by Paul Cook –

As the inaugural Buildcorp NRC competition reaches the end of it’s opening month, three sides – Queensland Country, North Harbour Rays and Sydney Stars – are still to register their opening win. Granted, all three have also been the trio of teams to have had the bye thus far and have played a game less as a result, but in what is only an eight match regular season, you can’t afford to drop too many if you harbour realistic hopes of finals football.

While the Sydney Stars travel up the Parramatta Road to Pirtek Stadium this afternoon for a chance to open their account against the Greater Sydney Rams, one of Queensland Country or North Harbour Rays are guaranteed to break their drought (an unlikely draw permitting), as they face each other on the Gold Coast this evening in a contest that also serves as a curtain raiser for the Wallabies clash against Argentina.

An impressive showing from the Rays in round one against Melbourne Rising, considering their lack of preparation time and the fact that they were facing a Rising side that has since proven to be the pacesetters of the competition, offered plenty of positivity for the weeks ahead. Despite eventually going down 55-34, their ability to score points was an immediate tick on the to-do list, while their defence would only improve over time as combinations and further training sessions combined to stiffen up the rear guard.

After a much needed bye week, they took on another high-flying side in the NSW Country Eagles at a rain soaked Brookvale Oval nine days ago. But despite leading 21-16 five minutes into the second half, the Rays ran out of gas as individual errors allowed the Eagles to come home with a very wet sail indeed to take the spoils 33-21 and leave head coach Geoff Townsend scratching his head.

“Our defence was good and we defended for long periods of time but they scored three tries from our mistakes and one from a high kick, it’s frustrating,” he told Rugby News.

“They had a lot of the ball, particularly in the first half and it was frustrating that when we did get our hands on it, we played too much in our own half instead of playing field position,” he continued. “Good teams punish you and they were a good team, they capitalised on our errors and full credit to them.”

Given the extra work and time the squad had been through together, Townsend was disappointed that a side with so many attacking weapons had seemingly taken a step backwards in terms of their points scoring threat.

“I’d like to think we can get our backline combination a bit sharper, it was much better in Melbourne,” he reflected. “We created a few opportunities but there were times where our decision making was poor in the backline and the bounce of the ball seemed to go their way a couple of times as well but that’s footy.”

Dave Feltscheer moves to fullback after his impressive try against the Eagles last week
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

Townsend has tweaked his roster for this evening’s clash with Queensland, try scorer Dave Feltscheer switching to fullback while Cam Crawford goes back to the wing spot he occupied in round one. Sireli Tagicakibau replaces Harry Jones on the other wing while Matt Lucas gets the nod at half-back over Josh Holmes.

Up front, the experienced Dane Maraki gets a start at loosehead as the impressive Mitch Lewis gets a bit of a rest on the bench while the Rays can also call on the services of former Western Force flyhalf Scott Daruda amongst their replacements.

Despite the early losses, Townsend remains upbeat about the Rays ability to turn things around. “I’m enjoying it, it’s a challenge every week and we’ve got to make sure we get them up for this one. We’ve just got to right a few errors and keep at it.”

The Queenslanders will be boosted by the inclusion of Wallaby and Reds hooker, Saia Fainga’a, who joins twin brother Anthony in the Country jersey for the first time after recovering from injury.

He is one of six changes to the starting XV made by head coach Steve Meehan, as Country look to kickstart their campaign with a win in front of their own supporters. Most intriguing perhaps, is his decision to go with 17-year-old Campbell Magnay at outside centre.

“Providing Campbell with his first start will give him an opportunity to show us his skill set and to see how he combines with an experienced Super Rugby and Test level centre in Anthony Fainga’a,” Meehan said when the team was announced.

“Campbell has been impressive playing both inside and outside centre for GPS Premier Colts throughout 2014 and his approach to the Country program has been excellent. The NRC is about developing Australia’s up and coming talent and Campbell’s inclusion in our team this week at just 17-years-of-age is a great example of what the NRC is aiming to achieve.”

Meehan was understandably happy to see somebody of Saia Fainga’as’ stature coming into a side with such an an emphasis on youth. “I’m also pleased to have the services of Saia heading into Saturday’s game. He is a seasoned campaigner with over 100 Super Rugby Caps and plenty of Test experience so he will bolster our front row which has already been performing well,” he said.

Running out in front of a test crowd will be a terrific experience for both sides and gives another little taste of the big time to those players with higher aspirations. Meehan agrees.

“The match will be a special occasion for many of the players within the Queensland Country squad as it will be their first chance to play at a venue like Cbus Super Stadium,” he said.

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Bond University Queensland Country vs Macquarie University North Harbour Rays at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast. KO 5:05pm (AEST).

Bond University Queensland Country: 1. Fred Burke; 2. Saia Fainga’a; 3. Greg Holmes; 4. Dan Gorman; 5. Rubin Fuimaono; 6. James Turner; 7. Beau Robinson; 8. Ben Adams; 9. Sam Grasso; 10.   Matt Brandon; 11. Todd Winkley; 12. Anthony Fainga’a; 13. Campbell Magnay; 14. Tom Pincus; 15.   Jamie-Jerry Taulagi

Reserves: 16. Ryan Freney; 17. Campbell Wakely; 18. Haydn Hirsimaki; 19. Sam Fattal; 20. Jack de Guingand; 21. James Tuttle; 22.  Sam Johnson; 23. Giles Beveridge

Macquarie University North Harbour Rays: 1. Dane Maraki; 2. Luke Holmes; 3. Tobias Gukibau; 4. Ed Gower; 5. Greg Peterson ©, 6. Michael Wells; 7. Kotoni Ale; 8. Sam Ward; 9. Matt Lucas; 10. Hamish Angus; 11. Sireli Tagicakibau; 12. Tom Matthews; 13. Michael Adams; 14. Cam Crawford; 15. David Feltscheer

Reserves: 16. Dave Porecki; 17. Mitch Lewis; 18. Nick Fraser; 19. Ryan Melrose; 20. Harry Bergelin; 21. Josh Holmes; 22. Brian Sefanaia; 23. Scott Daruda