Second-half blitz falls short as Nudgee pip TSS
THE Southport School have been left to rue first-half missed opportunities as they fell 34-29 to Nudgee College in a GPS Rugby classic.
The premiership-deciding match looked totally one-sided when Nudgee headed into halftime leading 24-0 but Mike Wallace and his TSS side were not done yet, with a 20-point wind behind them in the run home.
TSS bounced back to level the scores at 29-29 before Nudgee’s Jangala Bennet broke the deadlock.
“I knew when we turned with the wind that we would certainly put them under pressure but we probably needed to take one or two of those chances in the first half to really be in a more comfortable position,” coach Wallace said.
“(But) the ability to stick to their processes and show a bit of grit and work hard, that has been the hallmark of this team.
“Obviously there was a significant number that it was their last game for the school so that was a fairly emotional day for them.”
Bright futures await many, with representative commitments to come for Tom Van der Schyff, Spencer Jeans and Tyrell Kopua (Australian Schoolboys), Zane Nonggorr (Australian Schools Barbarians) and Reno Gerrard (Queensland Country under-19s).
Among those still with another year to go at TSS are Nonggorr, Wilson Blyth, Luc Lyndon, Jesse Gray, Dion Samuela and Hamish Roberts.
“They will need to show a fair bit of leadership next year,” Wallace said.