Rugby Report

St Joseph’s College | Saturday 10 August

It was a “where were you on the day” moment last Saturday.

For the first time since 2006, Shore has come out on top of the GPS Rugby Competition. That year, Head Coach Mr Angus Sinclair was in Year 10 at Shore playing in the 16A’s, dreaming of replicating such success. Most, if not all of the boys, had not been born yet.

It is always a tough Round against St Joseph’s College (SJC), and Saturday was no different. The depth at SJC is there for all to see, as they won a lot more than they lost. Pleasingly, most games were well-fought, and there were not too many lopsided results. One such example was the Fifth XV. Two years ago, we lost by 70 points at this level. On Saturday, the score was 26 – 22 to SJC, and the Shore team was as gallant as any team we have seen in recent years.

Competition Team Report

Third XV

Our Third XV went into Saturday’s clash against Scots as 3rd on their competition table. Scots were 2nd. The venue was Bellevue Hill – deep into enemy territory with no other Shore teams around on the day. What transpired over the next hour was a monumental battle between the two sides – hard-fought rugby played in good spirits and the lead see-sawing several times. Henry Sherington and Fin Shadforth were outstanding, as was Rory Cope in stealing turnovers (Mr Reliable). A 15 – 14 result to Shore sees the team take 2nd position and face Grammar First XV for a winner-takes-all final match of the season on Northbridge A Ground at 11am.

Come and support the Thirds on their quest for a Premiership tomorrow. Since this competition changed in 2012 to include various First XV’s, Shore has never won. It’s time.

Northbridge – Saturday 10 August

The scene was set for a massive day. Nerves were in the air as two First XV players forgot to bring their playing shorts. A massive crowd was building, the Canteen was humming, and the Old Boys started to arrive back to their beloved Bridge.

The Second XV took the field and had the worst start possible, with a try scored against them on the kick-off. True to their character, they fought back, and a wonderfully worked try to Anderton Stock had the boys back. A penalty goal put Shore further ahead, but a try just before half-time to Joeys made it 10 – 10 at the break. Unfortunately, the second half went the way of St Joseph’s College, and we were unable to capitalise on the opportunities that came our way.

The First XV took to the field at 3.15pm in the sunshine and with great intent. Right from the kick-off, Ethan Hamilton set the tone with a big hit and from there, the offensive tackles from Shore flowed. St Joseph’s sought to break through Shore in the middle but were forced back at each turn. A scrum to Shore after some early pressure saw a well-worked backline moved, with Jai Callaghan putting Charlie Francis for the first try of the day. The Forbes Ferrari was in gear. A penalty goal to St Joseph’s took the score to 5 – 3. Shore then lifted a gear and had an excellent 5-minute stanza of play. Marshall Le Maitre scored after an excellent lineout move in front of the Shore Old Boys. 10 – 3. From the next kick-off, a break was made, and James Warner channeled the Olympics and sprinted the length of the field to pin St Joseph’s into the corner. He then threw the lineout, worked the back of the maul and then crashed over. Shore was firing at 17 – 3. However, as is the St Joseph’s way, they fought back with a try on half-time and made the break 17 – 10.

Starting well in the second-half would be key, and 6 minutes into it, Rex Bassingthwaighte produced a superb 50/22 to take the game into the St Joseph’s corner. From that came another strong lineout, maul and then a second try to James Warner. Henry Conick added the extras. More pressure from Shore in the next bracket of playing saw some good momentum from the forward pack and Bede Clout crashing over from a pick and go. Two more points from Henry, and the score was 31 – 10.

However, St Joseph’s fought back and scored in the corner 31 – 17. Counterpunch by Shore and Ollie Mackellar goes in the opposite corner. 36 – 17. Dare to dream? Time running out, St Joseph’s in again to make it 36 – 24. The Old Boys were getting nervous, but the players on the field kept a cool head and controlled the game to keep the score as it was. Victory to Shore.

The rest of the afternoon was enjoyed by everyone with blue and white in their veins, and as enjoyable as the victory was, it was good to see the teams pay each other respect and spend time with each other after the game.

We cannot say thank you enough to all of the Shore boys, staff, parents and Old Boys who came to the Hawker Stand and the surrounds of A Ground. It was amazing to see so many boys supporting their School. Hundreds of boys from other sports coming together as one highlighted one of the unique strengths of our School. We support each other no matter what. Rain, hail or shine – win, lose or draw. Performing Arts, Sports, Academics or Cadets – we all represent Shore and aim to leave our School in a better place than when we started.

There is one more hill to climb and that is against Scots this weekend. Come and support Shore and send our Year 12 boys off in style.

I don’t often quote David Goggins, but I do like this one – “We didn’t come this far, to only come this far”. No matter what on Saturday, let’s try to climb one more mountain – and do it together as Shore boys.

Go Shore!

Mr D Mason-Jones
MIC Rugby

Individual Team of the Week: First XV

Forwards	Backs
Will Lo Russo (Fourths)	Will Lacroix (15D)
James Warner (Firsts)	Tully Robertson (16A)
Lucas Madsen (14D)	Orlando Stewart (13A)
Ethan Hamilton (Firsts)	Tom Whatley (16D)
Anderton Stock (Seconds)	Scott Robson (15C)
Henry Sherington (Thirds)	Harry Ferguson (14A)
Dom Jarrett (Thirds)	Harvey Cairns (13B)
Angus Reardon (Seconds)