Before kick off at Coogee Oval there was a sense of expectation and resignation as the crowd filed through the gates for the National Rugby Championship clash between the NSW Country Eagles and the Greater Sydney Rams.
There was certainly excitement in the ranks to see if the standard of rugby on display would trump the expected running rugby at the Galloping Greens’ home ground. But resignation as the rain pounded down, signifying to even the most optimistic fan that running rugby would be shelved for tactics to master the conditions.
Like all rugby purists I really enjoy a good scrap like we saw in the wet in the first Bledisloe at Homebush. Blood, tears and an atmosphere of desperate battle in the mist as combatants surge in phalanxes to furiously bash each other into submission.
The intriguing back story was how the talent laden Eagles would react in their first ever home game at Coogee and whether this would translate to results on the pitch. Furthermore whether we would see superior combinations supplied by the two premiership finalist clubs in the Eastwood and Southern Districts, making up the majority of the Rams.
The Randwick and Eastern Suburbs faithful turned out in force to support the new hybrid before they toured the country grounds and, despite the rain, the parochial crowd was vocal in its support.
The opening quarter of the match was an intense affair with numerous ball handling errors as the evenly matched forward packs fought for ascendancy.
At halftime the scores were locked at a very curious score of 2-2, yet this did not do justice to the commitment of the teams at the breakdown and willingness to tempt fate out wide in the inhospitable conditions.
The standout at the break was a very composed Eagles fullback, Patrick Dellit of the Western Force. Dellit hit the line from deep on two separate occasions that carried him over half way. His tactical kicking and chasing downfield rattled his opposite numbers and forced errors deep in their quarter.
As the second half began to get underway the rain dried up and there was an immediate response among the players to make use of the respite in conditions.
Making a solid statement in the opening stanza was Dellit. He launched a monstrous bomb deep into his opponent’s half and followed through with surgical timing, hammering Ben Volavola into the deck and forcing a turnover in the mud. Waratahs showed their worth as Kane Douglas carried the ball forward and recycled to a flying Matt Carraro, who scored in left corner.
It was as if Dellit, like a mongrel dog, had just marked his territory and intentions. He began an air assault from his fullback position and lined up his opposite numbers with tackles that could be heard from the newly renovated Palace Hotel wine bar.
The Rams back three looked like lost sheep as Dellit hunted them like a ravenous wolf. Two more tries were scored shortly after Dellit’s tactic of ‘kick it so high it comes down with a space shuttle attached to it and smash the recipient all the way back to Cape Canaveral’ forced turnovers 40 metres out. The second try was beautifully finished off by crowd favourite and Under-20 star Andrew Kellaway.
Proving that he had the Rams by the horns, Dellit executed exactly the same play that yielded a try in the first five minutes in the final five minutes, and even though they knew it was coming he raced up field, smashed the fullback to the roar of the crowd, forced the turnover and saw Apakuki Ma’afu go over in exactly the same spot.
That made 29 unanswered points, all indirectly related to the Patrick Dellit show. Eagles certainly took the opportunity to prove that home ground advantage is not abstract in the NRC.
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The men in blue were trying not to let their opponents get away with niggling tactics.
