Souths v Wests – Chipsy Wood Oval
In the Game of the Round, Souths delivered a clinical performance against a determined Wests outfit with a 32-17 victory at Chipsy Wood.
Wearing specially designed indigenous jerseys for their inaugural indigenous round, the Magpies combined for a brilliant rolling-maul try.Souths’ massive backline continued to breach the advantage line and bullocking outside centre Levi Aumua barged over for the home side’s second.
Handed their first opportunity of the match, the Bulldog’s responded with a try.It proved to swing the momentum in the visitor’s favour and some smart thinking with a quick-tap lead to Wests’ second try in a short space of time.
As the first-half continued Wests struggled to contain Souths out wide and Isireli Naisairani capitalised to put the Magpies in-front as the teams headed into the sheds.
Immediately after the break, the Bulldogs hit back with a try, but just as the visitors seemed to be mounting a comeback, the defending premiers flexed their muscle, scoring off the back of a dominant scrum.
As the finals approach, defence becomes key for those vying for the title and Souths showed their premiership credentials, withstanding a mountain of pressure late in the match.
Half back Brendan Ward put the nail in the coffin, crossing for the home side’s fifth try and ensuring a return to the finals in 2016.
Congratulations to Musashi High Performer of the Round, Teti Tela from Souths.
Souths 32 (I Naisarani 2 tries A Casey B Ward L Aumua tries A Tuquiri pen 2 cons) d Wests 17 (A Danaher C Blackhurst S Cocks tries B Hutchinson con)
Easts v GPS – David Wilson Field
In a late-season form surge, Easts upset GPS at David Wilson Field with a 30-12 point victory, which all but ended the Gallopers hopes of a finals appearance.
In front of their home crowd, the Tigers applied all of the early pressure with St.George Queensland Reds flanker Michael Gunn exposing GPS defence before full back Andrew Krelle crossed for the first try of the afternoon.
After weathering the storm, the Gallopers rallied as Waita Setu found the line and Daniel Nethery nailed the conversion, handing the visitors a two-point lead.
Eager to keep the scoreboard ticking, Tiger’s veteran Matt Brandon slotted a penalty goal to put his side in front by one at the break.
Easts started the second-half in similar fashion to the first, with an early try to Elliott Hagen, before Toby White crossed for the home side’s third.GPS restored some hope of a comeback when Dan Earley crossed the chalk, registering his fourth try in two weeks.
But the Tigers hit back through Simon Bartley to secure their second victory in-a-row, a first for the Tigers in 2016.
The result could be costly for the Gallopers, with only two rounds remaining GPS have to win both matches and hope that Sunnybank don’t take a point away from their match against University.
Easts 30 (E Hagen T White A Krelle T Bartley tries M Brandon 2 pens 2 cons) d GPS 12 (W Setu D Earley tries D Nethery con)
Brothers v Bond – Gold Park, Toowoomba
In Round 16, Brothers took their scheduled home fixture to Gold Park in Toowoomba and delivered Bond University a fatal blow, dashing the Gold Coast side’s hopes of their first final’s appearance with a 35-22 victory.
Knowing the importance of the match, Bond were first to score with a try to former Ireland U20 Oisin Heffernan.
But their lead was short-lived as Angus Fowler plucked an inside ball from damaging outside-centre Elih Baillie to get Brothers on the scoreboard.
Criff Tupou extended the Brethren’s lead, before Bond’s Mitch Third seized an opportunity for points, slotting a penalty goal to reduce Brothers’ lead.
The match started to see-saw as Bond outside centre Joel Rapana barged over, only for George Partridge to reply moments later for the Brethren.
Just minutes after half-time, Brothers Skipper Nathanuel Gendle looked to have sealed it early for his side.
But with their season quickly slipping away, Bond speedster Waylen Skipps reduced the deficit to six points with a classic intercept-try.
However, any hopes of last-minute victory were dashed when leading Premier Rugby try-scorer Mitch Felsman bagged his 20th for the year, finishing off a backline move for Brothers’ fifth try of the afternoon.
The win cemented Brothers place in the Premier Rugby finals, whilst also making it impossible for Bond to claim the hotly-contested fourth-place.
Brothers 35 (C Tupou A Fowler M Felsman N Gendle G Partridge tries M Felsman 5 cons) d Bond University 22 (O Heffernan E Rapana W Skips tries M Third pen 2 cons)
Norths v Sunnybank – Hugh Courtney Oval
Sunnybank all but secured their place in the finals with a thrilling 14-11 victory over Norths at Hugh Courtney oval.
From the outset both sides showed their intention for a physical encounter, with neither defensive line showing any signs of cracking.
It meant that Norths went into the half-time break with a six-nil lead on the back of two penalty goals by flyhalf Michael Burke.
The Eagles continued to be resilient in defence in the second-half and were finally awarded when Kallum Mackay laid his claim for try-of-the-year with a brilliant counter-attack try that featured a perfectly placed chip kick.
Trailing by 11 and still yet to register points, Chazz Mahina got the Dragons rolling with a try in the 60th minute.
Then, having led for the entire match, Norths suddenly found themselves behind when Sunnybank’s Jeffrey Faamausili barged over in the 70th minute.
In a tense final 10 minutes, the Dragons held on for a vital win, placing one foot in the finals with two round remaining.
Sunnybank 14 (C Mahina J Faamausili tries J Strachan con J Bowen-Bowyer con) d Norths 11 (K Mackay try M Burke 2 pens)
