Chaos at no. 10

The fly-half did what? Unishine and audacity rules.

A wet weekend served up exactly what the Shute Shield does best – tight finishes, big carries, and a game of the round that went right to the death. Sydney Uni finally found their feet under the lights, Manly pulled off a scarcely believable winner, and Norths and Souths served up a proper old-fashioned arm-wrestle. Hunter, stayed true to form at home. Warringah once again, just held on. Round 7 let’s go!

Sydney University v Gordon
Uni def Gordon 30-22

‘Twas a Saturday night under lights, a light sprinkle of rain as we kicked off. Gordon struck first through a powerful burst from Dan Stovold down the wing. Uni hit back through some cheeky interplay down the shortside and Ollie Schmude levelled the scores. Curtis converted. The Students produced their best first half performance of the year, forcing Gordon into multiple kick battles. Curtis extended the lead with three points. Out of nowhere, a Gordon penalty gave Lachie Albert a quick tap opportunity – he sliced through, grubbered between two defenders and slid home, cool as you like. Spinks converted. Halftime.

Gordon had a lineout on their own tryline. Stolen by Uni, they rolled round the corner and a simple inside ball put Leafi Talataina over. Curtis converted. With 20 to play, Harry Snook found a break in what had been an impenetrable Uni defence and raced under the sticks – you could feel the tension in the air. Spinks converted. Uni stayed composed, Curtis slotted three from close range to nudge the lead back out. A dart from Joey Fowler, offload to the ‘social hand grenade’ Declan Moore, and Uni were in again. Curtis converted. Gordon hit back with a Spinks penalty to close the gap to five. Clock in the red, Curtis stepped up from just shy of halfway. Three points. Uni with a much-needed win against a formidable Gordon side. Fulltime.

Eastern Suburbs v Western Sydney
Beasties def Two Blues 29-22

Two Blues struck first with a quintessential try – cheeky kick through, no one at home and Latrell Ah Kiong was in. Iona converted. Beasties hit back, a good carry met soft one-on-one defence and gorgeous George Gibson swan dove under the sticks. Walker converted. Two Blues maintained possession well but eventually gave away a penalty. Iona slotted three. Discipline is always key on a wet day. Fortunately for us, we love our naughty boys – Isaac Te Tamaki sent for repeated infringements. Easts went to their maul and, well, they scored. It is a serious attacking weapon. Archie Gavin the recipient. Still a man down, Easts exploited the numerical advantage and Otto Serfontein raced home. Walker converted. On the stroke of halftime, bad bad Reon (Brown) Lowery flopped over. Naughty boy number two – Lolagi Visinia given a much-needed rest to compound matters. Halftime.

It took almost 20 minutes, but Easts stayed on top. Another rolling maul, another try – Hugo Patterson with the choccies. These wet conditions mean it’s set piece paradise for the forwards and their lineouts. Two Blues showcased their pure grunt in response – a very cheeky fake maul and Ray Niuia went into the corner. You can never fall asleep against the men from the west. With three to play they were back on the hunt, and naughty boy number three was Mr Serfontein for not rolling away – the irony being he could lie down all he wanted from the sideline. Another penalty, quick tap, and Fabian Goodall had ball in hand. Speaking from personal experience, you don’t stop him from three metres out. Reece Suesue converted. Fulltime.

Manly v Eastwood
Marlins def Woods 21-17

Bloody miserable conditions and a notoriously boggy Manly Oval – this was always going to be a tight one. Manly struck first after eight minutes, Dally Bird raced home. Kaye converted. Close-quarter combat is Woods’ go-to at the best of times but considering you needed binoculars to watch this game, there was so much rain, it was no surprise their first points came from a pick and go. Xavier Degei the scorer. Roderick-Evans converted. Territory was the ultimate priority and both teams kept each other scoreless for the remainder of the half. Halftime.

The rain cleared and immediately Woods were over. A dominant scrum from close range and Evan Sheldon walked it over. Roderick-Evans converted. Woods’ scrum was a menace all day, Manly were struggling to win their own ball and an eventual tighthead penalty gave Roderick-Evans three points from the 40-metre line right on the sideline. Not bad son, not bad. With 20 on the clock, Marlins’ resurgence began. The forwards went to work at the maul and Ben Chapman was in. Kaye converted. Seven on the clock and the piggies went to work again. Pick and go after pick and go, the pressure was relentless. Marlins won a penalty. In what can only be described as the most audacious thing you may have seen, Joe Dillon, the fly-half, went for a quick tap from five metres out, threw a huge dummy and somehow bashed his way through Eastwood’s pack to score. These truly are strange times we live in. Kaye converted. Fulltime.

