Knox overcame a slow start to claim a 49-24 victory over Cranbrook and begin their 2022 CAS campaign in style. 

Cam Blade’s side trailed 19-17 at the half time break, but found their best in the second half and scored seven tries in the opening round win. 

“In the end I was happy with our performance,” Blades told Rugby News. 

“Early in the game we were pretty poor defensively, particularly in our own 22. We just weren’t connected enough and we let in some pretty soft tries in the first half. 

“After the break, we tightened things up in defence and started to play the game in the right areas of the field. Our game management was must better in the second half.” 

Sam Bourgeois, Jarrah McLeod and Alex Sherlock all claimed doubles for the home side, while Harrison Miller also crossed in the 25-point victory. 

“Our attack was pretty consistent all day. We’ve got the ability to score tight tries through our forwards, or we can swing the ball and score out wide,” Blades said. 

“Cranbrook are a good team. When we didn’t put enough pressure on them, they showed they can attack and they’ve got some classy players with good footwork. When we weren’t connected in defence, they caused us quite a few headaches but fortunately we were able to fix that in the second half.”

In other round one results, Barker beat Trinity 37-12 and Waverley defeated Aloys 48-13.

“From the results through the trials, all the schools have been a bit up and down so I think that suggests it’s going to be a pretty even competition. With such a short season, every match is going to be really important.”

Knox host Waverley in a potentially season defining round two clash after the June long weekend and Blades said his side was excited for the challenge. 

“If you keep winning, then you keep the competition in your control and we have a chance to do that against Waverley in our next match. 

“They’re a quality opposition and we’ll need to be on our game to get the result that we are after.”