Photo: ARU/Karen Watson

Both Queensland sides kept their tournaments alive with important victories on day two of the Australian Schools Championships, while NSW I and ACT both had good wins, setting up an exciting afternoon at Riverview tomorrow.

NSW I 45-5 Combined States

NSW I continued their strong start to the championships with a comprehensive 45-5 victory over Combined States this morning.

The home side dominated from the opening whistle and ran in seven tries including a hat trick to centre Lachlan Ilias and a double to flanker Donny Freeman.

After upsetting QLD II on Monday, Combined States were unable to repeat their opening day performance but crossed for a late try through Knox fullback Michael Pavlakis.

NSW I can secure a spot on Saturday’s final with victory over QLD II tomorrow afternoon.

QLD I 17-3 WA

QLD I opened their account with a scrappy but important 17-3 win over Western Australia.

The Queenslanders had all the possession and territory early, but struggled to crack the WA defensive line in an error riddled first half.

Lock Harry Wilson eventually broke a tackle midway through the first half and offloaded nicely to fellow lock Fred Fewtrell for Queensland’s first try.

After taking a 10-3 lead to the break, Queensland again looked to Wilson in the second half and the big forward delivered, putting Joseph Faulalo in space to seal a crucial 17-3 win for the young Reds.

QLD II 32-17 Victoria

Queensland II have also got their tournament back on track with a 32-17 win over Victoria.

With both sides looking for their first victory of the week, Queensland overcame a seven point deficit and a scrappy start and scored two impressive tries, including one brilliant 95 metre effort, to take a 10-7 lead to the break.

Alex Gow scored out wide to put his side further ahead early in the second half but Victorian centre Paul Faoagali quickly hit back and broke a handful of tackles to score an impressive try.

With their tournament on the line, the Queenslanders lifted a gear in the second half and crossed for their fourth try from close range but once again Victoria had an answer. A quick tap from flyhalf Angus Edwards led to a Harry Ma’o and reduced the gap to five points.

But in his third Australian Schools Championships, Queensland halfback Josh Vetu had the final say, scoring 10 late points from the bench to seal a 32-17 win for QLD II.

QLD II must now beat NSW I tomorrow afternoon and hope results go their way to book a spot in Saturday’s final.

ACT 31-29 NSW II

ACT have scored 19 unanswered points thanks to some brilliance from fullback Brendan Jimenez to claim a 31-29 victory over NSW II

ACT dominated possession and territory for most of the first half and kept the scoreboard ticking over through flyhalf Will Goddard and four penalty goals.

But NSW were able to capitalise on the few opportunities they had and scored two simple tries from close range, before adding a penalty goal to take a 15-12 lead to the break.

The home side got the upper hand early in the second half and crossed twice through Tom Yasmin and Hunter Ward to take a 29-12 lead, but ACT hit back with 10 minutes remaining as fullback Brendan Jimenez split the NSW defence to score under the posts.

Jimenez did it all himself again just moments later, showing fantastic speed and footwork to score and reduce the deficit to just  three points. The fullback then found open space again in the 55th minute and beat a number of defenders before kicking perfectly for his winger Peteu Lefau in the corner to give the visitors an unlikely two point victory.