VSRU Final
Saturday was an occasion that the St Kevin’s community will remember for a long time to come. A triple header of premierships, the cross country team, the basketball team and the rugby team all excelling in their respective sports.
And the 2007 Victorian schools rugby grand final is an event that will be remembered by the rugby community forever.
Both the seconds and the first’s rugby teams had a huge day on Saturday, competing for the premiership. The seconds, led by the enthusiastic Mateesha Herath, faced scotch college seconds in the final.
St Kevins were put on the back foot early, and missing some crucial tackles found Scotch scoring two early, soft tries. However the boys stuck to it as they always do, giving it their all for the entire game. A vital penalty goal attempt was converted by the ever composed Mateesha Herath and a brilliant try brought them back into the game. Unfortunately the boys were unable to hold such intensity throughout the game, with scotch coming out the eventual winners 20-10. I would like to congratulate the 2’s on their success thought the season, winning 6 out of seven round games and for the manner in which they played on Saturday: you did us proud.
The 1’s, coached by Mr Pain and Mr Hutchinson, have lead from the front this season, with a strong performance in the season opening 15’s tournament at Mentone Grammar, taking home the trophy. The 1’s were dominant throughout the season, finishing on top of the table undefeated, scoring 283 points and conceding 8. The Queensland tour was an important part of our season, putting SKC in many testing games, conditioning them for the Victorian schools final.
The Final, held at Mentone Grammar, drew parallel lines with the final of the 15’s tournament, same venue, and same opposition. And as a wise man, ex skipper of the all blacks, Anton Oliver once said. “If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.” The boys were prepared for the game and came out firing, carrying the ball straight up to their try line, where tough Tala Gray scored off a steaming run from a stable St Kevin’s scrum. And minutes later, after a solid line out, the forwards mauled their way up the field where dangerous Dan Meddi grounded the ball for a great pack try. However it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, as Scotch picked up the intensity, and fluently, phase by phase worked the ball down the field to score a good team try to bring them back in the game. The game from then on was played head to head in a very competitive match. However, right when scotch started to get an edge on us, bulky Bill Stewart came out with a huge hit on the Scotch winger, bringing back SKC’s morale. The game looked to be sealed when with five minutes to go, a determined Darcy Etrich launched a penalty goal attempt 40 meters down field, against the wind, which soared straight through the middle of the posts, adding three points to the tally. In the final minutes of the game, with the huge crowd supporting us, we scored one final try, coming from a blitzing run by Jack De Guingand. Final Score St Kevins 23 – Scotch 8.
On behalf of the first fifteen, I would like to thank everyone who came down and supported us in the final, we really appreciate the encouragement; it carried us through the whole game. I would also like to thank our coaches Mr Hutchison, Mr Pain, Mr Toohey and Mr Burris for all of the time you spent with us over the season; it was and is a great family to be a part of.
