A mature display from 18-year-old flyhalf Chace Oates has steered the University of Queensland through a tense knockout semi-final in the StoreLocal Hospital Cup.
Oates stepped up at No.10 as the Red Heavies dealt with Souths 33-17 on a hot Sunday afternoon at Sunnybank Rugby Club.
The reward for UQ is a spot in next Sunday’s preliminary final against Wests at GPS Rugby Club.
UQ led 10-0 early thanks to a smart Oates pass and a Jock Campbell long ball which put Queensland Reds winger Mac Grealy over in the corner. A couple of sure Oates’ strikes with the boot added the extras.
The Magpies were their own worst enemies with poor kicking or simply not kicking to the territory plan they had gone into the match with.
They still scraped hard. A comeback try to Reds backrower John Bryant showed the benefit of sustained pressure but the Magpies spilt the kick-off and immediately put themselves back under the pump.
UQ seized the chance in the attacking zone with flanker William Rua peeling off to score from a rolling maul. The non-stop Rua looked like a Cadbury Top Deck roving across the field with his blond-on-brown hairstyle.
Another rolling maul try to hooker Jake Tierney pushed the lead to 20-5 before the Magpies produced their best 20 minutes of the match.
On half-time, Australian Under-20s prop Trevor King crashed over to close the scores to 20-12.
Early in the second half, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips came to life for the Magpies. A wide ball created a chance for winger Tye James who flipped the ball inside to fullback Lachie Stewart.
Grealy shut down the chance abruptly with strong defence which James took offence to with some harmless push-and-shove.
McLaughlin-Phillips did the business himself shortly after with a step and bump to propel himself across the tryline for 20-17.
It was anyone’s game at that point but standout centre Tom Molloy stepped up with a dummy and a direct gallop through unsure defence. He was a steadying presence outside Oates all day.
A pair of Oates penalty goals late in the game put UQ out of reach.
Oates proved the man for the occasion with experienced No.10 Brad Twidale touch and go to return from a quadriceps injury.
“We knew Souths would throw everything at us in the forwards and we prepared all week for that,” Oates said.
“I’m absolutely stoked to be part of that win. I would never have imagined myself in this position to start the year when I was only thinking of playing Colts.
“Having guys like Jock and Mac in the backline is awesome. Jock doesn’t give much emotion but he’s very cool and good with his knowledge. Mac makes sure you are up and ready.”
Teenaged winger Samuela Tuisau was excellent. His shuffle step to spear through two defenders from one kick-off return was elite and he picked up one pass on the bounce with class.
“The forwards showed up massively for us but we all know we have to keep stepping it up with Wests ahead in the prelim,” Campbell said.
“Samuela is like a bowling ball, he is so hard to tackle.”
Souths coach Garrick Morgan should take great pride in the Magpies reaching the semi-finals for the first time in six years but will be disappointed they weren’t at their best.
“We killed ourselves and watched Uni play at times instead of really going at them. I’m proud of how far this team has come but I also know there’s massive growth still in this side,” Morgan said.
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND 33
Tries: Mac Grealy, Jake Tierney, Tom Molloy, William Rua
Conversions: Chace Oates 2
Penalty Goals: Chace Oates 3
Def
SOUTHS 17
Tries: John Bryant, Trevor King, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips
Conversion: Tye James
