Hospital Cup Weekend Wrap – Round 3

Mon, May 9, 2022, 11:45 AM
Brendan Hertel
by Brendan Hertel

Round 3 of the Hospital Cup was another great weekend of Rugby – all be it a wet one – with three-out-of-four matches won by away teams. Let’s take a look at how it all played out.

Brothers 35 def Norths 7

In the first ‘Battle of the North’ for 2022, Brothers controlled proceedings outscoring Norths five-tries-to-one, while flyhalf Tayler Adams slotted all five conversions.

Mosiah Christian crossed for the first try of the match in the ninth minute, after a series of pick-and-drive efforts from the Brothers forwards, Christian went to his flyhalf Adams who jinked inside the Norths defence and offloaded to Christian.

Adams himself was next to score, using his footwork to again evade the Norths defence and dive over to extend Brothers lead.

Christian and Adams combined once again for Brothers’ third and Christian’s second try, with Christian spreading the ball to Adams in the wider channels, who then made a break before passing back inside to Christian, who chipped over the Norths defence before regathering and scoring next to the posts. Brothers headed into the sheds with a 21-nil lead at half-time.

The Brethren opened the scoring in the second half in the 50th minute, with Nick Cross making a break down the right flank before offloading to Callum Hicks who dove over in the corner.

Tom Jefferies was next to score, winning the ball at a line-out 5-metres from the Norths’ line, then muscling his way over. Adams converted the try to give Brothers a 35-nil lead.

Norths scored their lone try in the 64th minute through Will Rogers, which Connor O’Regan converted to narrow the margin to 35-7, where the score would remain for the remainder of the match.

CREDIT TO THE BOYS | Halves Mosiah Christian and Tayler Adams are forming a formidable duo with plenty of attacking flare.

University of Queensland 19 def Souths 10

The clash between UQ and Souths ended with a much tighter score-line then many pundits would have predicted, with a dogged Magpies outfit limiting the Red Heavy’s opportunities through the match.

Centre TJ Siakisini charged over in the seventh minute to open the account, and Jake Tierney scored in the 17th minute, but the Students then failed to cross the Souths line until Nuku Swerling dotted down in the 64th minute.

Flyhalf Brad Twidale converted both Siakisini’s and Swerling’s tries to extend the visitors lead.

Former Red Heavy Lachie Stewart slotted a penalty for Souths in the 50th minute, and then added the extras to Jakob Morrison’s try in the final play of the game to narrow the margin to 19-10.

CREDIT TO THE BOYS | Connor Mitchell was back to his devasting self for the Red Heavies in the backrow, while Mone Ma’afu was dangerous on the wing for Souths.

Wests 43 def Easts 34

This match was an interesting one, with Easts outscoring wests five-tries-to-four, but four conversions and five penalties – an individual total of 23 points – proved the difference as Cooper Whiteside kicked the Bulldogs to victory.

Wests struck early in the match with prop Latu Talakai crashing over in the second minute, and were in again just minutes later through hooker Ethan Dobbins, before Whiteside slotted the first of his penalties to give Wests a 17-nil lead.

Hooker Marty Brennan opened the account for Easts in the 14th minute, scoring the first of his four tries in what was his first start in Premier Grade.

Wests answered back with Whiteside slotting another penalty, before Talakai scored his second of the afternoon off the back of a rolling maul.

Brennan scored his second in the 37th minute, but Whiteside had one more penalty to add to Wests tally, sending the two teams into the sheds with Wests in the lead 30-12.

The Tigers were first to score in the second half, with Zac Shepherd charging down a box kick and regathering to score next to the uprights. Will Kirk converted to narrow the score to 30-19.

Whiteside slotted another penalty before Brennan dotted down for his third try, the score now at 33-24 in Wests favour. Dobbins received his second yellow card in the 64th minute, resulting in a Red. Kirk slotted a penalty to put Easts within striking distance of Wests 33-27.

Keynan Tauakipulu crossed for Wests’ fourth try in the 75th minute, before Brennan dotted down for his fourth try in the 78the minute.

Whiteside had the final say of the game, slotting a penalty to lock in the final score 43-34.

CREDIT TO THE BOYS | Former Teachers West hooker Marty Brennan from Townsville made a stellar starting debut for the Tigers despite the loss, while Wests fullback Cooper Whiteside proved his worth in tough clash in the wet.

Bond 23 def GPS 14

After a convincing win over Sunnybank to start their 2022 season, Bond University claimed a massive scalp with a 23-14 win over GPS in Round 3.

Both sides crossed for two tries in the encounter, but the boot of Bond flyhalf Hayden Sargeant proved the difference, slotting three penalties to make up the nine-point difference.

Tuaina Taii Tualima crossed for the first try of the match 14 minutes in, which Jason Hofmeyr converted to give the Gallopers a 7-nil lead.

Bond answered back in the 19th minute through Helaman Samuela, with Sargeant slotting the conversion to level the scores at 7-all.

Sargeant slotted a penalty in the 39th minute to put the home-side in the lead 10-7, before GPS’ lock Dan Byrne was dealt a yellow card in the 40th minute to reduce the Gallopers to 14-men.

Sargeant slotted two penalties to extend the Bull Sharks’ lead to 16-7, before GPS crossed for a try through Nick Baker in the 78th minute, Hofmeyr added the extras to narrow the margin to 16-14 with seconds left on the clock.

Bond regained possession in the 80th minute and returned to the GPS half, and iced the match with a try through Joey Fittock, converted by Sargeant, to finalise the score at 23-14.

CREDIT TO THE BOYS | Bond flyhalf Hayden Sargeant looks to have a new lease on life after returning to the Gold Coast after a number of seasons with Sunnybank, while GPS backrower Nick Baker continues to develop in his first full season of Premier Grade Rugby.

Share