Marist College Ashgrove have claimed the 2017 AIC Rugby premiership after an impressive 71-7 win over Villanova College.
Ashgrove put on a selfless display of Rugby, with hooker Brayden Law leading the charge early with a hat-trick in the first half.
Winger Lachlan Tenison-Woods’ try before the break gave Marist a 28-0 lead at half time.
After the break, Ashgrove continued their onslaught with Tenison-Woods claiming his double, centre Shaun Anderson adding another and Law adding two more to his tally.
Despite the scoreline Villanova kept fighting and outside centre Matt Winsbury plucked an intercept to give the large home crowd something to cheer about.
As the clock wound down, Ashgrove continued to push the scoreboard seeing Winger Kale Van Dugteren, captain Emosi Tuqiri and flyhalf Hayden Ryan all cross for tries.
Early on Villanova College held their ground, producing sparks of great rugby but a well-drilled Marist side kept them at bay.
Marist’s stuck to their structures throughout the game and treasured the ball when in possession but were not hesitant to experiment when the opportunity presented itself.
“It’s a massive honour to be given the privilege to captain a team to a premiership. It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to follow in the footsteps of those in the previous years and become part of the successful sporting history Marist has,” Marist captain Tuqiri said.
“At the end of the day the key to our success was realizing that we were more than just a team, we are a unit.
When it came to game day no one was more important than us,” head coach David Miles said.
Marists successful season was rewarded with nine of their players earning selection in the AIC 1 team – Emosi Tuqiri, Braydon Law, Hayden Ryan, Shaun Anderson, Kale Van Dugteren, Ben Bucknell, Jaz Day, Roly Brosnan and Tom Dangerfield.
Season ReviewBy Alec MunroSince the beginning of the season, the AIC competition was hotly contested with close matches and plenty of unexpected results.
Arguably the game of the season came early this year as back-to-back premiers Padua College went down to Marist 18-10.
The Round 2 battle of the south-side schools, saw St Laurence’s secure a narrow 20-15 victory over Villanova.
Three rounds into the competition, St Patrick’s College shared top spot with Marist after knocking over St Laurence’s 26-16.
But in in Round 4, the ladder leaders met and Marist ran away with a 53-24 win to hold onto to top spot.
Padua showed just how dangerous they can be in Round 5, recording a convincing 53-12 win over St Peter’s to secure their spot in the top three.
After a slow start to the year, St Peter’s claimed their first victory of the season, holding on to a narrow 27-24 win over Villanova in Round 6.
On the final weekend Villanova looked to extinguish Ashgrove’s hopes of an outright premiership but were met by a formidable schoolboy side.
St Patrick’s claimed second spot with a hard fought 14-10 victory over Padua in the final round while St Laurence’s 40-22 win saw them finish in the top half of the competition.
St Edmunds claimed a 41-20 win over St Peter’s.
Round 7 Results:
Marist College Ashgrove 71 defeated Villanova 7
St Edmund’s 41 defeated St Peter’s 20
St Patrick’s 14 defeated Padua 10
St Laurence’s 40 defeated Iona College 22
Final Standings:
1) Marist College Ashgrove
2) St Patricks’ College
3) Padua College
4) St Laurence College
5) Iona College
6) St Edmunds’ College
7) St Peters Lutheran College
LATEST NEWS
St.George Queensland Reds confirm 2019 pre-season fixtures; Sunday morning Fan Day announced at Ballymore
St.George Queensland Reds confirm 2019 pre-season fixtures;
Sunday morning Fan Day announced at Ballymore 15 JANUARY 2019
2019 MEMBERSHIPS
