Report

After a lock-down and a second pre-season, we finally had the opportunity to get on the field and play some rugby. With some familiar faces in the side and also some new players making their debut with the club, Southern Districts would be a good test to see how well we had prepared for the season ahead.

We had early ascendancy in the first part of the game, but partly due to our own mistakes and Southern Districts infringing, we didn’t capitalise on the pressure we were applying. We corrected this and it saw Mila crash over from a pass by Josh Noonan, to which Chris Bell easily slotted the conversion from the sideline. We again pressed forward with our backs finding space out wide on numerous occasions and troubling the defence, and we were rewarded with a penalty, and Bell converted to points. Noonan scooted over for a try himself which was converted by Bell. We finished the half with another penalty goal and went into the break leading 20-nil.

The true test of our preparation would be in the second half as we had to defend for long periods as Sth Districts worked into our half due to missed tackles and penalties, but we held firm and stood up for each other with a solid defensive effort for extended periods. It wasn’t until we were down a man due to injury that Sth Districts took advantage and scored out wide. We missed opportunities ourselves due to not being patient with the ball, therefore not building phases and pressure once in the opposition half. Sth Districts scored late but not to be out done, Sam Delores scored out wide on the final whistle to close the game out, which Bell again converted to the dismay of the vocal crowd. It was good to get the first win of the season, along with a lot of positives from the game and also areas to improve heading into next week.

Tries: Mila Hingano, Josh Noonan, Sam Delores Goals: Chris Bell (3 conversion, 2 Penalties)

3 Points – Josh Noonan 2 points – Max Stewart 1 Point – Chris Bell Player’s Player: Chris Bell