2016 Buildcorp NRC Round 1 Review

Aug 29 • General News • 1221 Views • Comments Off on 2016 Buildcorp NRC Round 1 Review

The first round of the 2016 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship delivered four exciting and telling matches. UC Vikings took the early ascendency on the ladder and players such as Henry Speight and Luke Morahan asserted their intentions for a national jersey, with impressive performances that saw both of them score two tries each.

With an 11am kickoff in Perth, Luke Morahan’s double helped secure the 20-16 win for the Perth Spirit, despite being outmuscled at the scrum by the powerful Melbourne Rising outfit.

The Sydney Rays enjoyed a bonus-point 50-30 win over the Western Sydney Rams, scoring three converted tries in the opening 14 minutes, with both teams showing scintillating flair in attack throughout the game.

Reigning premiers Brisbane City went down in a hard-fought match against NSW Country Eagles. The Eagles overcame three yellow cards and a fast-finishing Brisbane City side, to secure the impressive 22-12 win over the back-to-back reigning NRC champions.

In the final match of the opening round, the Canberra Vikings flexed their muscles to take the early lead at the top of the table with a 58-20 win. The UC Vikings dominated a young Queensland Country team that, despite having Wallabies lock Rob Simmons, had few answers for the Vikings’ Super Rugby-laden forwards pack.

2016 Buildcorp NRC standings after Round 1:
UC Vikings 5 points
Sydney Rays 5 points
Country Eagles 4 points
Perth Spirit 4 points
Melbourne Rising 1 point
Brisbane City 0 points
Western Sydney Rams 0 points
Queensland Country 0 points

Round 1, Sat 27 August – Perth Spirit v Melbourne Rising, UWA Sports Park
PERTH SPIRIT 20 (Tries: L.Morahan 2, O.Havili; Cons: J.Lance 1/3) def MELBOURNE RISING 16 (Tries: S.Jeffries, J.Reid; Cons: J.Debreczeni 2/2)

Round 1, Sat 27 August – NSW Country Eagles v Brisbane City, Sydney University
NSW COUNTRY EAGLES 22 (Tries: N.Hanigan, A.Newsome, S.Needs; Cons: A.Deegan 2/3) def BRISBANE CITY 12 (Tries: J.Strachan, M.Beauchamp;
Cons: N.Russell 0/2)

Round 1, Sun 28 August – Sydney Rays v Western Sydney Rams, North Sydney Oval
SYDNEY RAYS 50 (Tries: R.Woolf 2, D.Fitzpatrick, H.Jones, J.Dempsey, I.Simone, D.Roos; Cons: A.Sinclair 4/7) def WESTERN SYDNEY RAMS 30 (Tries: B.Paenga-Amosa 2, F.Tufui, R.Allen; Cons: P.Asquith 3/3, A.Nikoro)

Round 1, Sun 28 August – Queensland Country v Canberra Vikings, Bond University
CANBERRA VIKINGS 58 (Tries: J.Dargaville 2, R.Arnold 2, H.Speight 2, R.Abel, J.Jackson-Hope; Cons: N.Jooste 5/8) def QUEENSLAND COUNTRY 20 (Tries: T.Banks 2, I.Perese; Cons: M.Mason 1/3)

Round 2 Fixtures:
6.30pm AEST, Fri 2 Sep – Sydney Rays v Perth Spirit, North Sydney Oval, foxsports.com.au or FOX SPORTS NOW
3.00pm AEST, Sat 3 September – Brisbane City v Western Sydney Rams, Ballymore Stadium, LIVE on FOX SPORTS 502
1.00pm AEST, Sun 4 September – Melbourne Rising v Queensland Country, Harlequin Oval, Melbourne, foxsports.com.au or FOX SPORTS NOW
3.00pm AEST, Sun 4 September – Canberra Vikings v NSW Country Eagles, Viking Park, LIVE on FOX SPORTS 502