Sunshine Coast have done one better this year to clinch the U18 Queensland State Championships over Metropolitan West in Toowoomba over the weekend.
The Queensland State Championships is a four day event that combines ten regional teams from throughout Queensland. Each region grabs the best schoolboy talents from their respective areas minus anyone that is currently playing either AIC or GPS First XV. This rule evens up the tournament, putting metropolitan regions on relative par its country counterparts.
This year’s competition was hosted by Downlands College and brought some of the tightest and most exciting schoolboy rugby in a long time.
Day one was evidence of this with five matches being decided by less than five points. Despite other results Sunshine Coast were able to cement themselves as firm favourites with convincing wins in both matches over Peninsula and Wide Bay.
Friday was another tight day of results with again several matches decided by less than a try. The final match of the being clinched by Northern when they were able to hold out by a mere three points after a last minute error by Met North. Again Sunshine Coast shone, holding both, the home side, Darling Downs and the eventual runners up, Met West scoreless.
The third day of competition and first day of finals began with the first of the two game series between Met North and Wide Bay playing for the wooden spoon. The match resulted in a clear differential between ninth and tenth positions with Met North winning by a massive forty-six points. With Sunshine Coast securing an imminent position in the final after defeating Capricornia by a convincing twenty-seven points the battle between Northern and Met West began for the second spot in the encounter.
The match was a back and forth match that challenged for match of the tournament. A penalty try off a twenty-five meter rolling maul helped Northern claim the lead until late in the match a controversial penalty was awarded to Met West as a result of a shoulder charge reported by the assistant referee. West managed to score off that possession bringing them the lead and one of the best last five minutes of schoolboy rugby in years. Northern threw everything, including the kitchen sink at Met West, even crossing the line only to be ruled, held up. That result meant Met West would come up against the undefeated Sunshine Coast, who for the whole competition had only conceded a mere seven points.
The penultimate day of the QRFSU U18 State Championships was a surprisingly flat day despite the results and pride at stake. Whether it was the appalling conditions or sheer weariness, the games were relatively unenjoyable for the spectators despite the evenness of the sides. The playoff for last place was three to five in Met North’s favour at the break before they drew away to win by nine. The fifth/six playoff was decided by a try ending with Met East securing the match twenty-six to twenty-one.
Coming into the Grand Final Sunshine Coast were the obvious favourites and showed that throughout the match. They dominated both possession and territory spending almost all of the first half in their attacking fifty. Credit definitely goes to Met West who through a spirited defensive effort were able to keep points to a minimum. The second half was more of the same with referee Brett Cronan allowing for a free flowing match. In the end Sunshine Coast was undeniably the dominant team despite the tight scorecard showing a respectable twenty-five to nineteen score line.
In the end the tournament was successful, although the quality of rugby wasn’t quite that of either AIC or GPS standards however it was enthralling due to the sheer competiveness of each of the teams. What the competition also showed us is that there is a positive future for the struggling Sunshine Coast rugby in the not too distant future.
From the competition two teams have been selected to compete in the Queensland Schoolboy Trials that will play the AIC and GPS sides in June at Ballymore. The national titles will then take place from the 29th of June to the 5th of July at St Ignatius, Riverview.
Final Placings
1. SUNSHINE COAST
2. MET WEST
3. NORTHERN
4. CAPRICORNIA
5. MET EAST
6. SOUTH COAST
7. PENINSULA
8. DARLING DOWNS
9. MET NORTH
10. WIDE BAY
For a full list of results visit:
