Chasing concrete improvements in their rugby program has pitted Brisbane Grammar against the Queensland Reds women’s team and now the best of the Ballymore Cup.
When the First XV season is such a sprint in GPS rugby, it’s a shrewd idea to chase the extra cohesion that more game rehearsals and matches can provide.
Grammar’s Director of Rugby Tom Christie and First XV Head Coach Tom Court, the former Irish Test prop and British & Irish Lion, have done just that.
For six Tuesday night sessions at Ballymore, curious observers did a double-take watching the Grammar schoolboys going hard at Wallaroos Eva Karpani, Lori Cramer, Tiarna Molloy, Layne Morgan and Co in the Reds side.
It was controlled contact but one accidental swinging arm across the nose of Reds centre Faythe Manera in the first session showed how quickly that could fluctuate.
Christie’s forward thinking is all about making a difference to Grammar rugby.
“Often times, early season rugby is drills and skills and limited chances against opposition,” Christie explained.
“For us to go against a professional women’s outfit was exciting for the boys. There was definitely a robustness to the training sessions that we might not normally get until mid-Term Two.
“It was just really positive for our cohesion and to see match-like pictures as coaches. For the boys, just being able to train at Ballymore was a thrill.”
Christie ushered Brisbane Grammar into the multi-school Ballymore Cup last year. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there’ll be Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 teams from Grammar in the thick of the action at Albany Creek Rugby Union Club.
“Getting five games (with 20-minute halves) at this stage of the year is really beneficial. Our boys get exposed to schools from different competitions and regions, different styles,” Christie said.
“We have quite a few boys who join the school in Years 9 and 10 from a league background so just the exposure to playing more rugby advances their knowledge and confidence.
“The Ballymore Cup is an excellent comp.”
Centre Harper Enasio and backrowers Lincoln Dalton and Dyer Aukuola are all age-group Queensland players while there are also a good number of First XV players returning from 2024 to bolster Grammar’s hopes in 2025.
The 2025 Grammar cohort are planning another fan mission to Suncorp Stadium to support old boy Fraser McReight at a game later this season.
There was a boisterous turnout in 2024 when McReight visited the school group after the Reds-Western Force match.
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The 2025 Ballymore Cup has welcomed New Zealand’s Matamata College, the alma mater of former dual international Craig Innes.
The Kiwis had a 24-14 win over Sunshine Coast Grammar U18s in their first game on Friday.
The tournament’s success is the spread of schools it embraces with Ipswich Grammar and Brisbane Grammar from GPS, Iona College, St Laurence’s College, St Edmund’s College and St Patrick’s College from AIC and regional leaders like Gold Coast’s King’s Christian College, Marist College Emerald, St Brendan’s Yeppoon, Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar from Tweed Heads and Sunshine Coast Grammar.
Hosting Victoria's Narre Warren schoolboys is a first.
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GPS made a stunning start to the StoreLocal Hospital Cup with a commanding 33-10 victory over University of Queensland at a waterlogged St Lucia last weekend.
The Jeeps backrow of Matt Gicquel, Nick Baker and Lachie Howse was as influential as many predicted.
Flanker Gicquel, the 2024 Alex Evans Medallist, is such a high-performer he deserves extra recognition.
It comes this weekend. He will miss the GPS v Souths match in Round Two at Ashgrove to play for the Australian Barbarians on Saturday night at the Coffs Harbour Festival of Rugby.
The Baa-Baas are a wonderful institution. They will be coached by former Wallaby Owen Finegan, who meets a familiar face in Eddie Jones, the coach in charge of Japan Under-23s.
Standout Queensland Country Heelers prop Lesi Tawake, from the Griffith Uni Colleges Knights club on the Gold Coast, will also feature for the Baa-Baas.
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Easts coach Simon Craig jokes that he gets a good read on his team’s performances by the pre-game hair care status of fullback Meli Dreu.
Craig was mildly concerned that Dreu turned up to the opening round clash against Norths without a blond Top Deck treatment.
“He plays better when he’s blond but he’d had a haircut so I felt OK,” Craig said with a laugh.
The Tigers made a statement that they are on the rise again with a 37-10 win over Norths. Dreu chimed in with two tries.
The Tigers host Wests and Reds prop Massimo De Lutiis in Round Two on Saturday while premiers Brothers get underway at Crosby Park against Sunnybank.
At Hugh Courtney Oval, Norths are at home against University of Queensland. Both clubs realise they could have been more patient for better performances in the wet last weekend.
“We have to adapt our game better in the wet. It’s not always about spreading the ball. You have to play tighter,” Norths flyhalf Harry Langbridge said.
“We beat Uni in a trial in the dry just a few weeks ago which definitely helps confidence.”
