McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City lose to Perth Spirit

Oct 3 • General News, International • 1315 Views • Comments Off on McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City lose to Perth Spirit

McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City have suffered a 60-22 loss to the Perth Spirit at UWA Sports Park in Round 6 of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship on Sunday afternoon.

Poor discipline again proved costly for City, with three yellow cards within 10 minutes allowing the home side to run away with the contest.

City head coach Rod Seib said: “We had a reasonable first half, but you just can’t maintain momentum with only 13 men on the field.

“We’re disappointed, but we’ve got one game left this season, which is one more opportunity to showcase what we’re capable of. We’re coming up against a Queensland Country side which had a strong win yesterday, so we expect nothing short of an absolute belter of a contest.”

The sides traded points in the first half, but it was the home team which went into the break with the advantage 20-16, after scoring their third try after the 40^th minute.

City could’ve entered half time with a 16-14 lead, after tries to flyhalf Jake McIntyre and winger Mitch Felsman, but a yellow card to scrumhalf Moses Sorovi for offside in the 39^th minute opened the door for the Spirit.

The penalty allowed the home side to set up a five-metre attacking lineout and go to their rolling maul, with Richard Hardwick crashing over to give his side a 20-16 lead at half time.

City again found themselves in trouble with referee Rohan Hoffmann early in the second half, with forwards Moli Sooaemalelagi and Lukhan Tui receiving yellow cards in quick succession for illegally defending the Spirit’s powerful rolling mauls.

The Spirit enjoyed immediate gain from the two-man advantage, scoring three quick tries to put the game beyond reach. Wallabies loose forward McCalman scored two of the tries, off a rolling maul and five-metre scrum, with Semisi Masirewa scoring the other out wide. In the space of 10 minutes, the score had pushed out to 38-16.

Defending with 13-men for an extended period of time proved too much for City, as the home side ran in a further three tries to one in the back end of the second half.

Brisbane City will finish the NRC season at Ballymore Stadium next Sunday, 9 October, with the annual Andy Purcell Cup clash against Bond University Queensland Country at 2:00pm (AEST). Kids get free entry to the match and fans are welcome on the field at both half time and full time.

McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City 22 (Jake McIntyre, Mitch Felsman, Brad Lacey tries; McIntyre 2 conversions) defeated by Perth Spirit 60 (Heath Tessmann, Marcel Brache, Richard Hardwick 2, Ben McCalman 2, Semisi Masirewa, Manihera Eden, Ross Haylett-Petty tries; Ian Prior 1, Eden 1, AJ Alatimu 1 conversions) at UWA Sports Park on Sunday 2 October, 2016.