Wests have advanced to the StoreLocal Hospital Cup Grand Final in dramatic fashion, with over 100-minutes of Rugby unable to separate the Bulldogs and reigning premiers UQ.
In an arm-wrestle of a first-half, minor premiers Wests went to the sheds with a 17-10 lead, before a free-flowing second-forty saw Uni claim a 37-27 lead with three-minutes to play.
A pair of Cooper Whiteside tries evened the scores at full-time, sending the game to golden point in front of a huge crowd at GPS Rugby Club.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock, with Wests advancing to the decider after scoring the first points of the afternoon.
Uni hooker Cam Flavell scored four tries in what was an epic affair at Yoku Road, while Wests lock Angelo Smith and Whiteside scored doubles as the Bulldogs qualified for their first Grand Final since 2006.
It was who Whiteside who opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the 3rd minute, before Keynan Tauakipulu looked to have the Bulldogs over the line for their first try with a charging run from close range.
Kalani Thomas stopped him, the Reds scrumhalf holding the backrower up with an incredible try-saver.
The Heavies had the first try of the match in the 22nd minute, Flavell the beneficiary of a dominant rolling maul by the UQ pack.
Wests replied with a rolling maul try of their own eight-minutes later, Smith scoring and Whiteside slotting the conversion to give the Bulldogs a 10-5 lead.
Wests inside centre Vilikesa Raboiliku was yellow-carded in the 37th minute and Uni quickly capitalised through Flavell, who claimed his second five-pointer off the back of another strong rolling-maul. Twidale missed the conversion chance, the scores locked at 10-all.
Missing a man, the Bulldogs fired back on the stroke of half-time with Cabous Eloff charging down a Campbell clearing kick, regaining possession and finding Smith who dove over for his second try. Whiteside continued his perfect form off the tee to open up a 17-10 advantage at the half-time break.
Tauakipulu gave Wests the perfect start to the second stanza, after the Bulldogs pounced on a UQ error from the kick-off and sent the backrower flying away to score within 15-seconds of the opening whistle. Whiteside made no mistake from in front, putting the score out to 24-10.
UQ replied with their second try minutes later, Kye Oates finishing a through the hands move for his 13th try of 2022. Nick Jooste converted to bring the score to 24-17 in the 45th minute.
A second Whiteside penalty stretched the minor premiers’ lead to 27-17 in the 52nd minute, before Uni hooker Flavell made it a hat-trick with his third rolling maul try of the afternoon soon after.
The Students evened the ledger at 27-all in the 64th minute, Flavell burrowing through the defence from close range for his fourth five-pointer of the major semi-final.
UQ secured their first advantage of the afternoon with their sixth try of minutes later. Connor Mitchell sparked the action with a break down the blindside, before the Heavies went sideline-to-sideline with a series of passes to eventually find Joe Pincus who streaked away to score. Twidale nailed the tough conversion to put the Heavies into a converted try lead at 34-27 with eight-minutes to play.
A Twidale penalty stretched the Heavies lead to 10-points with three-minutes remaining, with Sam Wallis then yellow-carded to set up a grandstand finish at Yoku Road.
Wests capitalised quicky through Whiteside who dove over close to the lefthand corner and brought the scores to 37-32 with seconds on the clock.
A penalty and booming Whiteside clearance sent the Bulldogs deep into the Uni-22 and after a series of scrum penalties, Sef Fa’agase was yellow-carded to again reduce UQ to 14-men with Wallis back on the field.
After over 15-minutes and a multitude of scrum penalties, the Bulldogs eventually broke through. It was Whiteside once again, the fullback scoring his second close to the left sideline. The fullback was unable to convert his own try, sending the game into golden-point.
Twidale had the chance put his side into to the decider with a penalty goal after two-minutes but was unable to convert, before Flavell charged down a Whiteside field goal attempt.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock, with Wests advancing to the Grand Final after scoring the first points.
UQ will look to bounce back when they face the loser of Brothers v GPS in next week’s preliminary final at Bond University on Sunday 10 September.
