Bond University Queensland Country have suffered consecutive National Rugby Championship (NRC) defeats after a 49-7 loss to the Melbourne Rising in Ballarat.
The Rising outscored Country seven-tries-to-one, while inside centre James So'oialo had the perfect day with the boot, slotting all seven conversions for the home-side.
Will Dearden, Jono Kent, Jethro Felemi, and Connor Chittenden made their Country debuts in the loss, while Rohan Saifoloi was the lone try scorer for the visitors.
The Rising opened the scoring early, a Justin Marsters try giving the hosts a 7-nil lead after seven-minutes of play.
After a number of failed attacking chances for both teams, the home-side stretched their lead to 14-nil with a second five-pointer to Marsters in the 19th minute.
Despite dominating possession, stubborn Rising defence and a number of errors denied Country from registering their first points of the game for the remainder of the first-half, as the side headed to the sheds trailing by two tries.
Country opened their account early in the second-forty when Tate McDermott and Jock Campbell combined with back-to-back short balls at the 22-metre line to send Rohan Saifoloi over the line under the posts. The flyhalf converted his own try to cut the deficit to seven points after 46 minutes.
The remainder of the game belonged to Melbourne however. Their next try came through Harry Potter, who regathered an attempted penalty kick to touch before chipping-and-chasing over the Country defence to score. So'oialo added his third conversion to take the score to 21-7 in the 53rd minute.
Five-pointers to Rodney Iona and Moli Sooaemalelagi were followed by a pair of runaway tries to Semisi Tupou in the final five-minutes, sealing the 49-7 win for the Rising.
Head coach Rod Seib said: “It was a disappointing loss today. We really failed to apply consistent pressure on the Melbourne line and through poor execution we gave Melbourne a platform to play off and they made the most of it.
“At 14-7 early in the second half with some momentum behind us, the game was within our reach, but we let the Rising back into the contest and allowed them to get out to a considerable lead. Credit to Melbourne, they played well today and made the most of their opportunities.
“The situation is that we now need to win our next three games, beginning with Brisbane City in Gladstone next week.
“City come into the game with some momentum after their win today, but the all-Queensland derby is always a physical encounter and we’re looking forward to taking a game north to Central Queensland.”
Country will look to bounce back in Round 5 when they host Queensland rivals Brisbane City in Gladstone, with the Andy Purcell Cup up for grabs. Tickets available via https://gladstoneentertainment.com/nrc-union-game/.
Melbourne Rising 49 (Tries: Marsters 2, Potter, Iona, Sooaemalelagi, Tupou 2, Conversions: So’oialo 7) defeat Queensland Country 7 (Tries: Saifoloi, Conversions: Saifoloi 1) at Mars Stadium Ballarat on Sunday 22 September.
