NSW 1 win thrilling Australian Schools final
By Henry Jacobs
New South Wales I has defeated Queensland I 22-20 to win the Australian Schools Rugby Championship at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview on Saturday.
Brad Gill’s side survived a second half Queensland comeback and a last minute penalty attempt to triumph in the final.
“Queensland had a very good tournament, they hadn’t let a try in so we knew it was going to be tough,” Gill said.
“In the first half we got the momentum and had the field position and it was a reverse of that in the second half, the boys had to dig deep to get that try at the end and hang on.”
Led by a composed halves pairing of St Ignatius’ Jack McGregor and Oakhill’s Harrison Goddard, NSW capitalised on poor discipline from Queensland to dominate the first half.
Goddard opened the scoring within the first ten minutes, off the back of a rolling maul.
Queensland replied shortly after, with a penalty by Toowoomba Grammar’s Hamish Stewart.
Goddard crossed the line again for