Round 7 of the StoreLocal Hospital Cup delivered some classic matches, with some brilliant tries scored, including a four-try effort from GPS winger Doug Rayment. Let’s take a look at how all four matches played out.
After a heavy defeat at the hands of UQ in Round 6, Easts headed to Crosby Park with a tough challenge on the hands, tackling Brothers on Ladies Day.
The Brethren are the only team so far this season to claim a win over UQ, but the Tigers did have some welcome reinforcements this week including the return of veteran scrum half Eli Pilz, and the welcome addition of Rhys van Nek (Melbourne Rebels) and Alex Sankey (Western Force).
Mosiah Christian opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the match, the benefactor of some quick hands down the right flank, taking the final pass from his brother Jayden to score.
Billy Bulley was next to score, with Tayler Adams cleaning up a misplaced grubber kick to then put Bulley over for the first of two tries, putting Brothers ahead 10-nil before the 20-minute mark.
Easts worked their way into Brothers territory and tight head prop van Nek opened the account for the Tigers in the 32nd minute with a pick-and-drive effort. Pilz slotted the conversion to take the score to 10-7.
Adams slotted a penalty in the 36th minute in front of a raucous Easts crowd to edge Brothers ahead 13-7, but the Tigers went back on the attack and after a series of pick-and-drives, Pilz dotted down for a try of his own, which he converted, to put Easts ahead 14-13 at the break.
Brothers looked as though they were going to score first in the second half after camping themselves inside the Easts’ 22m, but a wayward pass was cleaned up by former Brothers colt Jake Pappin who then sprinted the length of the field to score under the posts for the Tigers. Pilz added the extras to put Easts ahead 21-13 in the 53rd minute.
Townsville’s Marty Brennan crossed for Easts’ fourth try 10 minutes later off a driving maul, extending the visitors lead to 28-13, before Brothers flyhalf Adams stepped up to take control of the match.
Brothers returned to the Easts 22m zone and Adams cleaned up an overthrown line-out to score under the posts. Realising the clock was working against Brothers, Adams slotted a drop goal for the conversion rather than waiting for a kicking tee all whilst marshalling his troops back to their own half to get ready for the restart.
Nick Cross was next to score in the left-hand corner, narrowing the margin to 28-25, before Bulley dotted down to put Brothers ahead in the 72nd minute, sending the Brothers’ men in ‘The Butchery’ into raptures. Adams slotted the conversion to put Brothers ahead by four points – 32-28.
Easts regained the ball in the dying minutes of the match on their own try-line and managed to work their way into the Brothers half in a last gasp effort to change the result of the match, but in their attempt to break through the Brethren’s defence, the Easts backs were penalised for an accidental obstruction, seeing the match end with Brothers coming from behind to claim the 32-28 victory.
Tayler Adams was named the VPA Power Performer, he stepped up and guided Brothers when they needed it the most and marshalled his team around the field with purpose. Billy Bulley was electric out wide for the Brethren, while for Easts, Eli Pilz provided plenty of direction for his side and Rhys van Nek was in his element back in the blue-and-gold, causing plenty of headaches at scrum-time for Brothers.
The Magpies outscored their south-side rivals Sunnybank five-tries-to four to claim a 32-22 win in Round 7, with winger Mone Ma’afu bagging a double for the home-side.
Ma’afu opened the scoring in the seventh minute of the match, dotting down in the left-hand corner off a tidy kick from Harry McMahon to give Souths an early 5-nil lead.
Sunnybank answered back minutes later with centre Dave Feliuai Lene scoring in the right-hand corner to level the scores. Feliuai Lene crossed for his second try in the opposite corner in the 17th minute, giving Sunnybank a 10-5 lead.
Former Souths prop Dave Feao, who was part of the Magpies 2015 Premiership side, was next to score for the Dragons, crossing from a pick-and-drive effort in the 25th minute to put Sunnybank ahead 15-5.
Souths answered back minutes later with some great footwork from Jakob Morrison leading to a try for McMahon. Lachy Stewart added the extras to narrow the margin to 15-12.
A great offload from hooker Theo Fourie saw Souths cross for their third try, with Seb Hanna sprinting past the Sunnybank defence to score just before the half-time break. Stewart slotted the conversion to put Souths ahead 19-15 as the two teams headed into the sheds.
McMahon slotted an early penalty in the second-half to give Souths a 22-15 lead, but a second try to Feao just minutes later, which was converted by Eversion, levelled the scores at 22-all in the 47th minute.
