Rugby vs Patrick’s College

Results v St. Patrick’s College, Strathfield. Saturday, 15 May

This weekend’s fixtures saw Trinity take on St. Patrick’s College Strathfield for the second time this year. Once again it was an even split between our two schools, with Trinity claiming seven victories and St. Pat’s the remaining eight.

1st XV	12 – 7	15C	42 – 10
2nd XV	7 – 13	14A	31 – 17
3rd XV	0 – 24	14B	29 – 7
4th XV	0 – 29	14C	26 – 34
16A	10 – 24	13A	26 – 12
16B	7 – 38	13B	14 – 19
15A	61 – 5	13C	0 – 61
15B	72 – 0

Team of the Week

Another week of rugby, and another Monday morning headache trying to come up with a Team of the Week. For context, Kai Roberts (12La) and his man of the match performance for the 1st XV was not enough to keep Clark Foley (10Fo) from the 16As out of the team. This week’s team is:

1. Juno Yim (12Ho) – 3rd XV
2. Max Meagher (9Hi) – 15A
3. Tyson Jackson (12Fo) – 1st XV
4. Miles Brigham (10WH) – 16B
5. David Sukkar (7Ta) – 13B
6. Joel Kellaway (9Du) – 15B
7. Clark Foley (10Fo) – 16A
8. Sam Hohne (12Ke) – 2nd XV
9. Ayman Kassem (7WH) – 13C
10. Austin Daher (8Ke) – 14C
11. Jonothan Bassily (9Yo) – 15B
12. Tom Bermingham (8Mu) – 14A
13. Jozef Cluff (7Ar) – 13A
14. Juno Ananda (12Ar) – 4th XV
15. Isaac Irwin (8Yo) – 14B

Leading Try Scorers & Point Scorers

Each week all our try scorers and point scorers are recorded and collated so we can track the achievements of the young men who represent Trinity on the rugby field each Saturday. After five games, these are our leaders:

	Try Scorers		Point Scorers
10	Christian Henriques 9He; Max Meagher 9Hi	62	Ashton Frazer 9Mu
9	Mitchell Chen 10Ar	50	Christian Henriques 9He; Max Meagher 9Hi
7	Angus Mansfield 7Ke; Jonothan Bassily 9Yo; and Sam Niulala 10St	46	Zachariah Alshehabi 9Du
6	Olly White 12Fo; Zachariah Alshehabi 9Du	45	Mitchell Chen 10Ar
5	Dawson Williams 9WJ; Logan Toohey 8Ke; and Jozeff Cluff 7Ar	37	Angus Mansfield 7Ke

Friends of Rugby

The Friends of Rugby (FOR) Committee is currently looking for parents who are interested in being involved for the 2021 season. In previous years, the FOR has been an invaluable asset to the Trinity rugby community; manning game day BBQs, raising funds for the Japan tour, purchasing dumbbells and other gym equipment for the entire school community as well as countless other essential roles. If you are interested in being a part of the Friends of Rugby for 2021, please contact me (msnowden@trinity.nsw.edu.au).

Mr. Mick Snowden | Director of Rugby

1st XV Match Report

A chilly autumn day greeted Trinity has we took on our neighbours St. Patrick’s College for the second time this season. With three Year groups in attendance along with a significant number of Old Boys, St. Pat’s were primed to atone for their previous 22-12 loss.

The game started at a furious pace with St. Pat’s dominating both territory and possession; this coupled with the early loss of Bertie Alcock (12WJ) to a yellow card, meant that Trinity were on the back foot early. Thankfully, the training weeks’ focus on defensive structure paid dividends with Trinity’s general phase defence seemingly untroubled by the St. Pat’s attack. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for our set-piece defence, as St. Pat’s cut the Trinity backline to ribbons on several occasions and only some desperate cover defence saved the scoreboard attendant from unwanted work.

Eventually the Trinity boys settled into the game and began to minimise the impact of the vocal crowd. Strong running from Tyson Jackson (12Fo), Alisi Leao (11Mu) and Leo Byfield (12Ke) enabled Trinity to take control of the game, resulting in Trinity camping themselves deep into St. Pat’s territory for the remainder of the half. Unfortunately, some impressive scramble defence from St. Pat’s would see Ronan Hennessy (12St) held up over the line and another try go begging when a clear overlap was ignored. The result was a scoreless first half and some tired bodies.

The second half started in much the same fashion as both teams tried to get on top in the territory battle with both 10s trying to kick their team into control of the match. Thankfully, Hunter Hannaford (12Du) got the better of that battle and Trinity continued to pile on the pressure. After an extended period of attack, Tyson Jackson crashed over from a quick tap, the ensuing conversion would see Trinity out to 7-0 lead. Almost immediately St. Pat’s hit back with a quick tap try of their own, the conversion missed to the right, and things were much tighter at 7-5.

Despite the noise from the crowd and the pressure from St. Pat’s, the men in green and white held their nerve. Long periods of quality attack saw us build phase after phase inside the St. Pat’s 22, eventually some smart lead up work from Hunter Hannaford would see Ronan Hennessy cross in the corner to extend our lead to 12-5.

