Love schoolboy rugby? Click here to read our Complete Guide to the 2023 GPS First XV Season!

Despite falling short against Riverview in the opening round last weekend, Newington first XV coach Tim Rapp is confident his side can bounce back and claim their first win of the season on Saturday against Kings, if they can make the most of their opportunities at Stanmore. 

After trailing early, Newington took an unlikely 14-12 lead to the half time break following an intercept try, but conceded a try and a penalty goal in the second half in the 20-14 loss. 

“Riverview probably got the jump on us early and we had to work hard to stay in the game, then we were probably chasing our tails a little bit for the rest of the match,” Rapp told Rugby News. 

“We did some really good stuff though. We made a bucketload of linebreaks and we beat a lot of defenders but we just couldn’t finish what we started. 

“In hindsight, I think the step up in speed of the game probably caught a few of our younger boys out, but in saying that, they’ll be much better for the experience.”

Rapp was full of praise for Riverview, who scored three tries in the opening round win. 

“They played a really good, smart game and they were very well coached. They’ve got two good young coaches at Riverview and they played to their strengths really well,” Rapp said. 

“I was particularly impressed by their No.7, No.10 and No.13.”

In other round one results, Kings were too good for Shore, while Scots and Joeys played out a thrilling 31-31 draw over the opening weekend of the revised 10-round home and away season. 

“If it was this time last year, we’d probably be panicking a little bit because it was such a short and such a tight competition. This year is a different story though and we spoke about that straight after the match,” Rapp continued. 

“Sure, we’ve dropped one game but the beauty of the two round comp is that we get another chance to play another good team in Kings this week and they’ll present different challenges that our boys will need to try and overcome.”

Kings claimed a dominant 52-28 victory over Shore in round one, but Rapp seemed confident that his side could bounce back at home this weekend. 

“I think our guys will relax quite a bit into round two. Then hopefully we can stick to playing a style of rugby that suits us and that we like to play.

“Kings are another side led by two really good coaches in Hughy Perrett and Jimmy Hilgendorf. 

“They’ll obviously be really strong over the breakdown and they play a good style of attacking rugby. They’ve got a good game controlling flyhalf, some big boys in the forward pack and a No.7 that was really good over the ball last year. He plays quite similar to how Hughy Perrett used to play actually. 

“We’ll look to shift the ball around a bit and move their bigger players around the field, then hopefully execute a bit better than we did last week.”

In the rounds other matches, Riverview host Scots and Joeys travel to play Shore. 

Rapp said while he thought we’d learn more about each team this weekend, he still expected the competition to remain tight right through to the final rounds of the season. 

“In a two round comp, you’re going to get results like the Scots v Joeys draw last week that helps keep the ladder nice and tight. All the sides are going to be a chance every week and there’s really not a standout side at this point of the year.”