Kiwi schoolboys put boot into Aussies

As I sat back in my seat watching the teams come out on this Friday evening, I couldn’t help but realise that schoolboy rugby is in its peak. A decent crowd of 3,000 was in, but I just felt Ballymore’s presence.

And I really missed the pre-teen days of mine where I would sit back and watch my team, the Queensland Reds, play some quality rugby.

There wasn’t an annoying person advertising the 16th player and going around talking to corporate sponsors for everyone to hear.

The thing I used to remember is my old man sitting down with my brothers and I and he would tell us about the players who I simply thought were just urban legends. Players like Roger Gould and Jules Guerassimoff.

My old man would then just talk to another Queensland supporter where they would relive the days of Australian rugby.

That wasn’t long ago, but I did miss Ballymore, the Queensland home of rugby.

A decent sized crowd was here today to see the Australian Schoolboys play the New Zealand Schoolboys. Let’s just say it wasn’t the crowd that you would expect to see when the Queensland Reds were in their prime.

But I realised that I missed the atmosphere, I missed seeing no empty seats.

I miss those days of Queensland rugby. It’s just a shame that I was in my pre-teens when those days were occurring.

Now back to the rugby.

The game started off with teams trading penalties with an unbelievable kick by the New Zealand number 10 from 60 metres out. A few foul play incidents came, with the referee Damien Mitchelmore having a forgettable night with the whistle failing to achieve justice the Australians way.

A very dangerous shoulder charge with no intention to wrap had the NZ 14 staying on the field, and a dangerous high tackle with attacking opportunity had the crowd and Australia very frustrated, leading to a bit of niggle by both teams.

The scrums in the first half, however, were immaculate with the Australians winning two tight heads and pushing the New Zealand team off the ball.

Full credit to Hugh Roach and his sidekick Paul Alo-Emile, who both had cracking first-halves.

An abrasive ruck approach by Liam Gill had the New Zealand team worried, but all the opportunities that were placed with the Australian team went down the drain.

I was struggling to comprehend why the captain, who had number 6 on his back, was playing as a wing, with both props having a higher work rate than him, which was a little bit disappointing as his strong presence at the break down was missed.

Early in the second half an Australian player was again taken out in the air.

Once again the crowd urged, but again failing to achieve justice, the momentum slipped out of the Australian team, with New Zealand achieving a more attacking style of play.

Finally superstar Chris Feautai was taken out in the air dangerously. Referee Damien Mitchelmore must have realised that this game would be out of his hands until he put a player in the bin, with the New Zealand number 12 taking a walk into the sin bin with a yellow card.

Australia would now have the chance to capitalise to turn the 3 points into 5 pointers. In fact, they were trounced around the park, conceding a try right under the sticks. New Zealand scored again, seemingly pulling the game out of reach.

The game looked out of hand until the last 10 minutes when a Kyle Godwin piece of magic had Feautai scoring in the corner.

The game was a real spectacle, with the visiting side taking the trophy with a 28-24 win.