Aloys v TGS - short & uncomprehensive report
Aloys hosted Trinity on a perfect day for rugby. Overcast, cool but not cold and nary a breath of wind.
Aloys scored early, with their skipper Matthew Dainton (10) selling the dummy and going through a huge gap to score under the posts. Following a scuffle after the try, both the open side flankers received red cards.
Despite each team being reduced to 14 players, it remained a tight affair. Trinity looked well on top, with better drive through the forwards and, in contrast to rounds 1 and 2, more preparedness to throw it wide and involve their backline, but tenacious Aloys defence and simple handling errors robbed momentum. However, eventually the wight of possession overcame Aloys and Joshua Weston (11) held onto a pass that was behind him and over his head and went over out wide.
7-5 to Aloys at half-time.
Despite the low score, Trinity looked the better side and likely to run over Aloys and that happened in the second half, as the dominant forward pack made meters and Aloys were incapable of containing a Trinity back line enjoying fast ball, with Trinity running in seven second half tries.
Jordan Morris (12) ran riot, scoring himself and setting up an outstanding try for Byron Hollingworth-Dessent (14), after Morris broke from inside his 22, stormed up over halfway and then grubber kicked for his winger, who has winged feet.
Trinity's hard running and tackling prop, James Wayland (1) had a huge work rate in attack and defense, making excellent meters with every carry and scored two tries himself, before being rewarded with an early shower once the game was in the bag. Impressively, Wayland showcased another dimension to his game, being an astute passing game. Several times Wayland took the ball to the line and found an outside or inside runner, often Liam Rasch (6) or Sipu Titavake (8), who are themselves excellent ball runners.
Ryan Longville (15) was also un-containable, his improbable footwork routinely bamboozling would be defenders, so that his kick returns put Trinity back on front-foot attack.
Aloys were plucky in the first half, but they came up against a Trinity team that for the first time this season put all the pieces together. Their powerful ball runners worked as a team, with passes and pop balls rather than just one out running, the halves moved the ball wide quickly and with purpose and that gave the very fast back line room to move.
For Waverley, Dainton (10) was always a threat (although he was injured and went off during the second half), and Todd Gillman (2) deserves enormous credit. Despite a scrum that was always being backwards, he nevertheless continued to cleanly strike and deliver the ball back quickly. Those who've been there will understand what bravery and commitmentthat takes when your scrum is being pushed backwards.
For Trinity, it was the usual suspects. Wayland (1) was devastating with ball in hand and also revealed an ability to pick out runner before contact, as well as to offload in the tackle, Morris (12) made plenty of line breaks and was hard in defense, Rasch (6) and Tuitavake (8) were a powerful presence and Longville (15) is consistently one of the best players on the paddock.
It was good to see Trinity click in the second half. Had they performed like that last week, holding the ball and letting their backline have it more often, they would have given Waverley a run for their money.
Next week will be a big game, with Trinity hosting the Knox juggernaut, which will be an entirely different challenge. Trinity will be keen to build on this performance, which was outstanding in the second half, but will know they still need to eliminate the handling errors that held them back in the first half. They have a platform to go forward from, but will know that they might come back to reality quickly against the consistent, disciplined and skillful Knox team.
