Northern Suburbs 27-18 Warringah

Norths trailed Warringah for over 60 minutes on Saturday but fired late in the match to claim a nine point victory and gain some revenge for last year’s grand final defeat.

Two tries to winger Richie Woolf proved the difference. His second try came against the run of play from a mid field bomb and swung momentum in the home side’s favour.

Norths’ recruit Angelo Leaupepe won’t be looking forward to training on Tuesday. He looked to have scored the match sealing try late in the game, but started his celebrations before he put the ball down and was belted into touch by Dave Feltscheer. It’s a debut his teammates are unlikely to let him forget.

Randwick 48-5 Gordon

Owen Finegan’s reign at Coogee began in style on Saturday as the Galloping Greens ran in seven tries to claim a comfortable 48-5 bonus point win over Gordon.

While Andrew Kellaway started at fullback, his twin brother Nick did most of the damage, crossing for two of the Randwick forward pack’s four tries.

Gordon coach Mark Philp implemented new defensive structures at Chatswood over summer and it seems the Highlanders still have a little work to do on that front.

Southern Districts 62-7 Penrith

Southern Districts opened their 2018 campaign with a comfortable victory over Penrith at Forshaw.

No.8 Marcus Carbone and flanker Alex Perez both claimed doubles as the Rebels ran in 10 tries. New recruit Christian Kagiassis also scored 17 points in his first match in Souths’ colours.

While Penrith’s lower grade sides struggled and numbers weren’t great, the Emu’s first grade outfit showed plenty of fight and the club’s third colts side also recorded a win over the Rebels.

Eastern Suburbs 15-12 West Harbour

12 months later than they originally planned, Easts finally played their first match on a new artificial surface at Woollahra Oval and even dragged PM Malcolm Turnbull down to have a look.

Easts scored on either side of the half time break to jump away to a 15-0 lead, even after Mack Mason found a way to get charged down from in front of the posts.

Wests hit back through Graham Kolomalu with fifteen minutes remaining and looked to be building momentum. But Easts were able to hold strong, something they struggled to do last season, and claimed a 15-12 victory after a late Pirates’ try to Jack Sullivan.

Sydney Uni 36-12 Parramatta

Sydney Uni began life without Tim Davidson and Tom Carter at University Oval on Saturday and seemed to manage okay without the club stalwarts, scoring six tries in a comfortable 36-12 bonus point win.

Nick Phipps bagged a hat trick in his return from injury as the Students scored 36 unanswered points to seal the win.

Parramatta scored two late tries but they were little more than consolation as the Two Blues were left to pay for two yellow cards earlier in the match.

Manly 32-13 Eastwood

Boosted by the recruitment of former Australian Sevens giant Pama Fou, Eastwood started well against Manly and led 13-7 after tries to Mick Snowden and Fabian Goodall.

But it was another relatively new face who stole the show at TG Millner. With Sam Lane in South Africa with the Stormers, South African playmaker Nick Holton took his chance in the top grade and helped the Marlins score 25 unanswered points and 19 on his own.

Holton’s two tries and Manly’s fitness seemed to be the difference, allowing the Marlins to take an important five points home from TG Millner.

Photo: Karen Watson