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Australian Schoolboys & National Championships 2008

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RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
The Suncorp Australian Schoolboys have created history today with a first ever Test victory over New Zealand Schools on Kiwi soil.



The Australians won 15-11 at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth ? a breakthrough result which also delivered back-to-back triumphs over New Zealand for the first time following a win in Sydney last year.



In defending the Trans Tasman Shield, the Australians have recorded one of the most memorable achievements in the proud history of Australian Schoolboys teams which stretch back to the inaugural tour to South Africa in 1969.



Australiaand New Zealand first played at Schoolboys level in 1978, when the Kiwis won 7-6 in Auckland.



Over the ensuing three decades, the New Zealanders maintained an impregnable fortress at home until the 2008 Suncorp Australian Schoolboys ended that unbeaten record.



It was Australia?s seventh victory overall in 26 Schoolboys Tests home and away against the Kiwis.



Australialed 8-3 at half time, never trailed throughout the match, and finished the Test with two tries to one.



Suncorp Australian Schoolboys coach Rob Nowlan, in his first year in the role, was elated with the victory ? and the significance of beating New Zealand on their own soil for the first time.



?As I said to the boys in the dressing room later ?ding dong, the witch is dead?. I think that brought home to them precisely what they?ve achieved,? he said.



?It?s wonderful. They are a great bunch of kids and an outstanding team.



?You see all this talent and it?s fantastic in terms of what it presents for the future of Australian Rugby.?



Nowlan praised the performances of his backrow, led by blindside flanker Eddie Quirk, who was named the Bronze Boot Award winner alongside New Zealand forward Blade Thomson.



The Bronze Boot Award is presented to the best player on either side in Australia-NZ contests and has been won in the past by Wallabies George Smith and Phil Waugh and All Blacks Jerry Collins and Carl Hayman.



?Our backrow was outstanding today,? said Nowlan.



?They won the contest at the breakdown, they were in there like missiles.



?We knew we had to aim up and the boys did.?



Openside flanker Kotoni Ale and wing revelation Kenneth Robertson scored the Australian tries with halfback Eddie Bredanhann kicking a penalty and five-eighth James Ambrosini landing a conversion.



Robertson was a late addition to the Pacific tour after two reinforcements were called following two games in Tonga.



Ale also collected two tries in the other Test on tour, a 22-13 win over Tonga Schools at Tongatapu on 29 September.



The victory in New Plymouth also held special significance for captain and centre Cameron Mitchell and reserve halfback Mark Swanepoel.



The pair played in last year?s victory and, in enjoying a repeat win over the Kiwis, are the only two Australian Schoolboys players to have beaten New Zealand twice.



SUNCORP AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLBOYS 15(Kotoni Ale, Kenneth Robertson tries; Eddie Bredanhann pen, James Ambrosini con) def NEW ZEALAND SCHOOLS 11 (Blade Thomson try, Kane Adams 2 pen goals).
 

The Chosen

Fred Wood (13)
oxe7 said:
aussie blindside eddie quirk was winner of the bronze boot award. good achievement considering he wasnt even in the team initially!

He was the outstanding backrower for Australia `A' when they beat Fijian Schools in the wet @ Knox Grammar.
I was somewhat astounded when he wasn't named on the bench for Test against Fijian Schools. He is one for the future!
 
T

TOCC

Guest
im interested to know how they 5/8 Ambrosini went, he was a pretty low-rated player until his school team St Laurences College went through the AIC comp undefeated.
 
W

whocares

Guest
Lindommer said:
The coach, Rob Nowlan, where's he from?

I think he was the Schoolboys A's coach last year but i could be wrong.
Before that i dont know.
 

spectator

Bob Davidson (42)
TOCC said:
im interested to know how they 5/8 Ambrosini went, he was a pretty low-rated player until his school team St Laurences College went through the AIC comp undefeated.
Fairly sure he was the Qld 16's 10 last year, so not completely unknown.

Chosen - you weren't the only one surprised when Quirk missed out initially. He is very highly rated in Qld.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
I was never so glad to get egg on my face. I didn?t think the lads had much of a chance and they would get smacked because our wins against Fiji and Tonga were skinnier than usual and the quality of the Schools Open tournament was not that great IMO.

And I would never have thought watching the tournament in July that 6 Eddie Quirk would get the Aussie Bronze Boot award a few months later ? but good on him. Eddie was the guy who got a red card for a spear tackle and in the next game the very first thing he did was hang a high tackle on somebody. He?s not a shrinking violet.

