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Queensland Premier Rugby: Five things we learned from semi-finals


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The 2018 Queensland Premier Rugby semi-finals saw thousands of players and supporters flock to Ballymore with games played across Saturday and Sunday.

The Premier Grade semi-finals didn’t disappoint, with two tightly contested matches providing fans with a brilliant grassroots Rugby spectacle. Here are five things we learned:

1. UQ go straight through
The minor premiers have secured their place in the 2018 grand final, notching a 24-21 win over GPS in Sunday’s major semi-final.

The students went to work early, with James Dalgleish slotting a penalty in the opening exchanges before scoring the first try of the match in the 19th minute.

Speedster Will Eadie added a further two tries for University, while Dagleish made no mistake with the boot, slotting all three conversions.

Two tries for GPS through fullback Albert Nikoro and Number 8 Mitch King kept the Gallopers in the hunt, trailing 24-14 at the break.

GPS dominated the second half, holding the majority of possession and continually testing the University defence.

Set-piece was where the Gallopers really put on the pressure, with St. George Queensland Reds props JP and Ruan Smith galvanising the GPS scrum.

After relentless attack within the Student’s half, and Alfonso Horomia being held up over the tryline, reserve back Mitch Treleaven eventually crossed for the Gallopers in the 59th minute.

James Tuttle slotted the conversion to take the score 24-21.

GPS were camped on the UQ tryline once again in the dying minutes of the match, but the Red Heavies’ defence weathered the storm and lock Pat Morrey eventually secured the pilfer to end the match with just three-points separating the two-competition heavyweights.

2. Tigers maul the Magpies
Souths’ 2018 campaign has come to an end with close rivals Easts claiming a 25-17 win in the minor semi-final to progress to the preliminary final.

The Magpies headed into the match without regular backline players Teti Tela and Emori Waqavulagi and Easts, spurred on by the results of their third and second-grade sides earlier in the day, were ready to strike.

Former Souths winger turned Tiger Keeghan Sefton claimed the first points of the match, slotting an earlier penalty to put Easts ahead 3-nil.

Souths’ first points didn’t eventuate until the 30th minute, with outside centre Tautalatasi Tasi scoring against the run of play, securing a intercept from 40 metres out to dive under the posts. Quade Cooper slotted the conversion to put the Magpies ahead 7-3.

The Tigers answered straight back, regathering the kick-off before flyhalf Jack Frampton split the Souths defence with sheer pace down the blind-side to put winger Savenaca Totovosau over in the corner.

Sefton missed the conversion leaving the score at 8-7 as the two sides headed into halftime.

A penalty from Cooper early in the second stanza put Souths back in the lead 10-8.

Easts worked their way back into Souths territory and were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts, but the Tigers backed their set-piece and opted for a scrum rather than a kick and scored through fullback Shane Kennedy, with the former Burdekin Cane Toad showing some fancy footwork to cross for only his first try of the season.

Sefton slotted the conversion to take Easts to 15-10 lead.

A further penalty from Sefton put Easts ahead 18-10, before Souths flanker Simana Halaifonua crossed for a converted try in the left corner to narrow the margin to one-point, 18-17.

The crucial moment in the game came in the 67th minute, when Souths were awarded a penalty close to the posts about 15 metres from the Easts line.

Rather than take the three-points and edge ahead, Cooper opted for a cross kick to reserve outside back Jason Hofmeyr.

Hofmeyr regathered the kick, but rolled over the dead ball line before grounding the ball.

The Tigers regathered control of the match, working their way back into Souths territory, and were once again awarded back-to-back penalties inside the red-zone.

Easts continued to back their set-piece, this time opting for the line-out.

Their second attempt at a driving maul saw Richie Asiata dive over for the Tigers third try in the 76th minute, sending the Easts supporters on the ‘The Hill’ into rapture.

The conversion from Sefton took the score out of Souths’ reach, securing the 25-17 win for the Tigers.

3. Throwback to the amateur era
After the Wallabies held their Bledisloe Trial Match on Friday night in Sydney, three players who featured in the green and gold returned to star for the clubs in Sunday’s semi-finals.

University duo Harry Hockings and Adam Korczyk featured off the bench for the Red Heavies, working hard in defence during the second half to hold back the GPS onslaught.

Liam Wright was the third player to make the trek back to Brisbane, he started at blindside flanker for Easts and played a full 80 minutes.

Both Hockings and Korczyk have played in finals series for UQ prior to 2018 but for Wright, who came through the colts system at Easts before being recruited to the Queensland U20s program in 2016, this was his first taste of finals Rugby at Ballymore with the Tigers.

“This club Rugby scene in Queensland is a lot of fun and you could see at the end, with the Easts supporters going wild, that’s what club Rugby is about,” said Wright.

“It was a dark Sunday night but the crowd stuck around, including the Souths guys, making a great atmosphere and it was a lot of fun to come back to club Rugby.

“It was a big challenge, it took a bit of extra effort to get ready for the match and I probably wasn’t expecting 80 minutes, but it’s just one of the things you got to do when the club needs you. I was happy to do it and it was a great result.”

4. Set-piece dominates proceedings
If there is one thing to take from the weekend’s matches, it’s that a dominant set-piece can go a long way in determining the outcome of a match.

University of Queensland have had the benefit of having former Irish international prop Tom Court at loosehead throughout the season, and they’ve been able to build their forward pack around his rock-solid form at the scrum.

This weekend was the first time Court has truly been put under pressure, with the Smith twins, JP and Ruan, adding an extra element of strength to the already impressive GPS pack.

The battle between Ruan and Court at scrum-time is one that even backs would have enjoyed. After 80-minutes of heavy work, 37-year-old Court was spent, but helped his side claim their spot in the grand final.

Much like the first semi-final, set-piece dominance proved key for Easts in their clash against Souths.

Both of the Tigers’ second half tries came from backing their set-piece.

They had the option to kick for the posts, but opted to use their scrum and line-out, resulting in tries to Shane Kennedy and Richie Asiata.

After Asiata scored in the 76th minute, the Tigers didn’t take their foot off the throat, securing another tight-head scrum penalty against the feed in the 79th minute to regain possession in the final minute of play.

Expect a brilliant battle between the Easts and GPS forward packs this Sunday in the preliminary final.

5. Sunnybank continue to dominate Brisbane Women’s Rugby
Ahead of the two Premier Grade semi-finals on Sunday afternoon, Sunnybank and GPS contested the women’s grand final, which saw the Dragons claim their fourth straight title with a dominant 54-5 performance.

In the Gallopers’ first Women’s grand final, they knew they had a hard task ahead of them, backing up from their come-from-behind win over Redlands to face a Sunnybank side who have been undefeated for three seasons.

GPS held the Dragons to an 18-nil scoreline in the first half, despite losing their enforcer Tessa Vaoga to the sin bin.

Vaoga crossed for the Gallopers only try in the second half, but the floodgates opened for Sunnybank as they ran in 36-points.

Sunnybank captain Kirby Sefo, who also captained Queensland in the Super W earlier this year, said: “Our fourth straight title, it’s a massive win for us. We always get nervous heading into the finals, but as it plays out we get a bit more excited.

“We don’t take finals lightly so it was special to get the result on the weekend and we’re grateful.

“I take my hat off to GPS this year. Last year we didn’t even get to play them because they were struggling with numbers.

“They’re building a great culture there now and have more players, every game we’ve played against them this year has been physical. I think they’re doing great things for Women’s Rugby.”

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