Gordon v Eastern Suburbs

After taking plenty of momentum from a strong off season into round one, Gordon failed to fire against Randwick on Saturday and were beaten comprehensively.

“It was a bad day at the office for us, we just didn’t stick to our game plan,” Highlanders coach Mark Philp said.

“Our firsts and seconds train and play the same style of rugby. Seconds executed and had a strong win, firsts didn’t and we saw the result.”

Philp has made three changes to his side for Saturday’s clash against Easts, with Andrew Seton replacing Andrew Chapman at lock and Kim Bateman and Sy Tevita slotting into the Gordon backline.

Eastern Suburbs returned to Woollahra over for the first time in 18 months last weekend and held on to claim a 15-12 win over West Harbour in Pauli Taumoepeau’s first match as head coach.

“We defended really well last week. We knew West Harbour had big ball carriers and that they’d use that to get their momentum going. If we allowed that to happen, they have more than enough sting out wide to capitalise,” Taumoepeau said.

Neither Easts or Gordon have played finals footy in recent years and Taumoepeau admitted both sides probably think Saturday’s match is one they should and need to win.

“They had a tough task at Coogee last week and with this being their first home game of the year, they’ll look to make a day of it.”

West Harbour v Southern Districts

West Harbour made a late charge against Eastern Suburbs in round one, but it came too late in a 15-12 loss to the Beasties at Woollahra Oval.

“It was a real lacklustre performance, which was really disappointing after a strong preseason,” Pirates coach Todd Louden said.

Louden has made two changes to the side that fell just short against Easts, with Albert Tuisue set to start at lock and Dion Spice at No.9.

“We need to be a lot more urgent against a side like Souths and our ball control needs to improve on last week’s effort,” Louden added.

Southern Districts opened their 2018 campaign with a comfortable win over a physical Penrith outfit at Forshaw last week.

“It gave us an opportunity to iron out some of the areas and structures we had been working on in the pre season and during trials,” Rebels coach Matt Barr said.

“The Penrith game was a very physical match and I think that will put us in good stead for this weekend against West Harbour.”

Barr has named an unchanged side for Saturday’s clash at Concord Oval and said defence was the focus for the Rebels this weekend.

“Like Penrith, they’re a big side that carry the ball well across the park so we have to aim up in defence and ensure we control the ball and possession to minimise their opportunities.”

Manly v Northern Suburbs

Both Manly and Norths recorded impressive round one wins over Eastwood and Warringah respectively.

New Marlins flyhalf Nick Holton impressed for his side against the Woodies, scoring 19 individual points, but it was Manly’s fitness and attitude that proved the difference in the second half according to coach Billy Melrose.

“It’s a match up of the top club of the last two years and we will need to step up a gear from last week to compete,” Melrose told Rugby News.

“The challenge for us is whether we can match their contact skills and repel their ability to play with the ball for long periods.”

Shannon Fraser said he was thrilled to get a result in his first match in charge at North Sydney Oval but the former Randwick mentor said he wasn’t overly impressed with the Shoreman’s performance.

“We got away with the result, which was pleasing, but we certainly didn’t perform to the standards we expect of ourselves,” Fraser said.

“I thought we defended well at times, particularly in the later stages of the game and applied enough pressure to force Warringah into errors.”

Despite the opening round win against the defending premiers, Fraser also thinks his side will need to improve.

“Manly are coming off a very good win and looked pretty dangerous with the ball in hand. They’ve got some crafty players in the mid-field and back three, so we are going to have to be more clinical and reduce the amount of unstructured possession we provide them.”

Penrith v Sydney University

After a tough off season, Penrith showed some positive signs in their opening round loss to Southern Districts, but coach Chip Carroll knows his side needs to improve quickly.

“We were under done in the conditioning department but I think we were ultra competitive despite the scoreline,” Carroll said.

While the Emus return home for their round two clash, the task won’t get any easier this weekend when they face Sydney Uni.

