I thought I'd give a bit of a quick summary of the past weekend's activities.
We flew out of Adelaide at 6.15am, with only about 12 hours until our first match against the Currumbin Alleygators. After arriving in the Gold Coast we had a brief training session before eating lunch at Northcliffe Surf Club (our 'clubrooms' for the tour) and checking in to our hotel. We then departed for Currumbin, and our first showing of what the Gold Coast had to offer, and what the Junior Falcons could achieve on the paddock.
For the first game, Connor Smith was in the starting XV on the wing, whilst John Carver Jr and myself were on the bench. The game was a bit messy, something which can only be expected from a team that has never played together, but the structure which had been drilled into us in training came through, and as a result we were able to build some very aggressive rugby, in both attack and defence. As I recall, Currumbin managed to score first, but failed to convert. Instead of hanging their heads, the team struck back hard and despite a missed penalty attempt by Ashley Rio (Woodville) that fell short by less than a meter, maintained pressure for the rest of the half (which was only 30 minutes). The halftime score was 5 - 0 against us, however in the second half SA put the throttle to the floor right from the whistle, regaining their kicked ball, and quickly getting into the strike zone. Within minutes, prop Java Posala (Old Collegians) burst over the line in the right corner to level the score. The try was unconverted. Late in the second half, Carver Jr and myself were substituted on, and Smith off due to a shoulder injury. We maintained the aggression that had been prominent throughout the game, and quickly found ourselves back at the scoring end of the field, thanks mainly to a lack of discipline from the opposition, which later resulted in their captain being sent from the field for the rest of the game. After some sustained phase play, an excellent line from Matt Benger (Burnside) allowed him to cross the line between the sticks, and this was easily converted to bring the score to 12 - 5, the final score of the game.
After a day of recovery and light training in the Gold Coast heat, we arrived at Coomera to play the Coomera Crushers. We had been warned that there were plenty of islanders in the side, and the heat (the game kicked off at 12.30) was sure to play a factor. Carver Jr, Smith and myself were all starting, at 8, 14 and 6 respectively. I don't remember much of this game, probably because of the heat, however the standout moments were Connor's involvement in all three of our tries scored (setting up two and scoring one) as well as John's many line breaking runs up the field. The first try was scored off broken play, in a masterful action by Smith, where a kicked ball from SA was allowed to bounce. Smith, chasing, managed to get to the ball and kick it on the bounce into the opposing 22, where he regained it, and offloaded to center, Chris Bartlett (Old Collegians) who crossed the line near the sticks. Jack Macklin (Old Collegians) easily added the extras, and SA received the restart. At some point Jack added a penalty goal, before a bit of lax defence allowed Coomera to cross the line. The try was unconverted, and the score stood at 10 - 5. SA rallied, however, and hit back, phase play taking us to into striking distance with the forwards on the left of the field, at which point the ball was sent wide to Smith, whose trademark speed took him over the line in the right corner, however laziness by the Crushers allowed him to ground the ball only a few meters right of the posts. Macklin again added the extras and SA looked in top form with the score at 17 - 5. Coomera was not giving up easily, and in the last play of the first half launched an 8 pickup from SA's 5 meter line, and crossed the line. The conversion again failed, and the score at half time was 17 - 10. In the second half, the heat was really beginning to take its toll, as SA defence was beginning to lag, and no longer shutting down the space. Coomera managed to notch up another try, and things were looking a little bit grim at 17 - 15, however in the last ten minutes or so, Connor gave a pass to Macklin which allowed him to break the line and outrun the opposing 15 for a 50-meter try. He then added the points, and the score rested at 24 - 15.
All in all it was a very productive weekend in terms of getting the team a run together, with two solid wins. There were some difficulties that took some adjusting to, such as the heat, as well as "Gold Coast Rules", which allows the 8 to pick and go from uncontested scrums. Nonetheless, the overall performance was fantastic, and bodes well for the upcoming Southern States tournament, which i hope as many AURUFC players and supporters will make it to, to see a very skilled U20s side take on the best of what Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania have to offer.
