Australian Schoolboys & National Championships 2008

[The Chosen]

CAS Final Showdown

Should be a big crowd @ Barker(Hornsby) this coming Saturday for decisionmaker in the CAS premiership.
Undefeated Knox Grammar take on Barker College who have had 1 defeat. However as Knox drew with Waverley College earlier in season, Bsarker are only 1 point behind and if they win they can claim premiership.
Knox have a fast mobile pack, containing Mark Johnson(Aust.Schoolboys '08) and Luke Rissman(Aust `A' Schoolboys '08) plus 2 other members of CAS 1st XV. THeir backline has been `twigged' several times this season. Barker apparently have a tradesmanlike team- but they surprisingly lost to Cranbrook last week.
In the 2nds, Knox are undefeated to date- Barker can draw with them if they cause an upset on Saturday.

 

[Lee Grant]

Re: CAS Final Showdown

I should be a good game and with the CAS season so short the result will be all important.

Yeah Barker don't have many name players but if a better rugby team can beat a side of better players it's never more true than in a big schools match.

Mark Johnson is a fine lock/6 who won his spot in the Oz Schools 1st XV when he moved to lock at the end of the recent national schools championship in Canberra - and Rissman is a good player too, I also like the look of Knox's winger Hunter Johnson who was in the CAS Twos. IIRR he was a good goal kicker also.


PS - can somebody please move these posts to the 2008 Schools thread?

.

 

[Lee Grant]

Scots 13 Joeys 13

This was an exciting game with Joeys scoring 2 tries to 1 but not kicking their goals very well; the same as last week.

Scots could have won this one but they kicked too often when they should have kept ball in hand, but ironically when they were down 6-10 there was another kick through. This was their only try attempting kick of the day that worked and it was 13-10.

Then Joeys hammered the Scots line with the ball being held up once. They got a penalty in front soon after and had to take it and it was 13 all. Joeys kept hammering but Scots held on and that's how it finished.

The two big Scots locks 4. Heslop and 5 Greg Peterson dominated the lineouts and helped to out shove the Joeys scrum. Their class backs 13 Oldfield and 15 Sills would have been better if they had received the ball more, but Sills himself was guilty of kicking too much.

Scots have been close to winning in 3 of their 4 games this year but just don't how to win the close ones.

Joeys, without stars they've had in other years, were playing against the set piece tide of Scots and got their chances through scrambling and playing smart. THP Dundas was dangerous near the line but the best player on the park for either team today was the Joeys 12 Adrian Ha'angana. He got across the gainline just about every time he got the ball and broke through near the ruck a few times, once dishing it out for Joeys second try. He was also involved in ripping the ball out and knocking people over chest to chest.

Joeys will have a star next year.

Last week I wrote that the way Joeys played against Grammar indicated they could be a title contender. Alas I couldn't say the same today.

2nds
Scots 9 Joeys 6

This was an exciting game of the attritional sort. Joeys were hammered by the ref and no doubt it was well deserved, but the final penalty was a killer.

3rds Scots 0 Joeys 38

16As Scots 13 Joeys 29

 

[The Chosen]

Re: CAS Final Showdown

Should be a big crowd @ Barker(Hornsby) this coming Saturday for decisionmaker in the CAS premiership.
Undefeated Knox Grammar take on Barker College who have had 1 defeat. However as Knox drew with Waverley College earlier in season, Bsarker are only 1 point behind and if they win they can claim premiership.
Knox have a fast mobile pack, containing Mark Johnson(Aust.Schoolboys '08) and Luke Rissman(Aust `A' Schoolboys '08) plus 2 other members of CAS 1st XV. THeir backline has been `twigged' several times this season. Barker apparently have a tradesmanlike team- but they surprisingly lost to Cranbrook last week.
In the 2nds, Knox are undefeated to date- Barker can draw with them if they cause an upset on Saturday.

Very big crowd @ Barker on Saturday for the CAS showdown.
In the 2nds the Ref allowed the Barker centres to live offside for much of the game which nulified the usual Knox wingers' try-fest. To their credit Knox switched tactics and played the game through their mobile pack, No 8 Blake Matich scored first off a good burst. Ten minutes later Ed Craig steered the Knox rolling maul over the line tro score again. Tom Matthews kicked a great conversion for Knox to win 14-6.

In the 1sts Knox were initially contained by 2 penalty goals from Kruger and his booming line kicks kept Knox on the defence. Notwithstranding this the Knox pack appeared to be wearing Barker down and a brilliant passing switch between Johnson and Rissman led to the first try.Knox missed the easy conversion and trailed 5-6 at half-time.
Knbox forwards took over in 2nd half and mostr opf game played in Barker half. Their outstanding flanker, Goodman was well contained- indeed he received 2 warnings for entering from the side. Zylstra,returning from injury scored the 2nd try and just after Marke Johnson standing wide benefitted from quick ball to score, which Zylstra converted.

