Round 5, May 8 2021, at The Canal

Men’s First Grade: Bond 22 v GPS 34

THE Bond University Bull Sharks premier men’s rugby side may have fallen to their first loss of the season on Saturday against GPS, but coach Grant Anderson walked from The Canal home ground a proud man.

“I was enormously proud of the way the players stepped up considering the circumstances,” he said.

Those ‘circumstances’ were an avalanche of injuries that struck key players even in the final moments before running on against one of the competition heavyweights.

“It was great that we were able to give some other players the opportunity to step up and play premier grade,” Anderson said.

“We started well, strongly. In the set pieces, an area where GPS are renowned, we were very good. Our attack was good and individually we also stood up in defence.

“On occasions our kicking could have been better. But overall, considering our situation, I am very proud.”

Anderson said captain, Dan Boardman (13), Salesi Manu (3) and Tautalatasi Tasi (12) performed extremely well.

“We led 15-12 at half time, so, again, overall, considering the disruptions you can’t come away from that with any other emotion than pride, considering the quality of our opposition,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to when we meet GPS again.”

Anderson is also looking forward to next weekend’s clash, an away game to the table-topping University of Queensland.

“I am glad that it is another top-quality opponent,” he said.

“This will be a pretty big game. They score a lot of points, so defensively we will have to be better as well.”

Saturday’s loss puts Bond third on the first grade ladder (15 points), behind UQ (25) and GPS (23). 

Overall, it was a tough day at The Canal for the six Bull Sharks sides, who came away with just the one win – the men’s second grade overpowering GPS with a staunch second half display for a 39-34 victory.

Here’s what each of the other Bull Sharks’ coaches had to say:

Women’s First Grade: Bond 0 v GPS 17

Women’s coaching director Setu Naseri:

"Disappointment would be the best way to describe the overall sentiment following that loss. I thought we had done a really good job to be down just 5-0 at half time. But we made life difficult for ourselves with our lack of disciple and controlling the ball in the second half. I think the penalty count for off-side alone was over 10."

"We run two programs - 7s and 15s – concurrently. So, it does mean that at the moment we are not rolling out our strongest side in the 15s. But, we believe we are developing the depth to be competitive and we have shown that in recent weeks against who we believe are the top sides. We pushed Easts to two points and Sunnybank to three points."

"So that is a big positive for us. Next week we have UQ and we have targeted that game as a positive result, but it just depends on how we bounce back this week at training."

"A number of our experienced girls really tried against GPS – the likes of Lucy Lockhart (10), Aleena Greenhalgh (8) and Carola Kreis (5). Young Miya Rapana-Faifua, she is not the biggest girl, but she showed a few of her teammates just how to stop the opposition in the wider channels."

"The girls were disappointed with the result. They know they gave away too much momentum to GPS and it was a case of the harder we tried the tougher things got. We just have to regroup and improve. UQ will not roll over for us."

Men’s Second Grade: Bond 39 v GPS 34

Bond Second Grade coach Damon Virtue:

"It was nice to get a win today after a series of very close losses in our recent games. So, the win was great."

"All of our losses have been close and bonus point losses. We have been close, but not quite there."

"We started slow in this clash and then worked our way into the game. We achieved some dominance in the forwards in the second half. That was the key. GPS led at the break, so it was good to come home so strongly."

"We certainly showed resilience today, because we were served a few curve balls in terms of guys being out injured, changes in personnel and guys coming up from Colts and really putting their hands up. And a couple of guys who are normally on the bench, started and performed very well. I was really happy with that."

"Standouts for us today were Zac Moi Moi (5). He started and played very well.  Also, Tyrell Kapua, our hooker, scored a double and was very good. Ronan Kapi (centre) has been great all season so far and was again today. Great feet. He lights us up a bit."

"You would like to think that will be a confidence lift for us after the close losses, especially with a couple of away games coming up."

Men’s Third Grade: Bond 14 v GPS 36

Bond Third Grade coach Jai Johnson:

"I was very disappointed with that performance. We allowed them to dictate for most of that game and unfortunately we lowered our standards – so yes, very disappointed."

"I think we came off the bye week pretty relaxed. The individual intent just wasn’t there this week. But if that is the worst we do this year, then, from that point of view, I will not be too disappointed. It is just how games go sometimes."

"We were home for this one and now we have two away games, so we need to be better."

"The best for us were hooker Luke Mounic, who really stood out and our Number 6, Isaiah Turuva."

Colts 1: Bond 26 v GPS 29

Bond Colts 1 coach Brenden Jones:

"The score was 24-5 (to GPS) at half time, so we certainly came back well with a lot of ball in the second half. We spoke at half time about what we had to do, but our effort on the tryline just wasn’t hard enough."

"We are in a phase of five weeks where it is all about getting things right before we turn around at the halfway mark of the season."

"There were quite a few takeaways, key lessons, from that loss. We are a much better side than that and the boys were really hurting afterwards because we know that was a game we should have won well. We probably did not give the opposition the respect they deserved."

"The key takeaway from this game is to be better at key moments. We need to take a little bit more time with our decision-making and focus more on the process than the outcome. Respect the process."

"Our best today were Number 9 Lachlan McInnes and all our forwards worked hard and the standouts there were Marlon Jones (4), who was really good today, and our hooker Ryven Ewing, who got through a ton of work."

Colts 2: Bond 5 v GPS 13

Bond Colts 2 coach Mick Barnao:

"We are improving each week. We have a big squad of players, feeding through to Colts 1. But there is real improvement and a lot of positives to take out of this game."

"The result was disappointing, but GPS are one of the top sides. The scoreline was a result of a lot of silly mistakes, which the players owned. They are moving on from there."

"They enjoyed and learnt a lot from that game. It is all about building the players’ confidence and making sure they all get a run."

"It was one try apiece, but we gave away too many penalties. They kicked two of those and the conversion and that was the difference."

"Both tries came from intercepts. Our players took a lot from that game and were pretty upbeat, despite the loss."

"Our best were Harry Ghusn (7), who was literally everywhere, and Josh Radcliffe (13), who made a couple of great breaks and defended well."