Souths took the lead once again in the 74th minute with a brilliant offload from Sam Mataafa setting up Ma’afu for his second try of the afternoon in the left-hand corner.
A break from Morrison inside Souths’ half resulted in Souths’ fifth try of the afternoon, with Ma’afu putting away Hanna for his second try of the afternoon in the left-hand corner, securing the win for the Magpies – 32-22.
Souths outside backs were on fire in this one with both Mone Ma’afu and Seb Hanna bagging doubles, while for Sunnybank, prop Dave Feao showed he still has some tricks up his sleeve in the twilight of his career, also scoring a double.
In the first inter-varsity clash (or the battle of the bookworms) for 2022, the Red Heavies posted a narrow 31-28 win over Bond University, outscoring the visitors five-tries-to-four in a tight affair at St Lucia.
BJ Oates was first to score in the second minute, diving over in the right-hand corner, giving his side an early 5-nil lead.
It took Bond another 20 minutes to score their first points, with a break from Liam Dillon leading to a try for Connor Pritchard. Dan Lancaster stepped up in his first start at flyhalf and slotted the conversion to put the visitors ahead 7-5.
Lock Devon Henson scored his first of the afternoon in the 32nd minute, with Lancaster taking on the line to put Tyrell Naleba in a half-gap, who offloaded to Henson for the try. The conversion from Lancaster put Bond in the lead 14-5.
Townsville product Declan Maguire dived under the posts for the Heavies before half-time, with Kye Oates slotting the conversion, to narrow the margin to 14-12.
UQ were first to strike in the second half with Finn Hearn dotting down in the 45th minute. Oates converted to put UQ back in the lead 19-14.
That lead was short lived, with Henson scoring his second for Bond from a pick-and-drive effort to level the scores at 19-all. The conversion from Lancaster put the Bull Sharks back in the lead 21-19.
A tap-and-go from Hearn saw him split the Bond defence in the 58th minute, with the half-back sprinting away to score his second of the afternoon. Oates knocked over the conversion to put UQ back in the lead 26-21.
The lead would change hands once again, with an individual effort from Abele Atunaisa seeing him score Bond’s fourth try of the afternoon, which Lancaster converted to edge Bond ahead by two-points once again – 28-26 – in the 68th minute.
The Red Heavies, who always seem to rise to another level on home-turf, returned fire a matter of minutes later, with skipper Pat Morrey fighting his way over the line in the right-hand corner to put his side back in the lead 31-28 in the 72nd minute.
Bond’s dominant scrum saw them awarded with a penalty against-the-feed inside UQ territory after the 80-minute mark, rather then kicking the penalty to level the scores, the Bull Sharks rolled the dice and kicked for touch.
Unfortunately, the resulting line-out throw was ruled not straight, seeing the seesawing affair come to an end with the home-side walking away as victors.
UQ scrum half Finn Hearn was excellent in just his second start for the year, steering the ship and making the most of his opportunities when they presented themselves. For Bond, Dan Lancaster had a perfect game with the boot and marshalled his troops well in his first start at flyhalf.
The Gallopers claimed a commanding win over their north-side rivals Norths in Round 7, running in 10 tries to Norths one, with Doug Rayment scoring four on his own while GPS club stalwart Todd Winkley scored two off the bench in his return to Premier Grade Rugby.
The Gallopers only crossed for three tries in first half, with Nick Baker scoring the opener in the seventh minute, but it would take another 20 minutes before Rayment scored his first. A brilliant flick pass from Chris Kuridrani saw Winkley score one of the tries of the weekend in the left-hand corner in the 31st minute, taking the Gallopers’ lead to 17-nil at the break.
Both Winkley and Rayment scored their second tries of the afternoon in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, before Harry Langbridge scored Norths only try of the afternoon in the 55th minute, stepping inside Aussie 7s rep Kuridrani to dot down next to the uprights.
Lock Ollie Bartlett was next to score for the Gallopers in the 61st minute, before Rayment claimed his third and fourth tries of the afternoon within two minutes of each other before the 70-minute mark.
The Gallopers were awarded a penalty try in the 71st minute, with a GPS player held back whilst chasing a kick which would have led to a probable try, before Nigel Genia scored in the corner in lock in the 54-7 result.
Doug Rayment, usually a centre, had a great game on the wing against his old club scoring four ties to claim 20-individual points, whilst for Norths, flyhalf Harry Langbridge stepped up in his first game at 10.
