Fightback booted
Early lead reeled in but missed goals cost
BOND University skipper Harry Nucifora says another slow start on Saturday and a difficult day personally with the boot combined to send the Bull Sharks crashing to their second straight loss.
The Robina side got off to a shocker in a Queensland Premier Rugby clash with Easts described pregame by coach Brad Harris as like a “semi-final”, falling behind 20-0.
Bond displayed admirable ticker to haul themselves back into the contest before losing 32-28, despite outscoring their opposition five tries to four.
Nucifora kicked one penalty but missed all four of his conversion attempts, while flyhalf Dion Taumata also missed a conversion.
“We just started poorly again and personally my goal-kicking was probably the worst it has been in two years,” Nucifora said. “We actually did a lot of good things but my goal-kicking was just so off that it hurt us a bit so I’ll take the responsibility for that.”
Asked if those troubles came out of the blue – Bond and Nucifora had converted
five of nine previous tries – the scrumhalf revealed a knee problem had been preventing him from getting regular practice.
“I haven’t been able to practise for the last two weeks,” he said. “It’s like anything, if you don’t practise you can’t expect to be good on the day. It’s not the be all and end all but I would say it’s a pretty big factor in why I wasn’t on.”
With Bond having the next two weekends off, Nucifora hopes the rest will allow him to freshen up and do some training with the kicking tee ahead of their Round 6 away trip to take on Souths.
A direct game plan drove their fightback, with Ryan Menzies scoring two tries and being joined on the scoresheet by Zach Moimoi, Jordan Hughes and Dion Taumata.
The simple fact, however, is they gave Easts too much of a headstart to overcome.
“I guess it’s just down to a bit of sharpness and attention to detail,” Nucifora said. “One guy is out of his role or he doesn’t tell another guy where he is straight away and they get through the line and we’re chasing our tails. It’s really small stuff but obviously it has a fairly big impact.”
Bond have slipped to sixth place on the ladder but remain just two competition points behind third-placed GPS.