Sydney University 30 (Trent Dyer, Matt Schwager, Anthony Pohlen, Angus Roberts tries; Nathan Trist con, Daniel Kelly pen) d Northern Suburbs 10 (Corey Brown try; Haydn Wolfsbauer con, pen)

Penrith 21 (Jason Peseta, Solomona Silipa, Tala Mapesone tries; Fokolulu Taumalolo 2 pen) d Randwick 19 (2 Tim Wright, Dominic Bower tries; Dominic Bower 2 cons)

Southern Districts 57 (3 Ben Connolly, 2 Rohan Saifolio, Matt Swann, Greyson Hart, Lester Salanoa, Brackin Karauria-Henry tries; Rohan Saifolio 5 cons, Jordan McGregor con) d Gordon 22 (Tobias Gukibau, Hamish McGilvray, Lucas Simkin tries; Chris Burnett 2 cons, pen)

Eastern Suburbs 52 (2 Scott Ferris, Luke Irwin, Richard Stanford, Phil Mathers, Heath Tessman tries; Angus Sinclair 5 cons, 4 pens) d West Harbour 26 (2 Shaun Treweek, Tom Patterson, Henry Seavula tries; Shaun Treweek 3 cons)

Eastwood 25 (2 Michael McDougall, Nick Batger tries; Ben Batger 2 cons, 2 pens) d Parramatta 20 (Tom Woods, Trent Hoscher tries; Tom Woods 2 con, 2 pens)

MORE TO COME….

Manly is the only unbeaten team after five rounds of the Shute Shield so the ladder is tight.

What does this mean for Club Rugby?

The panel discusses in detail. Mark Cashman finally pays his debt to Sean Maloney.

We take a look at all the results and look at some match highlights courtesy of clubrugbytv.com.au.

Episode 066 is brought to you by Strike. Australia’s largest supplier of hands free Bluetooth car kits, mobile phone car cradles and reversing cameras.

Check them out at www.strike.com.au.

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Mitch Lees makes progress – seiserphotography.com

ROUND 5 MATCH REPORT BY PAUL COOK

Eastwood have returned to the winners circle after last week’s surprise loss to Easts with a 34-22 victory over Gordon. The match was in the balance for almost an hour with the much improved Highlanders again showing they are a tough nut to crack this year, before the Woodies greater firepower finally told.

Two tries from winger Michael McDougall helped them towards the bonus point while the visitors were restricted to just the one five pointer from replacement Lucas Simkin, Tom Hill completing their tally through the boot. It was a struggle at times and they’re still far from the well oiled machine of 2011 but Eastwood head coach John Manenti was simply pleased to have got back on the horse again at the first time of asking.

Gordon came out with confidence and built some impressive early continuity, Hill striking first with a 6^th minute penalty. The Woodies were trying to find their way into the game but some uncharacteristic indecision and poor execution was given short shrift by Gordon’s defence – the Tom-Tom midfield of Messrs Hill and Matthews again on song.

Missing Pierre Hola, Hugh Perrett, Tim Bennetts and Cam Mitchell, the home side looked a tad unsure of themselves and despite controlling possession, couldn’t translate it into something tangible on the scoreboard. When Hill slotted penalty number two just after the opening quarter, there were more than a few restless murmurs from the TG Millner faithful – nervous no doubt, of a repeat performance from seven days prior.

What relatively little ball Gordon did have was being wisely used by fly-half Chris Burnett, experiencing something of a renaissance in the Shute Shield this year and looking a more wily and complete pivot after his globetrotting rugby exploits. He mixed his game up nicely and working off the back of good ball created by a hungry pack, repeatedly took it to the line and tested Eastwood’s resolve.

Despite the early deficit, the Premiers still backed themselves and turned down a few kickable penalties to get off the mark, choosing to drive towards the chalk instead. But just as Gordon’s goal line defence looked impenetrable, former Highlander Jared Barry barged his way over from 5 metres out and Barney Wood converted.

Hill responded with another three pointer but the Woodies tails were up and soon after, scrum-half Mick Snowden spotted a gap, sniped and burrowed over from in close leaving a fragile looking 14-9 lead for the hosts at the interval.

The two kickers exchanged penalties in the first 10 minutes after the break and when Hill reduced the arrears to 17-15 in the 55^th minute, it looked like the game would go down to the wire. Unfortunately for them, Gordon switched off from the restart, gamely running the ball out of their 22 but coughing up possession with a ball and all tackle that led to a try out wide – McDougall’s first of the day.

His second came when a poor clearing kick from Hamish McGilvray was run back with interest by Nick Batger. He fed Sione Piukala who suddenly saw a gaping hole in front of him, stepped through it and fed a simple pass to McDougall for his second. Wood converted both tries and added a penalty late on while Gordon’s eventual breakthrough from replacement Lucas Simkin was a case of too little, too late.

