Toowoomba Grammar School alumni show rugby pathway

Toowoomba Grammar School students love their rugby and will play at any chance they get.

So when the opportunity to play a curtain raiser to the National Rugby Championship game arose they jumped on it, despite having not played in about six weeks.

Toowoomba played one of its longest-standing rivals Ipswich Grammar School in the scratch match.

“Both teams were out of training and were prepared to throw the ball around in a good-spirited game,” Toowoomba Grammar School’s director of sport David Bell said.

“They are one of our oldest and most respected rivals.

“An opportunity to play against them is always something we take seriously.”

It was also a chance to watch Toowoomba old boys Hamish Stewart and Phil Potgieter in action.

“That was the attraction for our blokes, to see those boys on a rugby pathway that’s very realistic for them to consider too,” Bell said.

Ipswich secured bragging rights in the curtain raiser, defeating their GPS rivals 40-21 to kickstart an entertaining afternoon of rugby.

Despite the loss Bell was pleased with the TGS players.

“A number of our younger players, boys who were outside of the squad, stepped up and had a run,” he said. “The scratch match had both teams having a run and just enjoying a game without the normal pressure of GPS round.

“It’s amazing how boys will chance their arm when they have the ability to play outside those pressures.”