Bond University Queensland Country go down to the Vikings on the Gold Coast
Bond University Queensland Country have gone down 58-20 to the University of Canberra Vikings in Round 1 of the 2016 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC), at Bond University on the Gold Coast.
The visitors outscored Country eight tries to three to secure the 38-point win.
Vikings’ scrumhalf Joe Powell was instrumental for his side, putting James Dargaville over for the first try of the match with an inside pass, before popping the ball to Rory Arnold for the Vikings’ second.
Powell almost had a try of his own but for a brilliant try-saving tackle from Queensland Country flyhalf Mack Mason.
Just 25 minutes into the match, Dargaville crossed for a double, injuring his shoulder in the process but helping his side to a three-try lead.
The Vikings’ forward pack capped off an impressive first half with a rolling maul try to captain Jarrad Butler. Country headed into the sheds at half-time trailing 28-nil.
Queensland Country came out with a lot more intent in the second half as their defence tightened up, but they couldn’t stop Arnold from crashing over for his second try.
In only his second match back from a knee injury sustained in Round 3 of the NRC last year, Izaia Perese breached the Vikings’ defence, showing great speed to cross for Country’s first try in the 61stminute.
But any hopes of a comeback were dashed when replacement winger Henry Speight powered his way over the line to extend the Viking’s lead.
Despite the deficit the home side continued to attack and fullback Tom Banks crossed for a double in the final 10 minutes to give Country some momentum heading into next week’s match against the Melbourne Rising.
With five minutes remaining, Australian U20s representative Jordan Jackson-Hope put the nail in the coffin, slicing through Country’s defence to bring up the half century for the Vikings. Speight crossed for the final try on full-time, leaving the final score at 58-20.
“The result today showed the importance of possession,” said Country head coach Toutai Kefu.
“We have an attacking game plan based on possession and we weren’t able to control our own ball today which made it hard for us to pressure the Vikings.
“You never want to lose like that but we saw some positives out there and the team will be better for their experience today. We’ll work on our basic skills and handling heading into our next match against the Rising.”
Queensland Country will travel to Melbourne to face the Rising in Round 2 of the NRC. Kick-off at 1:00pm next Sunday, 4 September.
Bond University Queensland Country 20 (T Banks 2, I Perese tries: Mack Mason conv) defeated by University of Canberra Vikings 58 (J Dargaville 2, R Arnold 2, H Speight 2, R Abel, J Jackson-Hope tries; N Jooste 5 conv)
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