The Bull Sharks put together one of their most complete performances of the season to retain the Brailsford-Brown Cup at The Canal.
It was the highlight of a dominant day for Bond University Rugby Club.
Premier Men stunned UQ with a blistering start, converting pressure into points with clinical efficiency to run out 42-14 winners. It was a must-win clash, and the players delivered, bringing the energy early and never letting the contest slip. Coach Mick Heenan praised the side’s intensity and execution and said the win came off the back of their best week of training all season.
Colts 1 were just as emphatic, dismantling their top-of-the-table rivals with a 49-24 victory that was all but sealed by half time.
In the tightest match of the day, the Premier Women held their nerve to sneak home 15-14 in a thrilling arm wrestle.
Bull Sharks v UQ at The Canal.
Premier Men
Bull Sharks won 42-14
How it was won
We just controlled the ball a lot better than we have been. Uni were quite ill disciplined and once we held the ball, they gave away penalties. Once we managed to get into the attacking zone, we converted really well which, to be honest, hasn't been a feature of our game.
The focus
We were lacking a little bit of top end strike power out there, missing Hamish Robertson and Deon Evans-Ao-Leifi. But side trained really well during the week and we went in feeling quite confident even though we were down on troops. And they bought that good energy into the game, we were up 28-0 after 30 minutes and it never looked like being close after that.
What made you happy
We were disappointed the week before against East, they are on top of the table and we went toe to toe with them for the majority of the game and I think we had a good understanding that we left some competition points out there. So they turned up ready to rip in on Saturday and that’s what they did.
Trademark Player
Our captain Tyler Campbell was terrific.
The challenge
We have had seven losses and six of them have been quite close. It is always a fine line because sometimes having heartbreaking losses can be harder than a bad loss. That’s the line you've got to dance in those situations. So we have to keep the players engaged and as I said, it was the best week of training we had all year, and that is what set us up.
The final word
We are getting to the stage where we need to win. The guys realise there's a lot of stake in these games and that is the attitude they took into the game.
With Mick Heenan
Colts 1
Bull Sharks won 49-24
How it was won
The Colts have occasionally been guilty of a laidback approach to preparing for games. So, a pre-game rev up for the ages had the side ready to run through brick walls. It caught UQ off guard and by half time the Bull Sharks led by 30 points and the game was over.
What made you happy
It was great to see our backs capitalising on the opportunities we create. Hunter Robinson’s three tries was an example of that.
Bull Sharks Footy
Particularly in the first half we played exactly the way we prepared to. We looked for scrum and lineout opportunities for our dominant set piece, and put pressure on the opposition with our kicking game.
The challenge
When you are up by 30 points by half time, it is hard not to ease the foot off the throat a bit. I highlighted that at half time, because last year against Souths we were in a similar position, and we lost. We couldn’t afford to let that happen again.
The work to do
Our second half tries were opportunist. It is good that we have that ability, but we didn’t create tries through what we are good at. We want to stick to building pressure through our gameplan. The defence also got a bit lazy and UQ outscored us in the second half.
With Rico Gear
Premier Women
Bull Sharks won 15-14
How it was won
We owned the first half with three tries, however our second half let us down and in those last 20 minutes we struggled. We’re still pretty ill-disciplined and we need to get that sorted. We lost the first game because of discipline and the last two games have been pretty tight and that comes down again to our discipline on the field.
What made you happy
I’m just happy we won. We went from 27 penalties last week against East to only 11 penalties this week, so it shows the girls are trying really hard to fix it.
The work to do
We need to build around our defence – it is what is going to win us games. We also need to work on our fundamentals, especially in the second half. On the weekend we missed a few tackles, so we need to refocus on that.
Trademark Players
Eva Doblo won player of the match and had a really good game, she found the line. Zoe Hanna was another one who has a strong defensive game and carried well.
With Lawrence Faifua