Matt Lucas is one of two Super Rugby-quality halfbacks at Rays coach Geoff Townsend’s disposal
Photo: QRU / Holly Hope Photography

by Brendan Bradford –

No one likes starting on the bench, but with the National Rugby Championship’s rule variations ensuring a faster game with the ball in play for a significantly longer period of time, there’s a chance to change that way of thinking.

With two Super Rugby-quality halfbacks to choose from in Matt Lucas and Josh Holmes, that’s the way North Harbour Rays coach, Geoff Townsend views it.

“We don’t have a number one halfback, we have two number one halfbacks – one’s the starter and I suppose one’s the closer for any particular game, that’s how we’re looking at it,” Townsend told Rugby News.

“The ball is in play for at least eight minutes more so you’re playing a lot more footy and in some sense, you’ve got your starters and your closers. It’s almost like baseball where you’ve got certain players who might thrive in that more open environment in the last 30 minutes of games.”

The Rays play a high-tempo style of rugby, along the lines of Warringah in the Shute Shield, and although they lost their opening two fixtures to the Rising and NSW Country respectively, their speed saw them take slim leads into the final quarter of each match. Mistakes and fatigue were key in each loss and judicious use of the bench has become even more paramount considering the ball is in play for up to ten percent longer, says Townsend.

Josh Holmes played the ‘closer’ to Matt Lucas
in the Rays’ win over Queensland Country
on Saturday
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

“In the last 30 minutes of games sometimes 30 to 40 percent of the points are being scored so if you manipulate your bench well, you might get some pay out of that,” he said.

“You find your big guys get fatigued earlier so you might be able to target people and you’ll spot players caught in areas they’re not used to, like locks out wide. Melbourne are doing that quite well at the moment.”

Just as important is keeping a full complement on the park for the whole game, as the Rays discovered on Saturday in a nail-biting 32-29 win over Queensland Country on the Gold Coast. After shooting out to a big lead, Rays lock Ed Gower was yellow-carded and the Queenslanders piled on three quick tries and 21-points to snatch a 29-24 lead.

“We controlled the first half and probably should’ve built up a bigger lead but I think we turned the ball over in the A-zone five or six times and we didn’t get the reward for all the lead-up work we were doing,” said Townsend.

“We started the second half much the same way and it looked like it would be a matter of how many points, but we made a couple of errors and they got some field position. Then we suffered a bit when big Ed went to the bin and the flood gates opened for ten minutes or so.”

Gower went from sinner to saviour on his return to the pitch, barging over for a 32-29 advantage as the clock wound down in the curtain raiser to the Wallabies-Argentina Test. The drama didn’t end there though as Queensland Country had a chance to win it from a couple of scrums deep in Rays territory after the final siren had sounded.

“There was a bit of relief, but more satisfaction,” said Townsend of the maiden NRC victory.

“The boys were delighted they were able to pull it off and we were pretty courageous to hold them out. It was good to get the win and hopefully we can string a few more together and get back in the race. It’s a tough competition and we’ve got Perth this Saturday back at Brookie which should be good fun.”

The Rays currently sit in seventh position with four competition points – one behind their opponents this Saturday and five behind fourth placed Canberra Vikings but well off the pace-setting Melbourne Rising who are on 20.