Round 6 of the Hospital Cup saw four great matches play out, with Sunnybank claiming their first win of the season, GPS winning back the Bunter Bowl, Bond holding a determined Souths at bay on the Gold Coast and defending champs University of Queensland securing a commanding win over Easts.
The Gallopers have won back the Bunter Bowl after losing it in Round 3 to Bond University, with a 79th minute penalty from Jason Hofmeyr securing GPS a one-point 20-19 win over Wests.
Keynan Tauakipulu opened the scoring in the 26th minute for the home side, followed by a try to Nick Baker for GPS in the 30th minute, but a rampaging Vilikesa Raboiliku put the home-side ahead 14-7 at the break thanks to two successful conversions from Cooper Whiteside.
The score remained the same until the 65th minute, with Maile Ngauamo scoring for the Gallopers following his return to Premier Rugby from France. Hofmeyr missed the conversion leave the score at 14-12.
A quick tap from Moses Sorovi saw Ilikena Vudogo put away down the left-hand flank, resulting in a try that put Wests ahead 19-12 in the 68th minute.
GPS weren’t down-and-out, and fought their way back into the Wests 22. Emosi Tuqiri ran a hard line next to the ruck to dot down for GPS third try of the afternoon, narrowing the margin to 19-17. Hofmeyr missed the conversion that would have levelled the scores with 9 minutes left to play,
GPS returned to the Wests half and while the Bulldogs managed to hold the Gallopers at bay, they gave away a penalty in front of the posts. Much like last year’s semi-final, Hofmeyr stepped up and slotted the kick, which put GPS ahead by one-point 20-19, silencing the vocal Wests’ Ladies Day crowd.
The Red Heavies outscored Easts eight-tries-to-three at Tigerland over the weekend to claim a commanding 51-15 win.
Donning their Indigenous Round jerseys, the Student’s scored first in the 13th minute through TJ Siakisini.
Taj Annan was denied Easts first try before Max Baker scored the first of his two tries of the afternoon in the 18th minute.
UQ hooker Quentin Raravula scored in the 29th minute, his first try in Premier Grade in his starting debut, taking the score to 10-5. Kye Oates slotted a penalty in the 39th minute to take the half-time score to 13-5.
The Red Heavies came out of the blocks firing in the second half, scoring in the opening minute after a break from Siakisini resulted in a try to Tom Molloy. Forwards Connor Mitchell, Nathan Beil and Jake Tierney all crossed for tries before Ben Littleton scored a great individual try for the Tigers after coming off the bench at scrumhalf.
Kye Oates answered back for the Red Heavies, before Baker dotted down for his second of the afternoon. Reuben Mulipola had the final say of the afternoon, scoring in his Premier Grade debut for the Heavies in the left-hand corner in the final play of the match.
Oates slotted four conversion and a penalty, as well as scoring himself, to amass a individual total of 16 points in the 51-15 victory.
The Dragons have secured their first win of the 2022 season, outscoring Norths six-tries-to-three in their 36-19 victory at ‘The Bank’.
Josh Fenner crossed for a double in the match, as did Norths number 8 Will Rogers.
Sunnybank dominated the first half, with Tom Mellor, Fenner, Dave Feao and the old bull Rex Tapuai all crossing for tries before half-time, with Luke Everson slotting three conversions to give the Dragons a 26-nil lead.
Fenner crossed for his second of the afternoon in the opening exchanges of the second half off the back of scrum close to the Norths line, before lock AJ Woulf scored his second try in as many weeks to get Norths on the board in the 51st minute.
Rogers was next to score, crossing for his first in the 59th minute, before Puni Aupuni scored Sunnybank’s sixth try in the 66th minute.
Rogers would have the final say of the match, scoring in the 80th minute, but the damage was already done and the Dragons claimed a bonus point win over their cross-town rivals.
The boot of Hayden Sargeant proved the difference in the Bond’s 29-24 win over Souths, slotting three conversions and a penalty to secure the win, with both side’s scoring four-tries-a-piece.
Abele Atunaisa scored the first try of the match in the 14th minute, which Sargeant converted before slotting a penalty in the 23rd minute, to give the home side an early 10-nil lead.
Prop George Francis put Souths on the board in the 30th minute, fighting his way through defenders on Bond’s line to score. The conversion from Lachie Stewart narrowed the margin to 10-7.
Bond would extend their lead before halftime, with two converted tries scored by Connor Pritchard and Nixon Taramai seeing the home-side take a 24-7 lead into the break.
Souths fought their way back into the match, with Theo Fourie and Jakob Morrison both scoring to narrow the margin to 24-17 before the 60th minute.
Max Dowd was next to score, darting down the right flank to extend Bond’s lead to 29-17.
Harry McMahon came off the bench into the backline for Souths and converted his own try in the 71st minute to narrow the margin to 29-24.
Souths were on the attack in the dying stages of the game, camped on the Bond line, but a successful rip in a tackle from Dowd saw Bond regain possession, and Dan Lancaster booted the ball into touch to end the game, securing the win for the Bull Sharks.
