Knox produced a determined defensive effort to defeat Waverley 33-27 at Wahroonga and remain undefeated after two rounds heading into the representative and school holiday break. 

Cam Blades’ side scored with five minutes remaining to regain the lead then held on in a thrilling finish to claim an important six-point victory. 

“Waverley threw everything at us and that’s exactly what we were expecting. They had a lot of strong ball carriers and played a really physical style,” Blades told Rugby News. 

“We probably let them dominate things in the early parts of the game and they used that to gain some territory and open the scoring. 

“But once our defence clicked into gear, it turned into a really even battle. I thought we were probably the better team, but it really could have gone either way.”

After trailing early, Knox led 19-17 at half time. Waverley scored with 12 minutes remaining to take the lead before Knox scored the deciding five pointer with five minutes on the clock. 

“We handed over possession a few times in those final few minutes and forced ourselves to do it the hard way. Fortunately, we were able to hang on,” Blades said. 

“Everyone I’ve spoken to from both schools commented on the quality of the game, it was a really good spectacle.”

Blades credited his side’s defence and their ability to get over the advantage line late in the match. 

“I think we made something like 170 tackles compared to their 85 tackles, so we did a lot of defending and a lot of work without the ball,” he said. 

“Waverley’s big ball carriers dominated in the opening part of the game, but once our guys started to get over the advantage line in the second half, the game swung in our favour. 

“It was a really determined defensive effort and some good go forward in the second half that probably got us home.”

In other CAS results, Barker claimed a big win over Cranbrook and Trinity were too good for Aloys. 

Knox and Barker will head into the final three rounds undefeated and will need to win their next two matches to set up a decider at Barker in the final round on August 6. 

“It’s a nice feeling to stay undefeated but at the end of the day, this competition is a five game sprint and you typically need to win every match to win the competition,” Blades said. 

“Having watched a little bit of Aloys and Trinity on tape, they both look to be much improved from last year and we’ll need to be on our game to win those two games. 

“If we can do that and everything else falls into place, then there will be a big match at Barker at the end but we have a lot of work to do before we can worry about that.”

Knox had seven players selected in the CAS I team to play GPS I on Tuesday afternoon this week and three players selected in CAS II.