Riverview began their 2019 GPS campaign in style with an impressive 29-12 victory over Kings at Lane Cove. 

Coming off an undefeated pre-season, Iggies began brilliantly and scored three unanswered first half tries to take a 19-0 lead to the break. 

“Unlike our last few trial matches, we actually maintained and controlled possession for longer periods of the game. I think that frustrated Kings a little because they couldn’t get their hands on the ball,” Riverview first XV coach Anthony Cook told Rugby News. 

“In doing that, we gained a bit of confidence and played off the back of that which tired them out in defence.

“All three first half three tries came from mounted pressure. We maintained possession in the attacking zone and while Kings didn’t defend poorly, we held the ball and eventually found some gaps.”

In their best performance of 2019, Riverview scored five tries, two to flyhalf Hamish Cressey and one each to George Clark, Oliver Arcus and Lachlan Albert but Cook said it was his team’s smart approach in the season opener that pleased him most. 

“It’s concentration and maturity that comes with time. We need to have that game awareness to know that the other side can’t score points without the ball. Whereas if we give up the ball cheaply in the wrong parts of the field, we give teams a chance to score. 

“We played Waverley in the trials in a high scoring draw and after that game we realised that we just gave them far too much ball in our own half. So we went back to the drawing board after that and found a few ways to maintain possession for longer periods of the game.”

Cook’s starting XV in round one featured two Year 10 students and four Year 11s who Cook thinks will continue to get better each week. 

“It’s a pretty big step up from playing 15As or 16As last year but they didn’t look out of place and will only get better. 

“Already this year, the decision making of some of the younger guys has improved and that’s pleasing to see. 

“It’s okay to make errors in schoolboy rugby, but I think they’re starting to realise themselves when they’re making errors that could have been avoided and they’re learning from it.”

In the rounds other matches, Scots and Joeys both claimed victories over Shore and Newington but Cook suggested those matches were possibly closer than the scoreline showed. 

“Both of those games could have gone the other way and from what I’ve heard, they were both in the balance with 10-15 minutes to go. 

“That’s schoolboy rugby. If you switch off for 10-15 minutes or even two minutes, you can be down 14 points and I think any team on their day in this competition can do that to an opposition.”

Ahead of the holidays, Riverview will head east to take on Scots in a round two match with serious premiership implications. 

The two schools played out a 21-21 draw in the opening trial match of the season at Lane Cove in early May.

“The nature of the competition is that we basically play five grand finals. There are no easy games for you to try and blood a few new players or try something different, you’ve got to peak five times throughout the season to win it,” Cook said. 

“We know Scots love to play with the ball. They’ve got good width and great catch/pass, so our defence has to be on point, that’s probably the big focus.

“Plus they’re playing a competition game at home for the first time this year and had a strong win against Shore last week, so it’s going to be a tough 70 minutes.”

In the rounds other matches, Joeys host Shore and Kings play Newington in round two, with GPS representative sides set to be picked following Saturday’s fixtures.