It was a great day for a high scoring game for our 1st XV on Saturday and that’s exactly what we got with our boys coming out 42-5 winners over our neighbours, Pakuranga College.
The game plan for the day by coach Conal Dempsey was to keep it simple and build a foundation and launch from there.
That’s exactly what the team did in the first few minutes and reaped the rewards with a very special try to open the game.
A well-placed kick into the in-goal area from our first five Joshua McCarthy saw winger Mitchell Mayne scamper through and dive on the ball before the opposition to score his first ever Rugby Union try. A great start for the boys.
The forwards dominated in the 1st half which laid a good foundation for our backline to have good go forward ball and by halftime the team were leading 15 nil.
The coaches’ chat at halftime obviously worked a treat as the boys ran in another 5 tries including a brace to Lotu Finau in the 2nd half.
A number of players performed well, including Patrick Dempsey who threw himself at everything and secured a lot of line out ball. Our loose forwards were very damaging with both the ball in hand and on defence plus our midfield combination of Anthony Nelson and Callen Trethowen broke the advantage line on several occasions.
It was difficult for the coaches to select a player of the day for this week’s game as it was a good all-round team performance but the award was given to Roman Blackwell who worked tirelessly all game.
The Team now head back to the training fields this week to keep improving before they face Sacred Heart College away this coming weekend.
Chris McCarthy, Manager 1st XV and Samara Anubhav