Eastwood 34 (Mike McDougall 2, Jared Barry, Mick Snowden tries; Barney Wood 4 cons, 2pens) Gordon 22 (Lucas Simkin try; Tom Hill con, 5 pens)

Manly 17 (Dane Maraki, Penalty Try tries; Sione Ala 2 cons, pen) d Penrith 12 (Tala Mapesone, Wilson Silipa tries; Fokolulu Taumalolo con)

Eastern Suburbs 32 (2 Heath Tessman, Clay Brodie, Apakuki Maafu tries; Angus Sinclair 3 cons, 2 pens) d Parramatta 27 (Andrew Cox, Tui Fa’asisila, Mosese Tavola, Tom Woods tries; Tom Woods 2 cons, pen)

Warringah 40 (2 Elliot Foils, Ben Adams, Jack Tomkins, David Feltscheer, Penalty Try tries; Hamish Angus 2 con, 2 pens) d West Harbour 19 (Shaun Treweek, Maquire Tatola, Oleni Ngungutau tries; Shaun Treweek 2 cons)

Eastwood 34 (2 Michael McDougall, Jared Barry, Mick Snowden tries; Barney Wood 4 cons, 2 pens) d Gordon 22 (Lucas Simkin try; Tom Hill con, 5 pens)

Northern Suburbs 25 (2 Corey Brown, Bill Meakes, Will Brame tries; Mitch Walton con, pen) d Randwick 18 (Patto Noriega, Ethan Ford tries; Dominic Bower con, 2 pens)

The competition is wide open after Easts pounded the premiers in round 4 – hear what the panel thinks and where is Mark Cashman????

We take a look at all the results and look at some match highlights courtesy of clubrugbytv.com.au.

Episode 065 is brought to you by Strike. Australia’s largest supplier of hands free Bluetooth car kits, mobile phone car cradles and reversing cameras.

Check them out at www.strike.com.au.

Press play icon to stream audio now

To download audio file directly to your computer right click here and select ‘save as‘

Pieter Van Der Merwe scores Uni’s opener – seiserphotography.com

Sydney University head coach Todd Louden:

“I had a look at Gordon’s three games coming in and everything that we discussed about them, they did and if sides don’t look after the breakdown and the tackle contest and if the referee allows a little bit of greyness to creep in then every team is going to have trouble against this side. They’ve scored a lot of breakout tries and turnover tries – scrag tries I call them – which is full credit to them. They’ve got some good backs in that backline as well and as the season progresses, they could be quite a danger I reckon.

“We have to play differently because we’re a very different Uni team to six years ago and we have been scoring quite easily in terms of some of the attacking structures that we are putting in, not the typical Uni pick and go or the maul. That’s still there, that’s Plan B and we’ve also got a Plan C that we’re working on so it’s coming slowly, we’ve just got to be a bit more flexible in some areas.

“Our scrum was very strong today and I think if you look at the forward pack, we’ve only got two guys from last year so in that sense, it’s starting to come good. We’ve had to start again a little bit but the excuse of not knowing or not turning up with the right attitude or intensity is not an excuse anymore. It’s at a stage now with our guys that – no matter whether they’re young, old, fat, skinny, tall, short – they’ve got to understand that playing in that jersey, everyone wants a piece of them.”

Gordon head coach John Briggs:

“I thought we were a bit unlucky, we’re just not getting the rub of the green at the moment but if we keep working hard that will change. You’ve got to draw on the positives and they were that we really should have won the game, our game is getting better and the trust in each other is improving. It was a really good contest, I think the people enjoyed it that came and the boys are in there disappointed but at the same time, they feel good about themselves and this time last year, that may not have happened – there’s more conviction in our performance now.

“We’ve got to work a bit more on extending phases, we tend not to go more than four or five and it’s akin to rugby league where they’ve got to get through their sets. You look at their stats and the team’s that don’t get through them, don’t build the pressure and they don’t score – it’s the same in rugby. We were a bit more direct today, which is good and the seam in our defence is pretty good so it doesn’t fracture too often and I think that’s important too. I don’t really think I had a bad player today.

“We really let ourselves down today. We knew that Gordon were going to turn up, they did and I think we just got out enthused. We’re happy that we got away with it but disappointed by the performance, we’ve got plenty to work on. We’ll review it and move on as soon as possible and hopefully look at this as a turning point in our season – we don’t want to play like that again.

“We started off the season reasonably well against West Harbour, had a bit of a setback against Manly which was disappointing, a good win last week over Randwick and then today was disappointing as well so we’re just trying to find some consistency. We can’t afford to play like that if we come up against an Eastwood or Southern Districts, they’ll tear us apart.

“There’s a lot of new faces in the team and we are still extremely young as a group but we can’t keep using that as an excuse. We’ve got to start learning from our mistakes and we’ve got to learn fast, it’s a short season this year and you’ve got to turn up week in, week out and keep winning. We were lucky today but we’ll take it.”

