Ben Volavola kicking three of his 18-points for Southern Districts against Eastwood last weekend. Photo: Karen Watson.

by Brendan Bradford –

You could see the intensity in Jed Holloway’s eyes last Sunday. And Ben Volavola was walking with a certain confident swagger. Less than 24-hours after lifting the Super Rugby trophy, the Southern Districts duo was back in a Rebels strip to take on the more fancied Eastwood at T.G. Millner for a spot in the second week of the Shute Shield finals.

Game on.

Their energy infected the rest of the team and Volavola scored a penalty in the dying minutes to set-up a semi-final showdown with Sydney University this weekend. Holloway fairly danced off the field and the team song was sung with particular gusto. Coach, Matt Barr says the side was quick to get back to the task at hand though.

“Obviously afterwards we were ecstatic and it’s a step closer to achieving the goal but we were grounded pretty quickly in the change-rooms,” he said.

Southern Districts captain Jed Holloway. Photo: Carl Peterson.

“We realise there’s plenty of hard work ahead. Uni is a side we’ve struggled against and in our last five games we’ve only won one, which is opposite to our record against Eastwood where we’ve had some success.”

The Rebels will again be pegged with the underdog tag against the defending champion Students, who narrowly defeated Warringah at Rat Park last Saturday, but Holloway is hoping they can maintain that same intensity.

“The boys are just starting to realise that we can have a crack at it and we really just need to stay focused and roll with it,” the Rebels captain said.

“Confidence is really key for us and getting the Sevens boys (Afa Pakalani, Paul Asquith and Alex Gibbon) back has been really good. What we need now is consistency, because we tend to play well one week but get complacent the next and you can’t do that against Uni. They’ve been a championship side for the last ten years and you need to give them the respect they deserve but not fear them. We need that ruthless attitude and hopefully we’ll get it done on the weekend.”

It wasn’t the prettiest match, but it was a gutsy performance that saw the Students score a late try after losing flyhalf Angus Roberts to injury in the first half against the Rats last Saturday.

“It was one of the great wins up at Warringah, it was hard and tough and they threw a lot at us,” said coach, Chris Malone.

“We had a few disruptions because of injury but the fact that we’ve put so many guys through First Grade this year meant we could bring people on who already had that experience and they got the job done in the end. We just gutsed it out and won a tight one up at Warringah.”

Although Jeremy Tilse and Pat McCutcheon are packing down this Sunday, Uni won’t get the usual cavalry of Super Rugby players they often get this time of year. But after finishing fourth on the table, Malone says the side’s young guns have been getting the job done.

Sydney Uni captain Tom Carter. Photo: AJF Photography

“We always knew that was going to be the case and we’re lucky to have Tilse and Cutch back because Ewen McKenzie has taken another couple of Sydney Uni boys to the Wallabies this week,”

“Tolu (Latu), (Peter) Betham and Laurie Weeks have all gone to the Wallabies and that’s exactly what we want to be doing, pushing guys to representative honours. It’s something we’re used to and we juggle players every week and can drop players in and out of it.”

Sydney Uni stalwart Tom Carter has assumed the captaincy for the pointy end of the season, and while it has played heavily on his mind in the past, he’s relishing the added responsibility.

“It’s something that at the start of the year I probably wasn’t that keen on but I think as you get older you manage those situations a bit better,” said Carter.

“If I can add value to the team, especially at this time of year with some of our young guys, giving them a bit of experience and wisdom in these big games, it’s something I’m really privileged to do, especially at a place I’ve been at for 17 or 18 years, and it’s not something I’m taking lightly.”

Carter praised his young side but also warned against complacency ahead of this Sunday’s showdown.

“The great thing about the young guys is there’s no excuses, they’re excited by the opportunity and many of them have waited a long time to get them and they’re very keen to stake their claim,” he said.

“In saying that, Souths were outstanding in beating Eastwood at home which is no mean feat. Afa, Apo, Benny Volavola and Jed Holloway and Kieran Black, their seven, is very abrasive. Outside Clunies-Ross and Dargaville, Pakalani is the most outstanding winger in the competition and two years ago, before he did his knee in the Grand Final, he was the best on the field and we’ll have to watch him.”

Sydney University vs Southern Districts at University Oval No. 1, Sunday 10, August

Sydney University: 1. Jeremy Tilse, 2. Gerard Ellis, 3. Sam Talakai, 4. Thomas Boidin, 5. Jordan Chapman, 6. Samuel Quinn, 7. David Hickey, 8. Patrick McCutcheon, 9. Jock Merriman, 10. Daniel Kelly, 11. Henry Clunies-Ross, 12. Tom Carter (c), 13. Jim Stewart, 14. James Dargaville, 15. Michael Hodge.

Southern Districts: 1. Duncan Chubb, 2. Maile Nguamo, 3. Cameron Betham, 4. Andrew Leota, 5. Jake Douglas, 6. Marcus Carbone, 7. Kieran Black, 8. Jed Holloway (c), 9. Chris O’Reilly, 10. Ben Volavola, 11. Afa Pakalani, 12. Apo Latunipulu, 13. Paul Asquith, 14. Alex Gibbon, 15. Ben Connolly.

Referee: Andrew Lees