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ADDED THURSDAY 02/10//2008

DAY TWO,  NATIONAL UNDER 16 CHAMPIONSHIPS,  NUDGEE COLLEGE.

Very thankfully,  old blazey was not quite as angry yesterday,  and a breeze to a wind off the nearby ocean,  described as the Nudgee Doctor,  kept affairs a little more comfortable.  The hot coffee vendor probably doubled his sales from 2 to 4.

South Australia played Tasmania first up on Oval 2,  and had an easy win.  I was quite impressed with the 10 and 11 from South Oz,  the 10 having a great pass,  the 11 having good knowledge of space,  getting himself into it,  and a fabulous set of feet.  South Australia finished up winning the game by 36 to 12.  It was good to see Tasmania get across the line after being belted 86 to nil on the Monday by the all conquering National Indigenous side.

In the other division 2 game,  Northern Territory got an early 7 to nil lead,  to go down to the National Indigenous side by 31 to 7.  The National Indigenous side have not been beaten now for four years.

On Ross Oval,  Western Australia and The Brumbies kicked off proceedings,  with W.A. starting all over the top of the Brumbies and looked sure to score.  However,  they could not convert field position,  with the wind,   into points and the Brumbies fought back with field position of their own,  to go up 3 to nil.

The West Oz side got a penalty of their own,  followed by another Brumby penalty,  and that was the game,  6 to 3 to the Brumbies.  The game was a bore -a- thon,  with a thousand penalties,  and the beginning of the card procession for the day.  Somewhere players have to alter what they are doing to curb the flow of penalties that they are giving.

Never too sure about some of the tactics I see.  The West Oz side,  and they may well have been coached to never kick,  continually tried to run the pill out of their own zone in half one,  with almost a gale blowing towards the city/Sandgate road corner.  There was 60 to 70 metres,  and heaps of pressure on the Brumbies with just a deft touch off the boot.  I thought tactically poor stuff from the W.A side,  they could have been camped long and often in the Brumby 22,  setting up many scoring opportunities.

QLD RED VS SYDNEY JUNIORS.

Firstly,  whatever anyone now says,  all selections are now vindicated given that Qld 1 and Qld 2 playoff on Friday in the final.  I don't think selections can be questioned now in any way given the 1,2 finish in the tournament that is guaranteed for Qld sides.

Secondly,  Chris Sautia, showed us that he is not only fast,  the second try he had a hand in showed that he oozes class in his thought process as well,  man this kid is going to be a hell off a footballer come 2010.

That Qld Red came back from a 13 to nil deficit at half time (I thought it was a 15 point wind),  shows that there is some composure in the side.  That they were able to stay in the game at all in the first half can be put down to two players I believe,  Liam Gill and Matt Lucas,  both as hungry and competitive as you would hope and their dogged first half performance surely inspired the side further in half two.

The Juniors piled on the pressure in the first half,  and should have scored more points,  should have put the game out of reach in that stanza,  but were unable to.  Their 10 had the right idea and tried to kick to the city/Sandgate Road corner,  but was charged down a few times as he tried the tactic,  in good defence from the Qld side.

The Red side scored next,  with a round the front lineout move,  a try to the loosehead prop.  The line was poorly defended and the try was quite soft,  but you take them all.

Juniors had the next opportunity to score,  and worked into a 3 or 4 on one,  down Chris Sautia's wing.   It was a definite 7 pointer tot he Juniors,  one pass only required.  Sautia has taken the decision to back himself for the intercept,  has taken it and run 60 or 70 metres for a converted try to the Red side.  This was a big play,  instead of the Juniors going out to a 20 to 7 lead and probably winning the game,  Qld now lead 14 to 13,  and were on a high.

Sautia was again involved in the next try,  with a chip and chase to the Sandgate Road/City corner,  a quite masterful effort,  and has forced not only a lineout,  but a Qld lineout 5 metres out.  A powerful Setu charge has then set the scene for a Luke Edwards try,  converted,  and Qld Red now too far away from the Juniors,  who let their discipline crumble in the second half.

A couple of things to mention here,  and these guys are both quite accomplished coaches,  but I have to ask why the Qld Red side kept kicking to the Sandgate Road/Boondall corner,  rather than using the wind and hitting the other corner.  The Juniors were also one side that dropped a winger and a fullback right back and generally recovered/returned reasonably from these kicks that would have been far bigger wind assisted.

