By
Dan Wheelahan
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An
ASRU player on the attack during the game against Universities.
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Photo
by Bill Cunneen
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A
COMBINATION of a strong Australian Universities team and a number
of errors and lost opportunities was too much for the Australian
Services Rugby Union (ASRU) team at the fifth annual Weary Dunlop
Trophy.
Unis defeated ASRU 41-22 in front of a small but enthusiastic
crowd in near-perfect playing conditions. The game, at Victoria
Barracks Randwick on May 21, followed a two-day development camp
with Australian Rugby Union from May 17-18 to select the 23-man
ASRU team.
Unis opened the scoring with a try in the third minute to Matt
Ferrari who won a chase to the ball after a clever kick infield
by Unis winger Tim Mosey. ASRU dominated possession in the early
stages of the game and came close to scoring a number of times
before relieving pressure by giving away a number of penalties.
Mid-way through the first half, flanker Craftsman Matt Fraser
earned 10 minutes in the sin-bin for a professional foul. From
the ensuing scrum, Unis scored in the corner, taking their lead
to 10-0. ASRU got on the scoreboard in the 28th minute with a
penalty goal to team captain and outside centre Lance Corporal
Paul Yates.
Unis responded with two tries to take the score to 24-3, but right
on half-time siren LCPL Yates turned on a brilliant solo effort
to cross for ASRU’s first try and take the score to 24-8. “The
pace of the game in the first 25 minutes was electrifying and
it took our guys that long to settle down.
Losing Fraser to the bin for 10 minutes at the 25-minute mark
certainly had a major bearing on our capacity to stay in touch
in the first half,” ASRU head coach Wing Commander Graham King
said. Two determined teams took to the paddock at the start of
the second half, but Unis set the pace by crossing for a try soon
after.
Things were not looking the best for ASRU until the 15th minute
when they replied with a try to fullback Craftsman Zane Mitchell
that took the score to 29-13 and left ASRU still within striking
distance of Unis.
Unfortunately, ASRU could not close the gap until the dying moments
of the game when CFN Fraser atoned for his previous misdemeanor
by scoring a consolation try in the dying stages of the match.
CFN Fraser was awarded the Weary Dunlop Trophy as the ASRU’s player
of the match as well as the Australian Services Rugby Championships
player of the series.
Despite the scoreline, WGCDR King was pleased with the outcome.
“We have closed the gap considerably given that we played a team
of Sydney Premier Grade level players, seven of whom have Super
12 contracts in development and training.
If we had scored a point for every ball that we dropped today,
we would have won by 19 points,” he said. “’The fact that we won
the second half and controlled the game quite effectively during
that half is a credit to the whole squad. “Our entry to the Australian
Rugby Shield in 2005 will be that much more successful following
the Weary Dunlop match and our tour to Canada and the USA in October
this year. “The guys again now realise the speed of the game at
this level and what they must do individually to maintain their
skills to the level required to compete.”
