Photo: Karen Watson

Sydney Uni, Manly and Warringah all claimed impressive wins over potential playoff rivals in round 12, while Souths and Randwick kept their slim finals hopes alive. 

We checked in with the camps to get the latest following another tight weekend of Shute Shield rugby.

Sydney Uni 24-11 Eastwood

Sydney Uni scored three tries in the final 10 minutes to run over Eastwood in a fiery affair at TG Millner. 

The Woodies led 11-7 late in the second half following a try to Afa Pakalani and two Tayler Adams penalty goals, but couldn’t match the defending premiers in the championship minutes. 

Flyhalf Connor O’Shae scored first to put the Students in front, before Harry Potter and Banjo Travers crossed to seal the result. 

“It was a typical Eastwood v University contest, a real arm wrestle for 80 minutes,” Uni coach Rob Taylor said. 

“Fortunately, we were able to stay composed when Eastwood were piling on the pressure.

“I’d like to see the patience we showed in the second half from start to finish in the weeks ahead.”

Eastwood coach Ben Batger said the match had a finals like feel to it and said he was disappointed with his side’s finish to the game. 

“Our execution needs to be better. We created enough chances and the effort was there but unfortunately we didn’t execute the final pass or create enough pressure on their goal line.”

Eastwood have lost four matches this year, all while playing at their spiritual home TG Millner, typically a fortress for the Woodies. 

“It’s surprising and disappointing. We’ve got great fans that turn up each week and we want to send them home happy.”

Manly 40-31 Northern Suburbs

Manly claimed their fourth straight win after an impressive 40-31 victory over Norths at Manly Oval.

With the match in the balance at 19-19, the Marlins scored through Beaudein Waaka, Harry Bergelin and James Ohmsen to claim a match winning 40-19 lead, before leaking two late tries. 

Waaka continued to impress with two tries and five conversions. 

“Both teams dominated different periods of the match and alternated being on top,” Marlins coach Billy Melrose said. 

“We did some good things but we still need to improve our ability to control momentum and shut the other side out.”

After four impressive wins, Manly are arguably the form side of the competition alongside Warringah heading into the final third of the regular season.

There’s a banana skin around every corner in this comp and we’ve slipped up a few times in the past,” Melrose said. 

“We got beat down at Easts last year so it’ll be interesting to see if we can turn the tables when we play them next week.”

Southern Districts 47-10 Western Sydney

Southern Districts ended a seven match losing streak after beating Western Sydney 47-10 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. 

Souths scored seven tries, including a double to flyhalf Bayley Kuenzle after welcoming back Jed Holloway and Shambeckler Vui to their starting forward pack. 

Souths are four points below sixth placed Gordon but are the only side in the race for sixth spot that don’t have a bye in the weeks ahead. 

The Rebels will need to win four if not five or their final six matches to give themselves a chance of playing finals footy in 2019. 

Randwick 51-22 West Harbour

Randwick also kept their finals hopes alive with an impressive 51-22 bonus point win over West Harbour at Coogee. 

Led by 21-year old flyhalf Morgan Steyn in his first grade debut, the Galloping Greens ran in seven tries to stay within one win of a spot in the top six. 

“Our defensive effort was good and we finished off more opportunities than we did last week,” coach Hadley Jackson told Rugby News. 

“I was also happy with the way the boys dealt with some last minute changes and still came away with a convincing result.”

A week after upsetting Norths, West Harbour were disappointing in their biggest loss of 2019 and look to have lost more cattle for the remainder of the season after several injuries on Saturday. 

“Things should have been closer than 18-7 at half time and the game could have been different,” Pirates coach Mark Gudmunson said. 

“We need to learn to adapt to how games are being officiated and maybe push the boundaries of the laws a little more. 

“In saying that, it wasn’t a great team performance and we need to be more consistent for the rest of the year.” 

Warringah 36-19 Eastern Suburbs

Warringah extended their lead at the top of the Shute Shield ladder with a 36-19 bonus point win over Easts in the Rats’ eighth straight victory. 

With the match in the balance, Harry Jones pounced on a loose pass and offloaded to Harley Attwater to give the Rats the lead. 

Attwater, who finished the afternoon with 23 points, added two penalty goals to extend the home side’s advantage before Maclean Jones showed fantastic athleticism off a restart to set up Ben Woollett’s match sealing try.  

The competition’s leading try scorer Jack Grant added two more five pointers to his tally, but it wasn’t enough for a star studded Easts side, who drop out of the top six after the loss. 

“We weren’t quite good enough on Saturday,” coach Pauli Taumoepeau said. 

“We did some good things but also saw some of the things that we thought might happen with a few new blokes coming into the starting XV. It was a disappointing day all up.”

Taumoepeau said accuracy at the breakdown cost his team dearly, but seemed confident that the Beasties will improve in the weeks ahead. 

“We just need more time together as a team. Now that Super Rugby is over for the Tahs we can get sessions in together as a team. We’ve got some talented players here, we just need to gel it all together now.”