By Adam Sheldon

Souths head coach Rama Chand believes his side is firmly back in the race for the 2025 Hospital Cup finals after a hard-fought, 31-28 win over Sunnybank in last weekend’s local derby. 

The win, which ended a frustrating four-game losing streak, has propelled Souths back into the finals mix, with the Magpies now sitting in fourth place on the ladder, after Bond’s loss to Wests.

Chand told Rugby News he was proud of his team’s performance, which came in front of a strong Sunnybank crowd, as well as an opponent that was in-form after beating UQ last weekend.

“We knew it would be a tough challenge,” Chand said. 

“Sunnybank are a team that’s been building momentum. They narrowly lost to Easts a few weeks ago as well. So, I’m pleased with our performance and the fact that we came away with five points.”

Souths’ strong start to the season saw them top the ladder at one point after winning three of their first four matches. However, the past month had been difficult for the Magpies, as the side lost four games in a row before their victory over Sunnybank.

“We were trying to get our season back on track,” Souths head coach said.

“What I’m most pleased about is the shift in our mentality. We were more positive in our play and focused on playing with positive intent. However, there are areas we still need to improve.”

One of the key areas for improvement, according to Chand, was Souths’ line-out performance, which was evident in the win at Sunnybank. 

“We lost a lot of line-out ball, I can’t even count how many times, but the fact that we still came away with the win is a good sign,” he said. 

“We’ve worked on tidying up those areas so that when we get the ball, we can value it and use it the way we know we can – playing that physical, running rugby.”

While Sunnybank’s loss means they now occupy ninth on the ladder, the tight-nature of this year’s competition meant a win could have pushed them ahead of Souths. 

The battle for the top four remains wide-open, with Easts and Brothers, thanks to strong starts, appearing to be the only teams with a firm grip on a finals position.

With seven teams potentially gunning for the last two finals spots, Chand said Souths needed to stamp out complacency – something he thought had contributed to their losing run. 

“We didn’t set up to be complacent, but there’s something called unconscious bias in human psyche,” Chand said. 

“Every team knows that if you don’t turn up, you lose. We’ve learned that lesson as a group, and our destiny is in our hands. If we win the majority of the second half of the season, we’ll make the finals, and we’ll have a good squad to make a deep run.

“But for now, we take it one game at a time, and our focus is on GPS this weekend.”

Around the Grounds

Elsewhere in the competition, Easts extended their unbeaten run to nine games with a dominant 49-27 away win over Norths, while UQ pulled off an upset victory against a fast-starting GPS outfit, 43-35, away.

“Easts have been the most consistent team,” Chand said. 

“They have a clear game plan and are very intentional with what they do. They play to their strengths. That said, I think it’s only a matter of time before someone disrupts their game plan.

“UQ is an interesting one. They’ve had some great wins and struggled in others, but they’re a great historical club in this competition. Beating GPS after their strong start is a sign of a team that has quality.”

The weekend’s remaining fixture saw Wests trounce Bond, 62-12, away, which means Elwee Prinsloo’s side have now won four on the trot.

“Wests were always going to have that performance in them sooner or later. They’ve got a quality list, and it was only a matter of time before they started to gel,” Chand said.  

Brothers had the bye.