Interviews by Paul Cook
cookie@clubrugby.com.au

James McMahon on the charge for the Students – seiserphotography.com

ROUND 4 MATCH REPORT BY PAUL COOK

A kick after the siren has snatched victory for Sydney University at Chatswood Oval, leaving an impressive Gordon side heartbroken by a 27-25 loss. Trailing 25-20 with 2 minutes left on the clock, replacement David Fong was the Students hero, scooting over in the corner to level scores before converting his own good work with a terrific pressure kick from the sideline to seal the win.

The game was a great advert for club rugby with both sides looking to attack at every opportunity and seven tries the result, but the Highlanders can consider themselves desperately unfortunate not to claim the spoils. Whilst understandably pleased to snatch the bonus point win, Uni head coach Todd Louden admitted that the better side had ended up on the wrong side of the ledger. “We got out of jail. You can’t take anything way from Gordon, they’d done their homework on us, they were definitely up for it and they forced us into uncharacteristic mistakes. It was a really good lesson for our blokes.”

Things started well for the home side with their tenacity at the breakdown disrupting much of the visitors attacking forays with the work of no.8 Luke Rissman to the fore. Ill discipline from Uni was punished by two early penalties from Tom Hill and the young centre could have increased the damage when he intercepted a pass on halfway but with open field in front of him, he was run down, tackled and turned over with terrific aplomb by the Students’ Zubayr Abrahams.

Dan Kelly reduced the lead on 20 minutes after a Highlander went off his feet but soon after, Argentine winger Eric Maroni crossed for the first five pointer of the afternoon after nice work from scrum-half Hamish McGilvray. 11-3. The Students knocked on the door a few times in response but an overly hit kick, spilt ball or a big hit from Gordon cruelled their efforts and when they mauled their way over on the half hour but were penalised for crossing, you wondered if it wasn’t to be their day.

However, you can’t keep a good team down and two tries in the last five minutes before the break changed the complexion of the game. Their trademark line out drive finally paid off when Pieter Van Der Merwe went over and on the stroke of half-time, the Students again kept it in the forwards to do the damage. A succession of pick and go’s were stoutly defended by Gordon but predatory captain Matt Schwager pounced to dart under the posts and Stuart Dunbar’s conversion took them to the sheds with a 4pt lead at 15-11.

When replacement winger Kane Morgan found the corner six minutes after the break to make it 20-11, it looked as if Uni were going to romp away with ease but this Gordon team under head coach John Briggs are not beset by a brittle underbelly. They regathered themselves, stuck to their game plan and hit back. Fly-half Chris Burnett went to the line in the 53^rd minute and picked the perfect short ball to Hill who sliced through the gap and dotted down before some great interplay and neat hands down the sideline left Tom Matthews a clear run on the inside. Hill converted to put Gordon five points to the good at 25-20.

It was all set up for a grandstand finish as the home side dug their heels in to repel the inevitable Uni onslaught and with 2 minutes to go, they looked like holding out but David Fong had other ideas. With Gordon’s goal line defence set to thwart another line out drive, the replacement scrum-half caught them napping when he scooted off around the short side to find the corner and tie the scores. A draw was the least Gordon deserved at that point but Fong was having none of it, stepping up to coolly slot the conversion from the touchline for a memorable, if slightly fortuitous victory.

Gordon 25 (Eric Maroni, Tom Hill, Tom Matthews tries; Tom Hill 2 cons; 2pens) Sydney University 27 (Pieter Van Der Merwe, Matt Schwager, Kane Morgan, David Fong tries; Stuart Dunbar con, David Fong con; Dan Kelly pen)

.

Manly 28 (Harry Bergelin, Alex Miles, Jacob Woodhouse, Sione Ala tries; Sione Ala con, 2 pens) d Northern Suburbs 15(Rory Walton, Bill Meaks tries; Mitch Walton con, pen)

Parramatta 22 (Ryan Aniseko, Sam Yakopo, Tom Woods tries; Tom Woods 2 cons, pen) d Warringah 18 (2 David Feltscheer tries; Hamish Angus con, 2 pens)

Southern Districts 40 (2 Andrew Leota, Jed Holloway, Sam Latunipulu tries; Rohan Saifoloi 4 cons, 4 pens) d Randwick 24 (2 Tim Wright, Ethan Ford, Peter Samu tries; Dominic Bower 2 cons)

West Harbour 25 (Tito Mua, Oleni Ngungutau tries; Shaun Treweek 5 pens) d Penrith 23 (Tyrone Emelio, Junior Taavilli, Mark Murray tries; Fokolulu Taumalolo  con, Fred Tuaa 2 pens)

Sydney University 27 (Pieter van der Merwe, Matt Schawagger, Eddie Paea, Kane Morgan tries; Stuart Dunbar con, David Fong con, Daniel Kelly pen) d Gordon 25
Eric Maroni, Tom Matthews, Tom Hill tries; Tom Hill 2 con, 2 pens)