By Michael Atkinson

Easts claimed the Rick Tyrrell Cup and retained the Bunter Bowl, GPS shocked Norths early, a Quade Cooper hamstring injury soured Souths’ win over Wests and Brothers proved far too good for Bond in round five this weekend.

Easts 47 def Sunnybank 17 

The Tigers ambushed the Dragons on a glorious day at Bottomley Park.

Out-of-favour Reds hooker Andrew Ready scored a hat-trick in a dominant display from the Easts forward pack. Anthony Connellan’s men held a narrow 19-17 lead at half-time but came roaring out of the break to move to third on the ladder. After the game, Connellan was particularly pleased with Ready, along with Number 8 Eric Salesulu and skipper, Matt Gordon.

Sunnybank have now lost two on the trot and conceded 101 points in the past two weeks.

GPS 40 def Norths 17

This match was all about the first half. The Gallopers came sprinting out of the gates and raced to a 19-nil lead at the break. The return of Reds scrumhalf James Tuttle helped provide a strong conduit between a dominant forward pack and an efficient backline.

Anthony Mathison’s side added 21 points to their tally after half-time, but Norths were more competitive, scoring three tries of their own.

Eagles coach Nick Fogarty told Rugby News he was most disappointed with his side’s defence.

“We were too high and lost the battle of the collision.”

He also lamented ill-discipline, highlighting an excessive number of penalties and two yellow cards to prop AJ Campbell (who was red-carded upon the second yellow).

Understandably, “Matho” said, “Always happy with a win.”

The victory puts GPS into second on the ladder behind the victors in our next match.

Souths 33 def Wests 31

This was a much tighter game than I predicted.

Despite being undefeated after four games, this was the first match where the Magpies have been tested from start to finish. The Bulldogs scored the first try of the game and made Souths work for their four competition points – in fact, Wests actually led 21-18 at the break.

Souths rallied, despite losing Quade Cooper to a hamstring injury in the first half, scoring first after the break and getting out to a 33-24 lead.

With Cooper sidelined, this was a real challenge for the Magpies to show they can be a force without their high-profile playmaker and captain. They did just that, with fullback-come-five-eighth, Jason Hofmeyr, more than filling Cooper’s shoes.

“We didn’t play well and they put us under a lot of pressure, but happy we toughed it out in the end,” Souths coach Elia Tuqiri told Rugby News.

It’s not yet known how long, if at all, Cooper will be sidelined, but Tuqiri is hopeful it’s “not too serious.”

Brothers 47 def Bond University 8

Have to put my hand up, I got this one very, very wrong.

Brothers had lost the last two and were missing three of their young stars to the Junior Wallabies, but their old heads stood up. If not for a try – Bond’s only one of the match – late in the first half, Brothers would have held a 19-3 advantage at the break. With experienced fly-half, Dallan Murphy pulling the strings, the Brethren piled on 28 points in the second half.

Brothers’ Assistant Coach, Kelevi Tuicolo, praised both sides for an exciting game, not refected by the scoreline.

“The game was played at a cracking pace with some big shots exchanged between the teams,” Tuicolo said.

He was quick to praise Murphy, captain Luke Beauchamp and young flanker Harry Wilson for their influence on the result.

Bond skipper Tai Ford and winger Ryan Menzies also caught the eye of the opposition coach.

“We thought (Ford and Menzies) were their best players” said Tuicolo.

“It was a satisfying win, in terms of some of the things we have been working on finally started to come together.”