The winning of CAS premierships in both 1sts & 2nds had not occured for Knox since 1995. It said much for the decision to have same coaching panel for both teams and treat them as an Open Squad.Depth in Opens created pressure to perform- at least 8/9 of the 2nds would have been 1st XV at other Schools.

 

[spectator]

I heard the other day that the young lock Buchanan who recently made Aussie schools is 6'9"!! If that's true, that is raw material worth hanging on to and developing.

 

[Lee Grant]

He is certainly a tall unit, but more than that, has lovely soft Eales hands in the lineout and is no shrinking violet in the contests either.

As we know: his father, ex-Oz cricket coach John Buchanan, does not have a Charles Atlas build and young Nick will have to put on a bit of weight to dodge the genetic bullet. I hope that he is able to do so.

 

[RugbyReg]

and his big bro was a fairly decent rugby player - Oz Schoolboy

 

[spectator]

LG,

I've heard you make mention of Phil Waugh's excellent 97 team a few times. Out of interest who was in the team?

Done a bit of ferreting around and for those who are interested the 97 schoolboy side that played NZ were:

Phil Waugh, George Smith, Ryan Cross, Craig Wing, Michael Hercus, David Lyons, Steve Kefu, Sam Harris, Andrew Farley, Alister Campbell, Jono West, Adam Mitchell, Dash Swift, Andrew Christie, Will Gordon, Phil Rogers, David Palavi, Scott Stumbles, Tui Talaia, Ben Wakely, Cameron Northcott and Adam Freier.

14 NSW, 5 Qld, 2 ACT and 1 SA. Captain was Waugh and v/c Hercus.

Quite a number of familiar names there.

Couple of others,including Rudi Vedelago, played in a losing game against England earlier in the year.

 

[the gambler]

Great job Spectator.

Dash Swift - He was a prop wasnt he??

 

[spectator]

Not sure about Swift, Gambler, does anyone else know?

Pretty impressive yeargroup though. By my count 6 Wallabies, 2 Kangaroo's and a Septic rep.

 

[Lindommer]

Seven Wallabies. Al Campbell has played one test.

 

[Ash]

Not sure about Swift, Gambler, does anyone else know?

Pretty impressive yeargroup though. By my count 6 Wallabies, 2 Kangaroo's and a Septic rep.

I only count one Kangaroo - Craig Wing. Who's the other?

 

[Lindommer]

Cameron Northcott: anyone know anything about this bloke?

 

[Ash]

Cameron Northcott: anyone know anything about this bloke?

Was playing centre for Souths in Brisbane...?

Let's see what google tells me - he was also a fringe Reds player a few years back:
http://www.scrum.com/2444_36843.php
Jeez, that Qld side would've gotten a pasting from the JABs.

And it seems he also played briefly in the QRL comp as well for the Jets.

<edit> still can't see the second Kangaroo - I am sure Wing was the only one. Although, West, Harris and Palavi went on to play a few Super 14 games. I vaguely recall Ben Wakely (a number 9?) being thereabout as well?

 

[spectator]

For some reason I though Cross had been a Kangaroo, but maybe he only ever made it as far as Junior Kangaroo? At any rate he did play State of Origin didn't he, which is arguably of a higher standard than Test League.

 

[the gambler]

I said Dash Swift was a prop purely on his name. Sorry left out the :lmao:

You dont get many better names than that.

I am pretty sure Cross never made it to Origin level either. Guess a quick google search would fix that but pretty sure injury stopped him every time he got close.

 

[barbarian]

I said Dash Swift was a prop purely on his name. Sorry left out the :lmao:

You dont get many better names than that.

He was a prop. Half decent player in a good Shore side- their best ever rep year with three in the Aus side. Didn't get much game time in gold IIRC.

So, gambler, well played.

 

[Cutter]

I said Dash Swift was a prop purely on his name. Sorry left out the :lmao:

You dont get many better names than that.

He was a prop. Half decent player in a good Shore side- their best ever rep year with three in the Aus side. Didn't get much game time in gold IIRC.

So, gambler, well played.

He also played prop (and maybe hooker?) for Norths. The odd bit of 1sts I think.

 

[the gambler]

Yeah now you say that I do remember him. Thought it was more than just the name.

 

[Ash]

For some reason I though Cross had been a Kangaroo, but maybe he only ever made it as far as Junior Kangaroo? At any rate he did play State of Origin didn't he, which is arguably of a higher standard than Test League.

Negative - the Gambler is right, I think, that injurt kept him out while young. Towards the end of his league career, though, he simply wasn't good enough as there were oodles of better centres...Gasnier, Cooper, Tahu, Lyon, to name a few. He did play for City, though, I think, which is as close as he got for senior league rep sides.