Bond University Queensland Country go down 66-36 to the Perth Spirit

Sep 19 • General News, International • 1072 Views • Comments Off on Bond University Queensland Country go down 66-36 to the Perth Spirit

Bond University Queensland Country have gone down to the Perth Spirit 66-36 at the University of Western Australia, in Round 4 of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC).

Perth Spirit outscored Country nine tries to five, with Western Force winger Luke Morahan crossing for hat-trick for the home-sode.

Queensland Country head coach Toutai Kefu said: “We held possession for a long period at the start of the game but we weren’t able capitalise on the opportunities we were creating.

“Perth made the most of their opportunities and made inroads off the back of their direct attack. Overall their execution was better than ours, but the score-line wasn’t indicative of the team’s effort and intent.

“There were some good performances from Angus Scott-Young in his starting debut, as well as Izaia Perese and Tom Banks in the backs. Our set piece also performed well and we managed to produce some good passages of play.”

Queensland Country dominated possession for the opening 20 minutes of the game, and continuously attacked the Perth Spirit line.

However, it was Spirit prop Shambeckler Vui who drove over for the first try of the match in the 26th minute. Jonathan Lance added the extras to put the home side ahead 8-nil.

Morahan scored his first try in the 31^st minute, before Ross Haylett-Petty crossed for a double to put the Spirit ahead 30-nil at half-time.

The Perth side scored a further two tries through Ryan Louwrens and Marchel Brache in the opening 10 minutes of the second stanza, before a yellow-card to Spirit lock Kieran Stringer in the 54^th minute sparked a come-back for Queensland Country.

Reserve hooker Feleti Kaitu’u edged underneath the Perth defence from close range to cross for Country’s first try of the game in the 56^th minute. Mitch Third slotted the conversion, the score now 46-8.

Inside centre Duncan Paia’aua went 90 metres three minutes later to cross for Country’s second try, before backrower Jack Cornelsen dove over for the third. Tyrone Lefau, Mack Mason, Izack Rodda and Liam McNamara were all involved in the six-pointer.

Mason crossed for a try at the 75-minute mark, before Morahan secured his hat-trick to take the score to 60-30 with just minutes left to play.

Perth outside centre Ammon Matuato crashed over for a converted try in the 78^th minute, before Tom Banks scored after the siren to leave the final score at 66-36, in favour of the home-side.

Queensland Country will play the Western Sydney Rams in Sydney at Concord Oval next Saturday, 24 September, with both sides still in the hunt for their first win of the season.

Queensland Country 36 (F Kaitu’u, D Paia’aua, J Cornelsen, M Mason, T Banks tries; M Third 1 conv M Mason 1 conv 1 dg) defeated by Perth Spirit 66 (L Morahan 3, R Haylett-Perty 2, S Vui, R Louwrens, M Brache, A Matuauto tries; J Lance 7 conv)