“We have to do well in all facets against Uni. They’re usually the benchmark by which most teams are gauged upon,” Carroll continued.

The Students’ depth in 2018 is incredible. Just a few months after playing with the Rams in the NRC, flyhalf Stu Dunbar will line up in third grade for the second straight week.

However coach Rob Taylor said that has more to do with the strong form on some of the younger players at the club.

“We had six debutants on Saturday and two stood out. Lock Ratu Rotasolia and flyhalf Daniel Poletto both looked like very comfortable first graders with their composure and presence,” Taylor said.

Three tries from Nick Phipps helped Uni to a comfortable victory over Parramatta in round one but Taylor said there was still plenty of room for improvement from their opening week performance.

“In general we started well, the set piece was high quality and we launched well. The first half was certainly a pass mark but still had some individual errors.

“Our captain Rohan O’Regan was great, he got through a mountain of work.”

Warringah v Randwick

Warringah weren’t able to replicate their performance from last year’s grand final in a nine point opening round loss to Norths last Saturday.

The Rats led for over 60 minutes in the grand final rematch but weren’t able to put the final nail in the coffin.

“We learnt pretty quickly that 2017 is over and we don’t own the Shute Shield trophy anymore,” Rats coach Darren Coleman said.

“If you don’t control the ball, you can’t build pressure and that cost us. I think we need to be mentally stronger under fatigue, particularly when the game swings.”

Saturday’s clash against Randwick will pit Coleman up against his former Brumbies coaching colleague Owen Finegan.

“Their coaching staff always tinkered on the wrong side of the laws when they played so it will interesting to see what new tricks they’ve imparted,” Coleman joked.

Finegan began his reign at Coogee Oval in style as the Galloping Greens ran in seven tries to beat Gordon 48-5 but the former Wallaby is expecting a far though challenge this weekend.

“Last weekend we had a very strong set piece platform but when we played Warringah in the finals last year, they outmuscled us and our set piece was ordinary,” Finegan said.

Randwick will welcome back scrumhalf Mitch Short for the clash at Rat Park, creating an interesting battle between the young Waratahs No.9 and veteran Josh Holmes at the base of the scrum.

“We need to continue to improve our set piece and get our defensive systems right to ensure the Rats have to earn their points this weekend,” Finegan added.

Parramatta v Eastwood

Parramatta were disappointing against an impressive Sydney Uni side in round one, who controlled the match from the opening whistle.

“I think we started the game expecting to be given time to get into our own tempo and that was a huge error on our behalf. Uni came out firing and we were unable to get into the game and by halftime it was all over,” Two Blues coach Paul Hardwick told Rugby News.

While Hardwick said his side improved towards the end of the match, he said he’s spent the week stressing the importance of 80 minute performances in a competition he thinks is tighter than ever before.

The Two Blues will play Eastwood in their first match at Lidcombe Oval this weekend, their new temporary home while a state of the art facility is built at Merrylands.

“Eastwood are always well drilled and have several players who can lift the tempo when required. At the end of the day though, it’s another chance for us to play one of the benchmark sides and we’re excited by that,” Hardwick said.

Eastwood also failed to play for eighty minutes in round one and were overrun by a fast finishing Manly outfit at TG Miller.

“We were happy with the effort but we turned over too much ball at set piece and in attack and that relieved the pressure, which is something you can’t do against a side like Manly,” assistant coach Ben Batger told Rugby News.

With John Manenti on the Gold Coast coaching the Australian women’s sevens side at the Commonwealth Games, Batger will coach the Woodies this weekend against a Two Blues outfit that beat Eastwood twice last year.

“We haven’t spoken about Parra having the wood on us, pun intended, but we have talked about how they are always up for this match and that every Eastwood v Parra match is tough and a close game regardless of ladder position or who’s playing.

“We have to be up for the challenge and match their energy and their physicality.”

Photo: David Lyon