Billy Bradley of Southern U16 sets up an attack from a scrum in his side's loss against Kamo U16 at Okara Park.
Photo/John Stone
Billy Bradley of Southern U16 sets up an attack from a scrum in his side's loss against Kamo U16 at Okara Park.
Photo/John Stone
Kamo rugby may have to look for another trophy cabinet after their third gong arrived at the club, won by their under-16 side over Southern 29-12 at Okara Park.
The teams featured in the South Zone final in intermittent rain that increased the error count for both sides and includedtwo prolonged injury stoppages.
Southern No 8 Sione Uele suffered a dislocated shoulder and walked off the field with his arm in a sling early in the first half while winger Owen Cleary was stretched off after a nasty head knock.
But there was no stopping hosts Kamo who came prepared to graft and grind, to front Southern physically and get the job done.
It was their third win in a row and much like their champion premier and premier reserves teams three weeks ago, the age-grade team brought more physicality, defensive bite and rugby smarts to Okara Park on Saturday. The more confidence they gained as the game wore on, the more Southern drifted out of the match and their accuracy and cohesion slipped.
Isiah Grey of Southern U16 celebrates after scoring his team's second try in their loss to Kamo U16.
Photo/John Stone
Southern needed a player or two with the X-factor, particularly in the second half when the errors simply compounded and the confidence drained further.
That the team had a superior scrum counted for nought when other set piece plays and an inability to conjure up something from nothing were missing.
Unlike in the first spell, they were massively out of sorts after the breather when Kamo's forwards screwed the nut tighter and ramped up the pressure.
No 8 Zak Cameron led the Kamo forwards with aplomb. He was all over the show and apart from scoring a try, made a whopping 29 to 30 tackles.
With his abrasive play and the way he marshalled the forward pack, it's dollars to doughnuts Cameron will one day feature for Kamo premiers if he sticks with the club long term.
His coach Mike Cameron had nothing but praise for the teenage loose forward.
"He was massive for us and so was skipper Bayden Hay, who ran the boys really well. We just had to believe in our structure and not panic because it was no doubt a tough game."
Southern mentor Evan Paxton lamented injuries to key players in the last couple of weeks.
"Disappointed but the best team won on the day."
Lucas Payne showed slicked handling for Southern when he gathered a kick up front and juggled the wet ball a number of times before scooting 20m to the tryline.
Prior to Payne's try, Kamo's skipper touched down after parking himself at the back of a rolling mall off a lineout throw 5m from the Southern tryline.
On occasions, both teams opted for lineout when conditions means kick at goal was perhaps a better option.
Kamo's third try came from lock Matthew Monaghan, who received a beautifully-weighted pass just as the Southern defensive line opened in midfield and planed the ball under the posts.
