Premier Division - Round 9 (3XV) Match Report

Coming off a one point loss to Powerhouse the week before and sitting 4th on the ladder, Quins needed a win to get back towards the top of the competition. Box Hill may have been sitting on the bottom of the ladder, but their form was good with narrow losses to top 4 teams in the previous weeks.

Training had been good during the week with a focus on ball retention and it was evident from the outset. Running with a strong wind at our tails, Quins held complete control in the first half. Controlled phase play took the Quins up the field and then a strong run from Boof split the defence and Quins took a 5 nil lead. Box Hill’s defence was well organized but Land at 10 controlled the play well and kept the Quins in the opposition half for long periods. The highpoint of the game came from the front row. Man mountain Mark Bradley made the switch to tight head this week and it had dramatic impact. On countless occasions the Quins forwards lead by Bradley and Garner at loosehead took scrums against the feed as well as screwing the opposition pack through 90 degrees on most of Box Hill’s feeds. From one such scrum turnover, Boof fed Skip who ran to the line, flick passed to Land who drew the full back to put Zeff over under the sticks. Conversion successful and Quins up 12 nil.

On the next foray into opposition territory, hooker Ryan “I used to be a no 10 as a junior” Campion decided to dummy and step his way through the Box Hill backs, draw the full back and put Boof over for his second in the corner. Conversion successful, Quins up 19 nil at halftime. Ryan has gone a long way to securing the new nickname of Campo.

The second half was much tougher into the stiff wind and a fired up Box Hill. Quins let in one try, but continued to work their way up the field and after a penalty that hit  both uprights and the cross bar, Quins were up 22-5.

Yet another scrum win turnover and a quick transfer wide by young colt Dan Tooth in his first senior game saw Kwenda cross for the bonus point try, but in the last two minutes the Quins line was breached for a consolation try to Box Hill. Final score 29-12.

Points:

• 3 Boof
• 2 Campo
• 1 Land