Classy centre Tai Taka and an influential fleet of super subs finished off a superb 32-24 win for the Queensland Under-18s over their NSW rivals in Sydney.
Last Saturday’s victory was a rousing bounce-back after a flat finish to a 50-33 loss to the same opponent just a week before at Ballymore Stadium.
The match against the junior Waratahs was in the balance until the final minutes.
With just 95 seconds on the clock, replacement fullback Angus Tagicakibau surged into the line and fed a neat inside ball to Taka.
Taka still had to shake three defenders. He did so and plunged over to settle a match that had been there for either side at 27-24.
The young Queenslanders showed real composure in the final 10 minutes by treasuring the ball and forcing the Waratahs into mistakes.
In quick succession, flyhalf Damon Humphrys banged an excellent 50m kick to relieve the pressure, prop Harrison Asi made a strong midfield run, backrower Adam Latham pressured and Tagicakibau threw the final pass for a try. All had entered the game from the bench.
Taka had led the composure as fill-in skipper in the final stages with prop Kingsley Uys and flyhalf Finn Mackay both off the field.
The match was locked at 7-all early after fullback Treyvon Pritchard scooted over after a fine run by winger Myles Rosemond had committed two defenders.
The Queenslanders were down 17-7 at the 30-minute mark before they started to gain momentum.
Prop Uys picked up a ball and exploded from the back of a ruck and charged head. His one-handed offload put Tagicakibau over.
The visitors took the lead for the first time on 48 minutes with their best try, ignited by strong defence forcing a turnover.
Humphrys threw a slick cut out pass to Taka, who put Rosemond into some space. When the cover defence gobbled him up, the winger stayed calm and offloaded inside to flanker Gray O’Neill for the try and 21-17.
“A week earlier, NSW had gone above and beyond in the effort areas. We asked our guys to do the same in Sydney. It’s a tough place to play but that’s exactly what the boys did for an excellent win,” Queensland U18s coach James Pritchard said.
“Damon controlled it extremely well in the closing stages. It was nice and calm and we turned the pressure on NSW.
“We put pressure on the Waratahs with our starting scrum and we were able to continue that when we made changes as well.
“It was very pleasing to see players like Angus come off the bench for decisive moments in the game.
“One thing from the loss the previous week was the boys seeing that NSW were beatable.
“Tai is a strong personality and good communicator in our side. He had some key touches.”