We flew out of Adelaide at 6.15am, with only about 12 hours until our first match against the Currumbin Alleygators. After arriving in the Gold Coast we had a brief training session before eating lunch at Northcliffe Surf Club (our 'clubrooms' for the tour) and checking in to our hotel. We then departed for Currumbin, and our first showing of what the Gold Coast had to offer, and what the Junior Falcons could achieve on the paddock.
For the first game, Connor Smith was in the starting XV on the wing, whilst John Carver Jr and myself were on the bench. The game was a bit messy, something which can only be expected from a team that has never played together, but the structure which had been drilled into us in training came through, and as a result we were able to build some very aggressive rugby, in both attack and defence. As I recall, Currumbin managed to score first, but failed to convert. Instead of hanging their heads, the team struck back hard and despite a missed penalty attempt by Ashley Rio (Woodville) that fell short by less than a meter, maintained pressure for the rest of the half (which was only 30 minutes). The halftime score was 5 - 0 against us, however in the second half SA put the throttle to the floor right from the whistle, regaining their kicked ball, and quickly getting into the strike zone. Within minutes, prop Java Posala (Old Collegians) burst over the line in the right corner to level the score. The try was unconverted. Late in the second half, Carver Jr and myself were substituted on, and Smith off due to a shoulder injury. We maintained the aggression that had been prominent throughout the game, and quickly found ourselves back at the scoring end of the field, thanks mainly to a lack of discipline from the opposition, which later resulted in their captain being sent from the field for the rest of the game. After some sustained phase play, an excellent line from Matt Benger (Burnside) allowed him to cross the line between the sticks, and this was easily converted to bring the score to 12 - 5, the final score of the game.
After a day of recovery and light training in the Gold Coast heat, we arrived at Coomera to play the Coomera Crushers. We had been warned that there were plenty of islanders in the side, and the heat (the game kicked off at 12.30) was sure to play a factor. Carver Jr, Smith and myself were all starting, at 8, 14 and 6 respectively. I don't remember much of this game, probably because of the heat, however the standout moments were Connor's involvement in all three of our tries scored (setting up two and scoring one) as well as John's many line breaking runs up the field. The first try was scored off broken play, in a masterful action by Smith, where a kicked ball from SA was allowed to bounce. Smith, chasing, managed to get to the ball and kick it on the bounce into the opposing 22, where he regained it, and offloaded to center, Chris Bartlett (Old Collegians) who crossed the line near the sticks. Jack Macklin (Old Collegians) easily added the extras, and SA received the restart. At some point Jack added a penalty goal, before a bit of lax defence allowed Coomera to cross the line. The try was unconverted, and the score stood at 10 - 5. SA rallied, however, and hit back, phase play taking us to into striking distance with the forwards on the left of the field, at which point the ball was sent wide to Smith, whose trademark speed took him over the line in the right corner, however laziness by the Crushers allowed him to ground the ball only a few meters right of the posts. Macklin again added the extras and SA looked in top form with the score at 17 - 5. Coomera was not giving up easily, and in the last play of the first half launched an 8 pickup from SA's 5 meter line, and crossed the line. The conversion again failed, and the score at half time was 17 - 10. In the second half, the heat was really beginning to take its toll, as SA defence was beginning to lag, and no longer shutting down the space. Coomera managed to notch up another try, and things were looking a little bit grim at 17 - 15, however in the last ten minutes or so, Connor gave a pass to Macklin which allowed him to break the line and outrun the opposing 15 for a 50-meter try. He then added the points, and the score rested at 24 - 15.
All in all it was a very productive weekend in terms of getting the team a run together, with two solid wins. There were some difficulties that took some adjusting to, such as the heat, as well as "Gold Coast Rules", which allows the 8 to pick and go from uncontested scrums. Nonetheless, the overall performance was fantastic, and bodes well for the upcoming Southern States tournament, which i hope as many AURUFC players and supporters will make it to, to see a very skilled U20s side take on the best of what Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania have to offer.
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