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Hard-fought ASRU battle
By Barry Rollings
Volume 49, No. 16, September 06, 2007 |
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HARD KNOCK: Air Force player LAC Nicholas Hayward from RAAF Base Tindal charges through the thick Navy line during the Australian Services Rugby Union (ASRU) Championships in Canberra. Navy won the match 12-11.
Photo by LAC Aaron Curran |
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HANDS OFF: FLTLT Michael Campion from Canberra fends off a Navy attacker during the Australian Services Rugby Union Championships.
Photo by LAC Aaron Curran |
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Air Force men failed to win a match at the Australian Services Rugby Union (ASRU) Championships in Canberra in mid-August but it was a tournament of stark contrasts for the boys in blue.
Starved of ball against a red-hot Army team on August 18, Air Force lost 64-0 in a match where little went wrong for Army as it retained the WGCDR John Caldwell Shield.
But it was a different story at the same venue mid-week on August 15 when Air Force went tantalisingly close to victory as Navy held on to win 12-11 after having two players sin-binned during the last 10 minutes.
Navy had begun well and enjoyed a good supply of possession early, scoring after nine minutes.
Navy led 7-0 after the conversion but Air Force began to gain more lineout and scrum possession as the half progressed.
FLTLT Leigh Foster looked dangerous from limited opportunities and was unlucky not to carve open the Navy defence when he just failed to collect the ball at top speed.
This seemed to inspire Air Force, and at 35 minutes, it was threatening the Navy line, eventually rewarded when OFFCDT Andrew Holmes dashed over from a scrum for a soft try. The try was not converted but Air Force was within striking distance, down 7-5 at the interval, with OFFCDT Jason Myers making a good break just before the siren as Air Force looked dangerous again.
LAC Stuart Johnson put Air Force a point ahead with a penalty goal five minutes into the second half but Navy hit back with an unconverted push over for a 12-8 lead after 12 minutes.
An incisive run by FLTLT Leigh Foster from the scrum base put Air Force on the attack, and when LAC Johnson landed a second penalty goal at 27 minutes, Air Force trailed 12-11.
Navy was able to mount a last attacking effort which took them out of their own half and into attack for the closing stages.
“We set ourselves up to win the game against Navy and went agonisingly close,” Air Force coach WGCDR Graham King said.
“It’s hard to lift yourself up two days later against a very, very good Army side that contained 14 ASRU players, but they did their best
“Our blokes will learn a lot from it and we will build ourselves up for next year. We put a lot of effort in, but we didn’t have any possession in the half; we struggled with possession and what we got we turned over or kicked away.” |
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