Bond University Queensland Country fall to the Sydney Rays on the Gold Coast

Sep 12 • General News, International • 1849 Views • Comments Off on Bond University Queensland Country fall to the Sydney Rays on the Gold Coast

Bond University Queensland Country have gone down to the Sydney Rays 30-22 in their Round 3 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC) encounter at Bond University.

The Rays outscored Country four tries to three, with winger Richard Woolf scoring a double, while Izaia Perese, Mitch Third and Tom Banks crossed for Country.

Queensland Country dominated possession in the first-half and applied plenty of pressure on the Rays. With the score still nil-all at the 25-minute mark, it looked as though Country would be first to score through a penalty try after packing down three consecutive scrums off the back of Rays penalties on their try-line.

However, it was Izaia Perese who crossed for the first try of the game, darting down the blind side of a scrum to score in the 27^th minute. Flyhalf Mitch Third slotted the conversion to give Country an 8-nil lead.

The home side’s lead was short lived as the Rays crossed for two converted tries through Woolf and Nick Palmer to secure a 16-8 lead heading into half-time.

The visitors extended their lead early in the second half with Woolf crossing for his second in the 48^thminute. Matt Lucas missed the conversion leaving the score at 22-8.

The match paused for a period at the 54-minute mark, with debutant winger Liam Jurd stretched from the field. He has been cleared of any serious neck or spinal injury by match day medical, sustaining a concussion.

The Rays crossed for their fourth try through backrower James Brown in the 59^th minute. Lucas converted to give the visitors a 30-nil lead.

Third sparked Queensland Country’s come back in the 66^th minute, crossing for a try down the left-hand flank, which he converted, to narrow the gap to 30-16.

Country continued to attack in the final 10 minutes of the match, and eventually Tom Banks dove over in the right-hand corner to narrow the gap to 30-22. Third missed the conversion with just one minute remaining on the clock.

The Country team looked to secure the draw, attacking off the final kick-off, but a knock-on ended the match with the Rays ahead 30-22.

Queensland Country head coach Toutai Kefu said: “There were a number of elements of the game including turnovers and decision making that hindered us today, but they are areas that we can work on.

“In the opening period of the game when we held the majority of possession, we needed to come away with points. We dropped off either side of half-time and that is when the Rays capitalised.

“The conditions made it hard for us to implement our attacking pattern and tactically we had to adjust, but the team managed to move the ball wide and they’ll continue to improve. Credit to the opposition, the defensive structure of the Sydney Rays was really good.”

Queensland Country will travel to Perth to take on the Perth Spirit next Sunday, September 18, kick-off at 1:00pm (local time).

Queensland Country 22 (I Perese, M Third, T Banks tries: M Third 2 conv) defeated by Sydney Rays 30 (R Woolf 2, N Palmer, J Brown tries; M Lucas 3 conv)