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Vikings batter Greater Sydney Rams in NRC

28th August, 2014
10

Canberra dusted off last round’s heartbreaking loss, scoring 29 unanswered points to down the Greater Sydney Rams 37-18 in the National Rugby Championship.

Taking advantage of a torrent of loose balls from the Rams, the star-studded Vikings pack found their cohesion midway through the first half with Brumbies openside Jarrad Butler crashing over twice.

It marks a difficult entry to the inaugural competition for Greater Sydney, left searching for answers for the second week on the trot after failing to score a try against the NSW Country Eagles in the opening round.

The Vikings bounced back after a lass minute loss to Perth.

“We started slow. We needed to build that pressure and get to their half and play some footy,” Vikings captain Fotu Auelua said.

“We pride ourselves on our set piece and we showed we were dominant tonight.”

It was a case of fumbled opportunities for the Rams in the first half, battering the Vikings with repeated phase-play close to their line but only managing two tries from the possession.

The conversions that cost them the game against Perth last week proved less of an issue this round, Jesse Mogg’s two successful attempts edging the Vikings into the break with a 16-10 lead after Les Makin smashed through defenders on the buzzer.

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While the Rams’ ball was repeatedly finding the turf, Mogg’s fumble proved the grandest, sliding away from a loose ball in goal to gift the Rams a 10-0 lead in the 18th minute.

But the Rams had allowed the Vikings to play themselves into the match, Butler crashing over from a well-packed maul to open the second half.

An intercept captain’s try from Jed Holloway was the lone spark of hope for the Rams in a second half that was dominated by the Vikings’ backline.

“We lacked the execution in our attacking zone and we paid for it. They took advantage of our mistakes and it showed on the scoreboard,” Holloway said.

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