A halftime rev-up by the coaches and captain Morgan Innes saw Wanganui Collegiate's First XV wrap up their Australian tour in style with a 35-14 win over Sydney Grammar on Wednesday.
Tied 14-14 going into the break, Collegiate scored three unanswered tries in the second half to finish their tourwith two wins and a narrow loss.
Acting coach Barry Touzel said their hosts started with good aggression and structure, whereas his team seemed a little sluggish.
They still led after taking their opportunity in the opening moments as a forced error let Collegiate kick through for winger Jonty Nesbitt to score.
"Grammar showed better control and determination ... and after putting together some good phases scored a well-worked converted try to level the scores," said Touzel.
Nonetheless, Collegiate replied just a minute later through an intercept try to Stephen Perofeta, converted by Jack Lupton. Grammar maintained their composure and through a well-worked rolling maul from a lineout drove over for the equaliser.
The Sydney team were willing to get the ball wide while Collegiate were struggling with their execution come halftime.
Given the "stern words", Collegiate's improvement was immediate as they played with far more aggression and began to put the structure together come the second stanza.
Tighthead prop James Fisk crossed over - after some good mauling by three of the forwards - to regain the lead.
Ollie Paine rounded off a good move to score between the posts, with Perofeta adding the extras.
Touzel said WCS started to dominate in the last 15 minutes and were unlucky not to score on several occasions. Good defence from Grammar's loose forwards held Grammar at bay.
Hooker Joe Edwards, named Collegiate's player of the day, eventually broke through for the fifth converted try.