Great work by the lads for holding on at the end, with the crowd behind the other team, and in a situation in which other Oz Schools teams have lost routinely.

Good to see that Cameron Mitchell was fit enough at last to have a strong game. The lineout with Buchanan and Jones, no doubt the main protagonists, was good although the Kiwis were better in the scrum. Nothing new there.


spectator

Oz replacements and positions they replaced that we know about were:
1. D.Feao
3. D. Brass
7. J. Ellice-Flint
8. L.Rissman
9. E. Swanepoel
13. T. Bennetts (for blood bin.)

No doubt there were other lads who got onto the park as they usually let all 8 reserves have a run.

The win is the big news but of secondary interest is the naming of the XV. The selectors do the best they can with so many lads running around during the week of the tournament, but by the time of the NZ test they have been able to see them play many games together.

Quirk displaced Ellice-Flint on merit because JEF is named as a replacement. Another likely unforced change was 5 Luke Jones for Mark Johnson who played last week.

2. Chris Edwards was flown over to replace the injured Roberson but it?s good that he got a run in the ones. He was the fellow from the Hunter Valley who I said ran around the park like a schoolboy TPN.

11. Robertson was flown over to replace the ill Nicky Price. Price was the ace player in the team IMO. You hold your breath every time he has the ball.

The other change was 9. Eddie Bredenhann for Justin Turner who left school and went on tour with the Force instead.

Great effort lads.
 

The Chosen

Fred Wood (13)
Lee Grant said:
I was never so glad to get egg on my face. I didn?t think the lads had much of a chance and they would get smacked because our wins against Fiji and Tonga were skinnier than usual and the quality of the Schools Open tournament was not that great IMO.

And I would never have thought watching the tournament in July that 6 Eddie Quirk would get the Aussie Bronze Boot award a few months later ? but good on him. Eddie was the guy who got a red card for a spear tackle and in the next game the very first thing he did was hang a high tackle on somebody. He?s not a shrinking violet.

Great work by the lads for holding on at the end, with the crowd behind the other team, and in a situation in which other Oz Schools teams have lost routinely.

Good to see that Cameron Mitchell was fit enough at last to have a strong game. The lineout with Buchanan and Jones, no doubt the main protagonists, was good although the Kiwis were better in the scrum. Nothing new there.


spectator

Oz replacements and positions they replaced that we know about were:
1. D.Feao
3. D. Brass
7. J. Ellice-Flint
8. L.Rissman
9. E. Swanepoel
13. T. Bennetts (for blood bin.)

No doubt there were other lads who got onto the park as they usually let all 8 reserves have a run.

The win is the big news but of secondary interest is the naming of the XV. The selectors do the best they can with so many lads running around during the week of the tournament, but by the time of the NZ test they have been able to see them play many games together.

Quirk displaced Ellice-Flint on merit because JEF is named as a replacement. Another likely unforced change was 5 Luke Jones for Mark Johnson who played last week.

2. Chris Edwards was flown over to replace the injured Roberson but it?s good that he got a run in the ones. He was the fellow from the Hunter Valley who I said ran around the park like a schoolboy TPN.

11. Robertson was flown over to replace the ill Nicky Price. Price was the ace player in the team IMO. You hold your breath every time he has the ball.

The other change was 9. Eddie Bredenhann for Justin Turner who left school and went on tour with the Force instead.

Great effort lads.

I understand Johnson wasn't available for Test due to a hip injury he sustained in the game against Hurricance Schools.
 

Cutter

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
spectator said:
Lindommer said:
The coach, Rob Nowlan, where's he from?
Another Queenslander Lindommer. ;D I think he is/was coaching at TSS.

Nice try spectator. If its the one I am thinking of, he is from Grenfell in country NSW. Formerly a teacher at Riverview in Sydney and ex Manly first grade lock. Nickname "Tiny" Nowlan for the obvious reason that he is a monster. He is from a very good country rugby family.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Now, now, Cutter, no need to throw petrol on the fire: I haven't accused them of poaching in this instance.

Here's hoping the Australian rugby family can keep this talented lot in the game.
 

spectator

Bob Davidson (42)
Very magnanamous of you Lindommer.

