BLK Queensland Premier Rugby Preview – Semi-Finals
This weekend will see Ballymore play host to the 2016 BLK Queensland Premier Rugby semi-finals, with this year’s top-four competing for the chance to feature in the grand final on Sunday, August 7.
Matches will be played across both Saturday and Sunday, with the women’s semi-finals kicking off at 8:35am tomorrow morning, before the Premier Grade minor and major semi-finals on Sunday afternoon.
Third placed Souths and fourth placed Sunnybank will go head-to-head in the minor semi-final, kicking off at 3:05pm on Sunday, before University of Queensland and Brothers clash in the major semi-final at 5:05pm.
University head into the finals in impressive form, having not dropped a game since Round 1, to finish the regular season with 15 straight wins. Brothers will however be buoyed by the return of St.George Queensland Reds prop Taniela Tupou, who will bring his learnings from his late season Super Rugby appearances back into the Brethen’s forward pack.
In the minor semi-final, after Souths pipped Sunnybank to finish in fourth place last year on points difference, Sunnybank will be out to set the record straight as they also look to provide long-term head coach Rod Seib, who is finishing his time at the club as head coach, with the perfect send off.
The matches will provide grassroots Rugby fans with the chance to see two great matches back-to-back, with entry to Ballymore free for spectators across the semi-finals weekend.
The two Premier Grade matches will also be LIVE streamed via Facebook LIVE as well as the www.redsrugby.com.au homepage.
Preview the semi-finals and gain valuable insights into the Premier Rugby competition in this week’s edition of the Premier Rugby Weekly digital program: http://bit.ly/2awRKT7
You can also view the latest episode of the Premier Rugby Wrap here: http://bit.ly/2a8ho2P
View Premier Rugby fixtures and results here: http://bit.ly/1Wt41uE
View the Premier Rugby ladder here: http://bit.ly/1Q8QGAe
University of Queensland v Brothers
Location: Ballymore Stadium
Kick-off: 3:05PM
The BLK Queensland Premier Rugby major semi-final will see traditional rivals, University of Queensland and Brothers, go head-to-head at Ballymore. University’s season is not dissimilar to 2010, when, after dropping their first game they went undefeated throughout the remainder of the season to win the Hospital Cup for the first time in 20 years. This year, they’ve knocked off Brothers on both occasions, including a 47-35 victory at Crosby Park in a match that featured 12 tries. More recently, UQ registered their 15th win in-a-row with a clinical 31-14 performance over GPS.
Brothers are on a win-streak of their own, overcoming tough conditions and a determined Easts outfit in the final round for their fourth win on-the-trot. The Brethren are one of two sides to put more than 30 points on University in 2016 and with leading Premier Rugby try-scorer Mitch Felsman on the Wing, they’ll back themselves to do it again.
But, in Tom Pincus, UQ have a point-scoring machine of their own. The winger has notched up 156 points in 2016 at an average of 12 points per match. The Heavies’ goal kicker has been in exceptional form, rarely missing the uprights. Remember, it was Pincus who guided University to their last premiership with a long-range penalty-goal after the siren in 2014.
University of Queensland: Pat Fepuleai, Tonga Ma’afu, Hamish Richardson, Pat Morrey, Phil Potgieter, Conor Mitchell, Jack de Guingand, Jack Cornelsen, Scott Gale, James Dalgleish, Jock Campbell, Nathan Russell, Josh Birch, Tom Pincus, Tom Banks
Coach: Mick Heenan
Brothers: Francois Postale, Matt Mafi, Taniela Tupou, Ted Postale, Dave Finlay-Heneway, Criff Tupou, Charles Freney, Luke Beauchamp, Angus Fowler, Stefano Hunt, George Partidge, Nathanuel Gendle, Elih Baillie, Mitch Felsman, Patrick James
Coach: Carl Marshall
Souths v Sunnybank
Location: Ballymore Stadium
Kick-off: 5:05pm
In the minor semi-final, Souths and Sunnybank will tussle for a place in the preliminary final. Third-placed Souths have finished one better in 2016 and should use last years’ experience as the building blocks for this campaign. In 2015, the Magpies snuck into the finals in the last round and won all three of their knockout matches to win their first Hospital Cup in 15 years.
Souths’ place in the 2015 finals came at Sunnybank’s expense, so the Dragons will be happy to be back playing finals footy. The Dragons last featured in the finals in 2014, where they narrowly went down to University after the siren in the grand final. Sunnybank will now have to string three wins together for the first time since they knocked off Bond, Wests, Easts and Norths earlier in the year. They’ve struggled for consistency in the back-half of the season, but the bye in the last round of competition could prove beneficial for the team.
Souths defeated Norths 26-5 in their last match, which should give them confidence heading into the finals. It was only the second time in 2016 that the Magpies have held a team to less than 10 points. Souths will also draw confidence from their two hit-outs with Sunnybank this year, where a one-point victory in Round 2 was followed by a 19-10 win in Round 11.
Souths: Markus Vanzati, Alex Casey, Paulo Leleisiuao, Matt Bennett, Bruce Williamson, Simana Halaifonua, Anton Minenko, Isireli Naisarani, Scott Malolua, Teti Tela, Mika Tela, Paul Brown, Levi Aumua, Keeghan Sefton, Semeti Tela
Coach: Brett Picone
Sunnybank: Feao Fotuaika, Moli Sooaemalelagi, Tereina McLean, Brendan Mitchell, Tuaina Tualima, George Blomfield, Chazz Mahina, Jeffrey Faamausili, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Jake Strachan, Jason Beeton, Fred Dorrough, Conrad Quick, Joshua Edmond, Joshua Bowen-Bowyer
Coach: Rob Seib
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