St. Luke’s Anglican School again flexed their rugby muscle at the recent 2021 Queensland Rugby Wide Bay Schools Sevens Carnival at The Waves Sports Complex, with their three teams all excelling.
The Under-18 Boys took out their division, U15 Boys were declared joint-winners with Bundaberg State High School and U13 boys finished runners-up to Maryborough SHS.
A total of 27 teams from Gympie to Gladstone competed over the course of the day, in 48 games across five divisions.
St Luke’s U18 boys swept all before them, downing Urangan SHS 19-5, Bundaberg North SHS 27-14, and Victory College Gympie 27-0 in their Pool Matches, before winning an entertaining battle in the decider 19-10 against Maryborough SHS, who also won their three games in the other Pool.
St Luke’s Director of Co-curricular Sport Mr Len Kirchner said their three teams “all played like champions”.
“And we are really proud of the teams. The pride of the day was our Open Boys, who, regardless of some of the players still being in Year 11, went undefeated throughout the entire day (under coach Mr Michael Parsons) and won the Grand Final to finish as champions – it was great job by all our boys,” Mr Kirchner said.
“Jano Kirchner was the standout performer throughout the day with consistent performances and six tries, well supported by Aiden Davidson and Regard Lourens.”
Bundaberg SHS outgunned Urangan SHS 29-5 in the play-off for third in U18 boys, while Bundaberg Christian College (BCC) sealed fifth, edging out Victory College 24-21, and Bundaberg North SHS white-washed Kepnock 59-0 in the play-off for seventh.
Bundaberg SHS posted two wins in the Pools, against Kepnock 27-0, and BCC 36-12, while BCC recorded one, a famous 20-5 victory against Kepnock.
In U15 boys, St Luke’s accounted for Maryborough SHS 26-21, Trinity College Gladstone 46-0, and Kepnock 63-0, but had to settle for a 19-all draw with Bundaberg SHS, who also won their other three Pool games, against Trinity 21-10, Kepnock 29-0, and Maryborough SHS 24-5.
St Luke’s notched a huge positive 114 points difference to Bundaberg High’s 64, but under the competition rules, the two were crowned as joint-champions.
Mr Kirchner said Finlay Bath scored 9 tries over their four matches to be a stand-out, “with solid performances also from Kai Bailey and Ben Rudd”.
“We also had some good ball carries by Mitchel McCullum, good breaks and many try assists by Luan Kirchner, and rock-solid defence from Braam Lourens. Saxon Blair also showed some good pace on the wing with a couple of long distance tries,” Mr Kirchner said.
Bundaberg High coach Mr Lachlan Walker said they also had many good players.
“Hayden Baldry was relentless at the breakdown, taking advantage of slow clean out and turning defence into attack. He had hot hands in the final taking advantage of players with a loose carry,” Mr Walker said.
“Also, Dominic Bunyoung was workmanlike in the middle, his pick and drive efforts gained momentum and lead to tries to the outside backs. His ability to seal the ruck was impressive and his defence was resolute.
“Joseph Richards was a star outside back, scoring 7 tries on the day and lighting up the field with his electric footwork and blistering speed. Having only a handful of training sessions under his belt, he picked up the nuances of the game quickly and excelled.”
In U13 boys Pool games, St Luke’s shut out Fraser Coast Anglican College 26-0, and also outclassed Bundaberg North 29-5, but were beaten by Maryborough SHS 26-10, and were also overpowered by them in the final 33-0.
Bundaberg North SHS wound up a creditable third in the division with a 27-0 triumph at the expense of Fraser Coast Anglican after having battled out a scoreless draw with them in the Pool rounds.
Maryborough SHS was the only school which competed in all five divisions, and they claimed the U13 Girls title unbeaten, finishing on top in a round-robin format, with all three teams playing each other twice, with Victory College second, and Bundaberg Norths SHS, which had one win, against Victory 15-10, third.
Only two teams lined up in U15 Girls, and Trinity College Gladstone accounted for Maryborough SHS in their four preliminary matches, and again in the final 12-0.
Final placings:
U18 Boys: 1 St Luke’s Anglican School, 2 Maryborough SHS, 3 Bundaberg SHS, 4 Urangan SHS, 5 Bundaberg Christian College, 6 Victory College, 7 Bundaberg North SHS, 8 Kepnock SHS.
U15 Boys: 1 St Luke’s Anglican School & Bundaberg SHS 11 each, 3 Maryborough SHS 6, 4 Trinity College Gladstone 3, 5 Kepnock SHS 0.
U15 Girls: 1 Trinity College Gladstone 12, 2 Maryborough SHS 0.
U13 Boys: 1 Maryborough SHS, 2 St Luke’s Anglican School, 3 Bundaberg North SHS, 4 Fraser Coast Anglican College.
U13 Girls: 1 Maryborough SHS 11, 2 Victory College 5, 3 Bundaberg North SHS 3.
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