by Paul Cook –

Last weekend’s weather affected round 12 meant a week’s hiatus for Southern Districts, while Eastwood were forced to toil in the wind and rain to earn an impressive comeback win over Sydney University. Just who would benefit most from their differing circumstances lent an even more intriguing air to a fixture that has become one of the more definitive Shute Shield rivalries in recent seasons.

A couple of early penalties had the visitors on the backfoot and when a rolling maul got the Rebels inside the Eastwood 22, they went hard and fast for the jugular, Chris Nay darting his way close before the elusive Dewet Roos threw a textbook dummy to snipe his way home after only three minutes.

A kick out on the full from Johnathan Malo soon had the home side back on the charge, and a couple of quick phases later they were under the posts through a rampaging Rahboni Vosayaco. However, referee Richard Goswell called play back for his own unintentional impediment of Rob Lagudi’s potential tackle, but at the speed at which Vosayaco was travelling, it would have taken some effort to stop him.

Souths should have had a legitimate second on 14 minutes when Mitch Walton snaked through an Eastwood line in disarray to orchestrate an overlap. But fullback Malo did superbly to shut down the open field, and when Walton fed Rohan Saifoloi on an unders line instead of Ben Connolly out wide, the cavalry had time to arrive, slow down the recycle and cruel the opportunity.

A terrific tackle from centre Michael McDougall a minute later stopped Walton from crossing the chalk himself. But something had to give, and when the Woodies failed to exit from their own put-in at the next scrum, and a loose carry from Blake Sutton was punished by Brendan Paenga-Amosa’s turnover, the alert Roos and Saifoloi combined to give flanker-turned-winger Luke Smart the time and space to gallop home for his seventh try of the season.

Saifoloi’s missed conversion kept the score at 12-0 in favour of the Shire-men, but they were very much the team in control, the Woodies struggling to put together any periods of possession or territory.

It was actually a Souths error that got them inside the opposition red zone for the first time, Luke Smart’s clearing kick to the sideline coming after the ball had been taken back inside the 22. Once there, the visitors pack went to work, one driving maul earning a penalty, a second seeing them rumble forward only to be held up over the line. Four scrums and an infringement right in front of the posts later from the Rebels, and skipper Jai Ayoub decided to get his side on the board with a gift 3pts.

Souths went straight on the offensive from the restart and having again worked an overlap on Smart’s flank, fullback Nay may have been better served drawing his man and putting his in-form wingman away rather than going himself and stepping back into traffic. But the real coach-killer came a minute later, Walton and Saifoloi switching play for the powerful Connolly to swat aside McDougall and cross in the corner, only for the recently returned winger to spill the pill as he grounded under pressure from Sutton.

The first half petered out into a succession of mostly collapsed scrums, Eastwood holding fort in Souths’ 22 as the penalty count crept up on the hosts. But the reigning Premiers couldn’t find the necessary execution when it mattered, poor handling and the scrambling efforts of the Rebels defence combining to keep them tryless in the opening stanza, and there hasn’t been many occasions in the last few years that you could say that about a side that has contested four, and won three, of the last five Shute Shield grand finals.

Souths returned minus the talents of the effervescent Sean Doyle, the feisty young flanker incurring a pretty horrific finger injury (those with a strong stomach click here) whilst making a trademark lunge at a galloping Ben Shorter in the shadows of half-time. But it was to the unfortunate Shorter that all concern shifted shortly after the restart.

A barnstorming run from Vosayaco, having a whale of a game in his final appearance before heading to Japan to take up a professional contract, saw the Souths no.8 streak over halfway and accelerate towards the Eastwood 22. Which is where he and Shorter met in a seismic collision that left the Woodies winger stricken on the Forshaw turf. After several anxious minutes while the invaluable medical staff did their job, Shorter was duly stretchered off and onto a waiting ambulance for further assessment. Rugby News wishes him well.

Vosayaco’s fun in the winter sun was brought to an abrupt halt a couple of minutes after play restarted, a lifting tackle on Woodies replacement Tom Hill earning a 10 minute respite on the naughty step.

A terrific rolling maul from the Rebels with just under half an hour remaining, particularly considering they were a man light in the pack, carried them some 25-30 metres towards the line before their progress was halted. But they stayed patient and after a couple of surges from replacement Kieran Black and impressive prop Matt Gibbon kept them knocking at the door, a swift feed from Roos gave Walton the chance to bounce off Sutton and Malo before finding the line.

Safoloi’s kick left the Woodies a long way back at 19-3 but still with plenty of time to turn things around. But again, every time they looked to turn up the heat inside the red zone they coughed up a needless penalty, or were turned over by a Rebels outfit clearly enjoying themselves and revelling in their ascendancy.

It was a turnover that cost Eastwood a fourth try, and essentially, the match. Captain Ayoub was doing his utmost to eke out some kind of pathway back into the contest for his troops, but when he fed replacement Joey Afualo as we headed into the last quarter of the contest, a superb ball-and-all tackle from Alex Perez stripped possession and with the Woodies scattered, one pass was enough to give Ben Connolly a clear run home from halfway to strike the decisive blow.

When a scrum penalty then gave Saifoloi a shot at the posts to take his team four converted tries clear at 29-3, the writing was well and truly on the wall for an Eastwood side whose lack of fluidity and cohesion was in stark contrast to the sterling efforts they had produced in almost unplayable conditions a week earlier.

Encouraged to run it and chance their arm by the coaching think-tank, Woodies flyer Jarome MacKenzie took heed and set off with only one intention. But after he was wrapped up and the visitors went wide, Sam Needs had numbers on his right for a near-certain score before holding on and getting smothered for his trouble. It kind of summed up Eastwood’s afternoon.

Given their efforts to keep their line intact over the previous 76 minutes, the Rebels would no doubt have been furious with the ease at which Eastwood did finally cross the whitewash, Blake Sutton profiting from a pop pass from Ayoub and a misread in defence to stroll over.

But there was still time for the Rebels to have the final say. Taking the scrum option from a last minute penalty, one more dominant shove allowed replacement halfback Waldo Wessels to peel off the back and put the hardworking Angus Ryan over for a deserved five-pointer.

And while the emphatic victory keeps a buoyant Souths on course for a potential top two finish, the Premiers’ troubles on the road continue with a fourth loss away from TG Millner. But if recent history tells us anything about this proud Woodies side, they will be back with a vengeance.

Southern Districts 36 (Dewet Roos, Luke Smart, Mitch Walton, Ben Connolly, Angus Ryan tries; Rohan Safoloi 4 cons, pen) defeated Eastwood 10 (Blake Sutton try; Tom Hill con, Jai Ayoub pen) HT 12-3