Wins for under 16s, looking back on Armidale

Yesterday, the 16 Boys won 50-12 against Bishop's Druitts and the girls won the A team netball too, the Bs losing narrowly toi their A team. The party is all together again now, and off to Brisbane. Menwhile, George Bilclough writes...

After the disappointing cancellation of the midweek match, the first team ended up with almost a week’s respite before their encounter with Shore School. The second team narrowly lost to Central Coast Grammar School, with gutsy performances from Matthew Haigh at hooker and re-christened Dale (formerly Sandy Robson) at scrum-half, with the latter rewarded with the prestigious man-of-the-match award. The match was blighted somewhat by the injury to stalwart centre Chris Lambert, who was sent to hospital with a severe concussion and suspected spinal damage. Several probings later, Chris was fortunately deemed healthy, much to the delight of the entire touring party; not to mention worried friends and family back home.

In the absence of any fixtures, Sydney proved itself to be a highly enjoyable city: however, Saturday came along and it was time to crack on with the proverbial business. Having watched the second team succumb manfully to the might of Shore School’s fourth team, the first team knew that their encounter with the opposition’s equivalent was going to be a taxing one.

The opening two tackles, both on senior players, confirmed such suspicions, as messrs Peacock and Pearston were sent sprawling respectively, heroically – and quite unbelievably – retaining possession. First blood went to Shore, with a try coming courtesy of uncharacteristically poor defense in the backline. However, keen to maintain the status quo to some extent, the RGS struck back through a try from Dave Watchorn (C), thanks to an innovatively taken penalty from Andrew Peacock (VC). To say that the team’s kicker, yours truly, failed to add the extras is something of an understatement, the corner flag unfortunately not the intended target. The remainder of the half passed in a similar grain, with Shore regrettably extending their lead slightly further, leaving the score at 14-5 in their favour at the interval, though with RGS morale still high. 

As I feel that I am spending too long on this entry, fortunately there is little more to say about the game, other than that numerous errors later, the RGS side stoically conceded a hefty defeat. The final score at 41-10, only superb runs from Pearston (SP) on the left wing and a try from Stephenson on the right wing managed to salvage some pride.

Armidale. A place lost in the outback and the middle of the 18^th Century. A perfect place for some tour fun as we found ourselves staying in a school classroom; such close quarters helping with insulation as temperatures plummeted in the evening. The first team won, tries from Carding, Guy, Lowes and Pearston sealing a 22-12 victory for the lads. The second team lamentably did not have such success, losing narrowly 14-12, perhaps due to the loss of Dale and captain Furness, both promoted to the first team for their inaugural tour caps.