THE Northern Inland 15s will head to Bowral this weekend for the final game of their ARU Junior Gold Cup bouyed by another strong second half.
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After conceding 31 points in the first half of their clash against Sydney South Harbour in Armidale on Sunday, the Bushrangers matched the Sydneysiders for tries in the second half.
But the first half had left them with a mountain to climb and they ended going down 43-10.
Still it was a step up on the South Australia game, which, while they won, was probably the worst performance of their campaign.
Knowing what they were coming up against, co-coach Jeff Watt had said leading into the game he wasn’t too worried about the result as long as they played to their shape and structure.
“I was happy with the way the boys stuck to their procedures,” he said.
“We put two tries on them.”
Both were scored in almost identical fashion – quick penalty taps about five metres out, and followed periods of sustained pressure.
The first half they weren’t really able to build any pressure.
Not that they had a lot of ball to operate with.
When they did they tended to turn it over after a few phases, simple errors cruelling them.
Sydney South Harbour were also very good on the ball and made it hard for the Bushrangers to get quick possession.
The other thing that hurt them in the first half was too many missed tackles.
They were much better in the second half at making those first up tackles.
“We held them pretty well covered in the second half,” Watt said.
“We were missing a few one-on-one tackles (in the first half).”
“We were getting there but not being able to execute.”
“The second half we were executing much better.”
They went a lot lower in the second half and were more effective in stopping the big Sydney South West runners.
They also started picking up a few fortuitous penalties.
That came from getting a bit more of the run of the play.
Watt was really pleased with the way they toughed it out, and was particularly happy with Nathan Watts’ performance.
He was shuffled around a bit.
“He played in the second row and on the wing,” he said.
Captain Toby Maslen again led from the front and was in the thick of everything.
“And I thought a couple of our props manned up,” he said.
The Country Eagles Western Province 17s containing Tamworth’s Sam Rooney, Sam Gray and Lochie Urquhart, Narrabri’s Will Morley, Scone’s Sam Laurie and Pirates’ Bo Abra didn’t fare any better in their clash with Met West in Orange on Sunday suffering a hard-fought 24-7 loss, to bow out of finals contention.
With two wins from four starts so far, Western Province looks likely to finish third in their pool, dominated by the undefeated Metro West side.
Western Province plays Southern Province in the last round.
“They’ve done well too, the under-17 side, but they will miss the finals,” NSW Rugby regional development manager Mark DeBrincat said.
“They came up against a really big pack, particularly in the front row, and got outclassed at the set piece a little bit. That’s really where the difference was.”
