Padua will look to cement their spot at the top end of the 2021 AIC competition ladder this weekend when they host an in form St Laurence’s outfit.

The college opened their AIC campaign with an impressive 36-12 victory over St Peter’s in the opening round last Saturday.

“We had quite a few guys that missed playing in the trials through injury and other commitments so it was really pleasing to see the boys put together such a solid first up effort,” Head of Rugby Kelevi Tuicolo told Rugby News.

“We’ve also got boys playing in new positions so it was the first time we really got our best team on the park this year and we were happy with how it went.

“We’ve got a pretty solid forward pack this year so we want to play direct footy to start with and then get the ball to some of the talented kids that we’ve got out in the backs.”

Tuicolo said he’s been impressed with fullback Alex Flanagan-Smith, a recent convert from soccer, and flyhalf Will McCulloch so far this year but admitted he expected Lauries would try to take them on up front after their impressive opening weekend victory over Marist Ashgrove.

“I watched a replay of Lauries’ win and I thought they played quite well. Their forwards seem to be where their strengths are and they’ve got some big, explosive ball runners that we’ll need to contain upfront.”

Tuicolo seemed confident though that Padua’s forwards led by Max Johnson, Dan Healy and Leighton Whippy would be up to the challenge.

“It looks like it’s going to be one of the most even comps we’ve had in a while. St Pat’s got up in round one and Iona beat Villanova and they play each other this week as well.

“The next couple of weeks are going to be really crucial and if we can keep improving and string together some wins, then we’ll give ourselves a great chance at the premiership later in the season.”

In other AIC matches this weekend, Marist will look to bounce back when they host Eddies, St Pat’s host Iona and Villanova travel to play St Peter’s.