Plucky Helensvale nab Cup
HELENSVALE State High School have come from behind to topple Marymount College and claim the honour of being the inaugural Gold Coast District Rugby Super Schools Cup champions.
Greeted by wet conditions at Bond University last night, Helensvale were down 12-5 when fullback Ethan Leypoldt scored his second try in a pivotal moment just before halftime.
Marymount could not arrest the momentum swing, with tries shortly after the break to Raydyn Haeata and Jarian Vililia helping Helensvale run away 22-17 winners.
Marymount finished on a high, however, scoring after the siren through Jaykob Browne.
Helensvale captain Tommy Beck was delighted with the result. “It was a good comeback. We all worked as one, the subs came on hard and lifted us,” said the 14-year-old, who plays club rugby for the Hogs.
Helensvale coach Jamie Weston spoke highly of Marymount, who were undefeated in the competition through five regular-season rounds.
“I was just really pleased with the effort, particularly the guys that came off the bench because that’s where things can go astray in schoolboy rugby,” he said.
“About 50 per cent of our guys play rugby league, so they have had five weeks of rugby. We haven’t had any time to train so they have just been learning on the fly.
“To learn how to game is very pleasing.”
Weston also praised the Cup concept: “It can cost upwards of $2000 for us to send teams away to competitions so to have a competition that we can play in that doesn’t cost us anything, is well run and gives public school kids an opportunity to play a sport like rugby is awesome.” win a