The Qld Red scrum got stitched up pretty badly,  but I don't think that will be a source of concern now,  with the White scrum not looking like it will give inordinate amounts of trouble to the Red Scrum either.

Qld Red can really thank Gill and Lucas for their first half performances,  inspirational in reality.  I think Qld Red has some defensive deficiencies  in the early channels,  but you will need to work the likes of Gill and Reuter over early in a set of phases to have a chop in there.  Waita Setu had some powerful carries,  setting Qld up on the front foot for further insurgence.

I heard the penalty count was 9 to 1 against the Red side at one stage.  Whether the ref is a shocker or not,  a count like that tells me you are doing something wrong.  The Juniors let their discipline fall away in the second half and I would guess the count evened up considerably.

I would have liked to see the Juniors play  a little more direct,  they got very sideways in half 2.  I think they would have been much better served by punching that big 12 forward,  getting him across the ad line,  and playing some more from a mid field set up,  with plenty of options given from the midfield set.

What I have to ask in this match of officialdom gone mad,  is what in heaven or hell were the referees and the touch judges up to.  So many stoppages had that dreaded second whistle,  then the touch judges on the field.  At one stage the touch judge seemed to take the ref's cards (overused and worn out?),  go back off the field,  swap with another touchie,  who then came on the field,  went to leave,  and came back again to swap sides with the other touchie.  I don't want to break your heart's guys,  but most of us don't go to the rugby to watch you guys.  So much time wasted yesterday by officials.

QLD WHITE VS NSW SCHOOLS.

NSW Schools showed me from their first warmup that they probably were not contenders this year,  and only luck would carry them through.  In fact luck had got them to this game,  NSW Country really should have been playing here instead of playing Victoria on Oval two (a match they won easily by 36 to 17).  Qld White demonstrated great composure on day one, and would do the same here on day 2 of competition.

Early tries each saw the scores locked up at 5 all.  Qld lead 12 to 5 then for a period,  before we saw the scores locked up at 12 all for a patch.  Qld soaked up some enormous pressure without leaking to many points.  It is a great thing to be able to conduct tryline defence for long periods without cracking,  or leaking too many points or penalties,  especially as 16 year olds,  the impetousness of youth often takes over and something stupid is done.

The Qld boys turned up the heat against a mistake riddle Schools outfit in the second half,  bagging some more points,  and keeping the Schools side scoreless,  to get the game by 22 to 12.

Qld were very good at lineout time,  with conventional,  standard lineouts being the preferred options.  I don't mind this 10,  Dion Taumata from Keebra Park and his inside centre partner Ayden Harawira,  also from Keebra Park,  although he showed a couple of defensive lapses in critical situations.

The forwards stood up manfully against a much bigger pack.  Liam Law on one wing has a majestic pair of feet,  as does the fullback.  I thought Goughy was great,  made some key tackles,  looked hurt at one stage,  but he has a fantastic work rate and work ethic.

Lucas Frater at 15 has plenty of potential,  and is another that has stepped up manfully in the forwards.

Friday will be interesting,  White can certainly win this competition through their superior structures,  but they will need to limit Setu's charges,  need to manage Lucas and Gill by making them do alot of tackling and tying them up on the ground,  nullifying their fierce competitive edge by taking them out of as many plays as possible,  and be very wary of the blistering speed and return credentials of James May at 15,  and Chris Sautia at 11.  Wayward kicks could hurt you by 7 points,  as May and Sautia I am sure will be fastest on field by some distance.  From there they will need to exploit the early channel defensive weaknesses to punch in behind and make the Red side pay.

The Red side will be looking to some of their brilliant stars to not so much shine,  but to have the opportunity to shine.  These opportunities have yet to appear,  but could appear or be made at any moment.  Anyway,  Friday will tell us the story.  Looking forward to it.

It would have been great to see Tom Connor form NSW Country (7) go up against Liam Gill (7) from Qld Red.  Didn't see Connor yesterday,  but these are the two premier 7's at this tournament by a long,  long way,  a head to head would be special indeed.  However,  we won't get to see that one this year.

Until Friday then!,  Have many,  many  pics,  which will no doubt spill into weekend duties,  so do be patient.  Don't think I was as good on the lense yesterday as I was on Monday,  but there will be some there no doubt.