A late St. Pat’s attacking raid was repelled and our 1st XV secured their 5th consecutive win to start the year. A new challenge awaits this week against The Shore School.

Final Score: Trinity 12 defeated St. Patrick’s College 5

Tries: Tyson Jackson (1) & Ronan Hennessy (1)

Conversions: Hunter Hannaford (1)

Mr. Snowden and Mr. Pay | 1st XV Coaches

2nd XV Match Report

A cool Autumn morning greeted us for the return fixture against St Patrick’s College – our only opportunity this year to have a second crack at a team and after a narrow defeat at the hands of SPC late last term, the team was keen to build on the strong performance against St Pius and get one back on their inner-west rivals.

As was the case the last time they met, the teams were evenly matched, and it was clear from the outset that we were in for an arm-wrestle. St Pat’s grabbed the early lead, drawing a penalty in front of the posts and kicking the three points. However, the Trinity men took control of a number of facets of the game, in particular, a set piece where we were dominant at scrum time and commanding in the lineout. Nick Keogh was on point with his throws while Will Blanchfield carried well in attacking from the ruck. This good work saw us travel downfield to eventually cross the line after some good work from Sam Hohne at the back of the scrum. Michael Lindsey converted, and after 22 minutes we were in the lead 7 points to 3. We were unable to further capitalise on possession for the remainder of the half and entered the break with a 4-point lead.

The boys knew this game was theirs for the taking but would need to lift their speed in both attack and defence and use the tail wind to play a territory game. However, TGS did not cope well with a scrappy breakdown and were unable to execute in the same way they did the previous week. Frustration grew from a lack of front foot ball and St Pat’s drew first blood in the half, a try giving them a one-point lead. With the game seemingly poised to go either way, it did feel as though Trinity would break through as the game wore on, but a number of mistakes allowed St Pat’s to take the ball downfield to score in the 56th minute. Unfortunately, this is where the game ended – Trinity suffering another agonisingly narrow loss.

There was much to take out of this game – the loss certainly did not come about through lack of effort or grit. The boys are laying it all on the line when they take the field which is great to see. However, with a few tweaks in positional play I have no doubt the boys can bounce back into the winner’s circle next week.

Final Score: Trinity 7 defeated by St. Pat’s 13

Tries: Sam Hohne (1)

Conversions: Michael Lindsey (1)

Mr. Kearsley and Mr. Ikeuchi | 2nd XV Coaches

Age Group In Focus | Under 16s

16A

On Saturday we visited Breen Oval for their clash against St Patrick’s College. After sub-standard outings in the previous trial matches, the team were eager to put a more complete performance together. Injuries and illness during the week meant that some creative strategies were required to ensure strength across the park. Captain George Sarandos (10St) moved from the front row to flyhalf and back row forward Raphael Antunes (10He) slotted in at inside centre. Better defensive communication and greater intensity at the breakdown were focus areas during training and we emphasised the need for better execution in both of these areas. From the first kick-off it was obvious that the team had taken this onboard and were up to the task. They were playing with greater intensity and their will to succeed was palpable.

The first half was a tight affair with neither team able to breach the opposition’s defence or capitalise on the small opportunities that were presented. However, consistent pressure from Trinity toward the back end of the first half forced the hosts to concede multiple penalties, ultimately resulting in Hunter Goldsborough (11Fo) kicking one over for a 3-0 half time lead. In the second half, some minor lapses in concentration enabled St Patrick’s to score three tries and kick a penalty of their own. While the team could easily have opted to ‘throw in the towel’, they showed great character and determination to fight their way back into the game. Kelvin Kong (10Ar) took advantage of an intercept to score a try and set up an exciting finish. Time was not on our side and the game finished 10-24 but there are certainly more positives than negatives to take away from this fixture. Several players performed well but special mention must be made of Clark Foley (10Fo), Jacob Johnstone (10Sc), Bede Dunn (10St) and Ari Tashtan (10Ke), all of whom had highly impressive outings. Buoyed by this performance, the team will be looking to improve even further as we build towards the first round of the CAS competition.

Final Score: Trinity 10 defeated St. Pat’s 26

Tries: Kelvin Kong (1)

Conversions: Hunter Goldsborough (1)

Penalties: Hunter Goldsborough (1)

Mr. Smallfield and Mr. Di Paola | 16A Coaches

16B

Against St Patrick’s the 16Bs showed further incremental improvement, securing our ball at the breakdown and supporting teammates running up the ball. Miles Brigham (10WH) was outstanding in this respect, winning man of the match for his ever-ready enthusiasm and physical presence. Furthermore, Aiden Carmichael (10Hi) kept the ball moving despite some challenging off the ball play from our opponents. As the game drew to a close, Jonah Arraj (10Hi) was still expending all his energy in attack and defence, and Sam Foung (10Sc) scored the final points right on full time.

Final Score: Trinity 7 defeated St. Pat’s 38

Tries: Samuel Fong (1)

Conversions: Angus Jenkins (1)

Mr. Miller and Dr. Barden | 16B Coaches