Uni’s Tom Carter tries to make headway through Warringah’s committed defence
Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Paul Cook –

Sydney University have seen off a spirited display from a fired up Warringah to come home late with a 20-15 win that cements their second spot on the ladder. It was a disjointed performance from the reigning champions, who seemed a couple of gears short of their usual selves but credit for much of that must go to a Rats outfit that harried and harangued for the full 80 minutes and can take a huge amount of pride from the match, if not the points.

They led 12-7 at half-time after taking their chances from the limited amount of time spent in Uni’s half as they mounted a physical rearguard action to hold the dominant but misfiring visitors at bay. It took a few stern words from coach Chris Malone and the introduction of talismanic skipper Tim Davidson, to fire up the Students but an improved second half – which they won 13-3 to claim victory – wasn’t without it’s hiccoughs and Malone will feel there’s still plenty to work on at Camperdown if the Students are to back up last year’s success.

Flyhalf Stefano Hunt felt that his side’s renowned preparation had held them in good stead as they turned things around. “Our prep is good, we rise to the occasion each week starting on Monday and we bring it to the park on Saturday. We definitely knew it was going to be a hard game coming out here today and the whole week was a good build-up to this hard fought battle but credit to our team, we stuck in there the whole 80 minutes and we came away with the win.”

Warringah’s Ed Doyle on the charge
Photo: seiserphotography.com

Warringah captain Dave Feltscheer was a constant threat with ball in hand, scoring one try and creating another and was justifiably proud of his team’s efforts at the final whistle. “I’m super proud of the boys today, we gave it our all but close enough isn’t good enough, so we’re a bit disappointed. We’ve got to pick ourselves up for the last five games and try and scrape into the top eight.”

Having beaten the Students 23-18 back in Round 4, the Rats knew they would have to be on their game at the breakdown as Uni would be looking to dominate physically, get on the front foot and target the set-piece. They made a good fist of the tackle contest early on, forcing a couple of important turnovers but their scrum – as it has all season – was struggling and offering almost guaranteed ball for Uni’s powerful pack.

Both sides were guilty of overplaying their hand a touch as they tried to unlock the door for the first score but with the Rats struggling to get out of their own half and feeding off scraps of possession, it was always likely that the Students would strike first. Stefano Hunt took advantage of a couple of soft tackles to find a gap in the 12th minute and put Jock Merriman through to the posts.

The Rats hit back out of nowhere three minutes later thanks to the quick thinking of Josh Holmes. Taking a quick tap, he ran at the Uni line before putting the rapid Feltscheer away down the flank before backing up off the fullback’s inside to find the line.

The Rats came into the game more with each minute as the Students failed to capitalise on their territorial advantage and just before the half hour, they had the lead. Building phases on the edge of the 22 through the forwards, they finally worked an attacking position and great hands from Dave Harvey and Hamish Angus released Feltscheer down the line again and he was too quick and too clinical.

Uni’s execution was unusually poor, certainly not the well-oiled machine we’re used to and while they looked dangerous in the opposition half with ball in hand with a duo of willing and pacy runners in Greg Jeloudev and James Dargaville, when pinned inside their own half, they seem unsure, indecisive and flat footed.

Josh Holmes scored his 10th try of another impressive club season – Photo: seiserphotography.com

Their lethargy prompted changes at half-time from coach Malone, Tim Davidson coming in to add some starch, leadership and game smarts and scrumhalf Merriman replaced by Jake Gordon.

There was an immediate upgrade in the pressure and intensity at the tackle contest with Davidson’s introduction, his young apprentices following his lead but still, poor execution inside the red zone cost them any profit on the scoreboard until replacement lock Byron Hodge slotted a penalty in the 54th minute.

On the hour, an exhilirating break from Warringah almost saw Harvey go over but a last ditch double-team tackle from Dargaville and centre Jim Stewart held him up. However, they didn’t come away empty handed from their rare visit into enemy territory as they earned a penalty for offside off the ensuing scrum, which Harvey summarily despatched.

Hodge brought it back to a 2pt ball game with another penalty almost straight from the restart before Davidson – who else? – produced the match winning try.

A terrific 60 metre dash by Dargaville from his own 22 looked like opening the door but a superb recovering tackle from the industrious and impressive Boyd Killingworth saved the day. However, a minute later, Uni had their reward, a 5 metre scrum seeing the Rats backrow staying tight off the back as they expected a pushover attempt, but Davidson surprised them to peel off and sweep through the gap they’d left to find the chalk.

Hodge converted and despite being forced to play with a man down for the last eight minutes when Hunt was sent to the bin for a professional foul, the Students had just enough smarts to see off a final assault from the Rats and take the win. However, considering their relative positions on the ladder and the talent pool at their disposal, the Rats can claim a moral victory from this one at least.

Sydney University 20 (Jock Merriman, Tim Davidson tries; Jock Merriman con, Byron Hodge con, 2 pens) bt Warringah 15 (Josh Holmes, Dave Feltscheer tries; Dave Harvey con, pen)