Cutter - I'd say you're right as the Rob Nowlan coaching up north is massive, and I am fairly sure is nicknamed Tiny. Anyway, regardless of where he's originally from he's done a great job of this years crop of schoolboys and has been a part of a very successful TSS outfit for the last few years.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
ahhhhhhh bugger. Perhaps he didn't hear that the new team won't be getting a brand spanking new stadium and will have to retrofit the pathetic Carrara?

A two code battle to sign the on-field speed and skills of former Maroochydore junior AFL player Nicky Price has been won.

The rare 17-year-old Buderim talent, who now attends Nudgee College, has given up his chance to be a Wallaby for the time being in favour of a three-year deal with new AFL identity Gold Coast 17.

Little more than a month ago, Price was pulling on the golden jumper of a schoolboy Australian rugby player, set to take on Fiji in a curtain raiser to a Wallaby Test at Suncorp Stadium.

The Queensland Reds were nurturing his talents, but the Queensland AFL officials made it clear that they were still in contact with Price and had not given up on wooing him back. That might have been unlikely after he was personally presented his Australian jumper by winger Lote Tuqiri.

But in the ensuing rugby schoolboy tour, Price was hit hard by chicken pox and was bedridden for four days.

Some might think him still delirious, but Price is delighted to have accepted a three-year deal with the new AFL franchise that will see him move to the Gold Coast in a month and prepare to play in the Victorian under-18 competition next year.

?It has taken me two years to make this decision and it?s been the toughest one of my life,? Price said yesterday.

?In the end it came down to what I enjoyed the most and I really liked being part of a club foundation.?

His pathway is the TAC Cup and then the VFL before a possible call-up to AFL.

Price was one of the rugby stand-out players for Sunshine Coast Grammar in 2007 and was also selected to play AFL for his state as an under-16. Now that his mind is made up, he has already set out to impress at GC17 weekend player camp.

?It was really great down there ? no one really spoke to me about my playing future ? that will come later in the year.?

And while Price knows where he is going to at last, he has not forgotten where he came from or who his friends have been in rugby.

?I really want to say a big thanks to Paul Carozza (former Wallaby winger) for taking me aside and helping me become a better player as well as a better person.

?And I really owe a lot to my mum Leone and dad Michael.?

Four other Coast players involved in the GC17 camp were Todd Panaho (Caloundra AFC), Alik Magin and Jake Crawford (Cooroora JAFC) and Todd Grayson (Maroochydore AFC).

Sunshine Coast AFL development officer Paul Tresise said this was an introductory program for a player list of about 40 young Queenslanders.

?I believe the Sunshine Coast boys performed very well over the course of the weekend and should be given great participation opportunity in 2009.?
 
B

brokendown gunfighter

Guest
& with the current economic situation there is a chance the franchise wont get off the ground at all
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
yep, I know they haven't raised any of the money they had hoped, other than some council contributions.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
Noddy,

You posted an article a few months ago that Price may go to the AFL. Bloody hell. He's a great young winger and your heart is in your mouth every time he gets the ball.

I can't remember a more exciting winger at the schools level in the last 10 years and couldn't trust my memory before then. The nearest was Joseph Tomane last year, but he went to the NRL and has already been ot the park for the Melbourne Storm. I'd rate them both higher than Drew Mitchell as a schoolboy though I didn't see a lot of him, to be honest.

Talk is cheap, but I reckon that our Wallaby team in a few years time will miss these two fine young players compared to if they had they stayed in our sport, but they are not going to get a mention. We will be saying something like: why haven't some good young fast wingers come through from Oz Schools? This lot is crap and too slow.
 
R

rugbywhisperer

Guest
Lee Grant said:
Noddy,

You posted an article a few months ago that Price may go to the AFL. Bloody hell. He's a great young winger and your heart is in your mouth every time he gets the ball.

I can't remember a more exciting winger at the schools level in the last 10 years and couldn't trust my memory before then. The nearest was Joseph Tomane last year, but he went to the NRL and has already been ot the park for the Melbourne Storm. I'd rate them both higher than Drew Mitchell as a schoolboy though I didn't see a lot of him, to be honest.

Talk is cheap, but I reckon that our Wallaby team in a few years time will miss these two fine young players compared to if they had they stayed in our sport, but they are not going to get a mention. We will be saying something like: why haven't some good young fast wingers come through from Oz Schools? This lot is crap and too slow.

Don't fret - there are a couple of dynamic wingers coming through - you will forget N Price soon enough
 
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