Knox defended their line stoically in the final minutes and held on to claim a 35-30 victory over Waverley to set up a CAS ‘decider’ next weekend against Barker. 

A week after falling just short against Barker at Queens Park, Waverley started the better of the two sides and led 17-3 after 15 minutes following tries to winger Josh Ballard and scrumhalf Hugo Schneider. 

Knox hit back and levelled the scores soon after following a pick and go try to prop Harper Strachan and another five pointer from a maul and looked likely to lead at half time when fullback Riley Caswell found space and scored out wide. 

But Waverley kicked two penalty goals late in the first half to take a 23-22 lead to the break and pushed further ahead early in the second half when Schneider threw a lovely ‘Gregan Ball’ near Knox’s line to set up a try for centre Riley Evans. 

Trailing 30-22, Knox kicked a penalty goal to remain within striking distance then turned to their driving maul and scored to lead 32-30 in the 55th minute. 

With both side’s seasons on the line, things tightened up in the final 15 minutes. Knox pushed further ahead with another penalty goal before Waverley moved play deep into Knox territory. 

The visitors attacked near Knox’s line for the final five minutes and looked close to scoring on several occasions. 

But Knox’s goal line defence held strong. 

Waverley had a final chance to level the scores with the final play of the match, in a very similar fashion to last weekend against Barker. 

The visitors spread the ball wide and had a winger unmarked near the touchline. But a flick pass was ruled forward by the referee and Knox held on for a nail biting victory. 

In the round’s other matches, Trinity claimed an impressive 50-33 win over Aloys while Barker extended their unbeaten run in the CAS competition with a 44-7 win over Cranbrook to set up next weekend’s ‘decider’ against Knox. 

The two school’s met in identical circumstances back in 2022, with Barker beating Knox 36-33 in a thrilling ‘decider’ to claim the CAS title. 

Barker host Knox on Saturday afternoon.