Warringah v Randwick
Rats def Wicks 22-21

Wicks were first to score through a lovely offload from Isi Naisarani to Wyatt Ballenger who raced home inside the first 20 minutes. Hendren converted. A Warringah charge down gave them possession inside Wicks’ half. A strong carry, offload and Byron Smith scored. Smith converted. Strong defence from the Rats forced a turnover and a Warringah lineout gave the backs a good platform to attack, but a slippery ball is a cruel mistress. Scooped up by Matias Jensen and Randwick were in front. Hendren converted. Inside the final 10 minutes, Rats were gifted an easy three points and Smith made no mistake. Immediately Randwick were back knocking on the door – the forwards went to the dark arts and Angus Houston went over. Hendren converted. Halftime.

Much like the first, the second half took a while to get going. Zac Barnabas bagged a try off another maul attack. Naughty boy Mitch Short was sent for a deliberate knockdown and subsequently it was the turning point of the match. Warringah found themselves inside Randwick’s half and the pressure became insurmountable – Jaiden Christian, as he has done so often off the bench, crashed over. Smith converted. Rats were denied a try in the dying minutes. A penalty called, Smith shaped to kick for the line, changed his mind and kicked across the field. The ball was scooped up and dotted down but try denied. Rules dictate you can’t change your mind. Just when you thought you’d seen it all. Fulltime.

Northern Suburbs v Southern Districts
Norths def Rebels 24-21

Finally a game with points straight away. Two minutes in. A Shoremen maul. Siosifa Amone dipped, ducked, dodged, dove and dodged his way over. Matt Ryan converted. It took the majority of the half for the second dot down but Josh Barr crossed from a scrum inside Souths’ 22, one of the easier of his career. Ryan converted. The rain came down and you could feel the fizz growing amongst the forwards. Time to let the demons out. Souths had the ball outside Norths’ line, the big men went to work. I think they covered a total of one metre but length isn’t everything! Isikeli Fukofuka burrowed in with two to play. Struan Hutchison converted. Halftime.

The Rebels have been showcasing all year they are here to play – despite the record, they have taken nearly every team to the wire. After a dominant 20 minutes in the second half, the ball spat out and Lewis Young said thank you very much. Hutchison converted. The game was a Mexican standoff. A Souths scrum gave away possession inside their half and Norths switched the run of play. No one was in the backfield, a kick went through and Shane Wilcox raced home. McIntosh converted. It was always going to go to the end, this one. Play was stopped due to a nasty injury for Blair Tagi-Fuimaono – best wishes from everyone at The Peanut Gallery mate, we hope to see you back in the mixer soon. Back on and Lindsey Stevens went over for Souths. Hutchison converted. In the dying seconds, an utter brain lapse – Souths gave away a penalty kicking the ball away on the floor of the ruck. Right in front and McIntosh took an easy three points. Fulltime. Game of the round.

Hunter v West Harbour
Wildfires def Pirates 29-19

Blue skies on the Central Coast meant we were due a cracker of a game. Five minutes in and Hunter were over. Sau Vaihu bashed his way over from short range. Minutes later, Pirates stole the lineout from Hunter. Sharp catch-pass from the Pirates and Sione Taufui streamed home from 30 out. Afa Moleli converted. Hunter were next to score. A scrum followed by some quick hands from the backs and Isaac Ulberg was in the corner. “No try, knock on” said Dru Tonks and Hunter were back to the drawing board. A bit of scrappy interchange and Pirates found themselves with the ball inside their half. They shifted to the edge and Matt Whelan raced 60 metres to increase West’s lead. Moleli converted. Halftime.

The lights were on and Hunter on the attack. Taufa Kinikini rolled over the line. A loose ball deep inside Hunter’s 22 and Eamon McCoola raced home. With 18 to go, Hunter needed a spark. Barging their way through the defence created space for Sitiveni Vahai on the edge. He bashed his way into the corner and Hunter were back in the fight. Will Wootton converted. With momentum in their favour and 10 to play, Hunter were back attacking Harbour’s tryline. Micah Aish-Gillard broke Pirates’ hearts as he sneaked in next to the sticks. Wootton converted. Hunter weren’t finished yet. With two to play they went to their quintessential tap move, creating space around the ruck and Max Sawers under the pointy things. Fulltime.