over again as Sydney University bulldozed their way to a sixth successive Shute Shield at a wet Concord Oval.
In doing so the Students equaled Randwick’s own winning streak of 1987 to 1992, and only compounded the ‘Wicks depression of losing yet again to the men in blue and gold.
While both teams scraped into finals contention, Uni had good wins over Easts and Souths while Randwick got past Manly and minor premiers Eastwood.
The Students saved their best until last and were dominant over Randwick in every area from the scrum to discipline and back-line structure.
It was obvious early that the Greens were feeling pressure to perform, with dropped balls and butter-fingers moments that weren’t helped by heavy rain that began to fall during the latter stages of the first half.
Randwick’s execution was missing for a Sekope Kepu break in the first couple of minutes and kept letting them down until he was bundled into touch just before the final whistle; the only times Randwick really looked like scoring a try.
When the ‘Wicks did have the ball their fowards weren’t able to secure it strongly enough and their backs looked like rabbits in the headlights (and bull-bar) of Uni’s defence.
Too often they kicked aimlessly, knocked on or gave away penalties within Berrick Barnes’ range.
Barnes was awarded Man of the Match and ended up with 26 of Uni’s 46 points, 15 of which came from penalty goals.
Sookface directed traffic well through the backs, making the right decisions at the right times and reminding us, as he has done over the finals series, why he was raved about when he first hit Super and Test rugby.
Tom Carter scored the only try of the first half for Uni, but as usual this wasn’t his only involvement in the game. He was solid in defence and even passed well but got hit off the ball by ‘Wicks opposite Sam Tamanika. Seilala Lam was sin-binned for attempting to do the same a while later.
The rest of Uni’s backs worked well when they had to while at other times they sat back as their forwards punched up the middle with phase after phase of pick-and-drive which Randwick had no answer for.
While there were no 50-metre penalty goals taken, one of the most notable men in Green was Kurtley Beale.
KB was well marked for obvious reasons and didn’t have much of a chance to shine in attack, although there was always a sense of danger when he got his hands on the ball.
In defence he made two try-saving tackles and was constantly in the right place at the right time; two elements of his game that have improved out of sight this year.
Several players will have done no harm to their chances of being named in the 40-man training squad for the EOYT such as Randwick’s Ben Mowen and Sekope Kepu, along with Uni’s Mitch Inman, Nathan Charles and flyer Greg Jeloudev.
We can expect to see Sookface, Gilbert, Ben McCalman, Dean Mumm and Luke Burgess all back in Wallaby Gold come October.
In the end this grand final was not as close as it could or should have been and while Uni were definitely the better team, you can’t help thinking what a bitter disappointment it must have been for the men from Coogee to lose to the Students once again.
At least there’s the replay this time next year.
Sydney University 46 (Tom Carter, Alfi Mafi, Berrick Barnes, Peter Betham, Ben McCalman tries; Berrick Barnes 5 pens, 3 cons) d Randwick 6 (Toby Browne 2 pens) at Concord Oval.
HT: Sydney University 16-6. Referee: Stu Dickenson.
Mirvac Man of the Match: Berrick Barnes (Sydney University). Crowd: 5410.
By the clock
11th – Tom Carter try; Berrick Barnes conversion. Sydney University 7-0
15th – Berrick Barnes penalty goal. Sydney University 10-0
23rd – Berrick Barnes missed drop goal
26th – Toby Browne penalty goal. Sydney University 10-3
29th – Berrick Barnes penalty goal. Sydney University 13-3
33rd – Berrick Barnes missed penalty attempt
36th – Berrick Barnes penalty goal. Sydney University 16-3
40th – Toby Browne penalty goal. Sydney University 16-6
50th – Berrick Barnes penalty goal. Sydney University 19-6
53rd – Seilala Lam yellow card (shoulder charge)
53rd – Berrick Barnes penalty goal. Sydney University 22-6
55th – Alfi Mafi try; Berrick Barnes conversion. Sydney University 29-6
60th – Berrick Barnes try; Berrick Barnes conversion. Sydney University 36-6
72nd – Peter Betham try; Dan Kelly missed conversion. Sydney University 41-6
77th – Ben McCalman try; Julian Huxley missed conversion. Sydney University 46-6
GALLERY
Click on photo to enlarge
