The Rugby News issue dated Saturday 28 July 2012 reported the previous round’s result of Northern Suburbs 22 defeating Sydney University 20 as the “upset of the season” whereas die-hard Norths supporters preferred to see the results as a gritty and determined win proving that resolve is building in our Norths 1st Colts team.

The day at Woollahra started very solidly with 3rds Colts defeating their Easts counterparts 45-5 and 2nds chalking up a very convincing 59-14 win as well.

However the 1sts Colts match did not go according to the script and those same die-hard supporters were left wondering whether the win against Sydney Uni had taken a greater toll than expected or that our boys thought that they could take Easts easily.

Easts scored their first try against the run of play within 7 minutes of the kick-off. This was repeated after another 20 minutes with another try against the run of play after a series of missed tackles and our 1st Colts were down 10-0 and realized that they were in a serious game of rugby and that Easts had turned up to play. The first half of rugby was characterized by poor tackling and unfinished opportunities. Jack Grant kicked a penalty goal that saw our team hit the sheds facing a 10-3 deficit.

Apparently, Arch & Hallie gave the boys plenty to think about at half time as the team came onto the field and started to work hard to turn the game around. Jack Walters played his typical game on the ball in both attack and defence. Will Weeks again enjoyed the run against his old club and posted another fine game.

Hugh Sinclair scored a great driving try that was converted by Jack Grant as the real Norths 1sts Colt team began to emerge. With the score at 10 all Norths started to make the tackles count and assert their dominance.

Jack Grant left the field early with a knee injury and spent the balance of the game on ice.

Christian Jones performance in both defence and attack was a highlight of the match.

Tim Duncan and Christian Jones scored two fine tries in opposite corners of the field. The later of the two tries was converted by Chris Smith in a fine display of goal-kicking under pressure.

Final Score: Northern Suburbs 22 def. Eastern Suburbs 10
Try Scorers: Hugh Sinclair, Christian Jones & Tim Duncan
Penalty Goals: Jack Grant
Conversions: Jack Grant, Chris Smith

Best & Fairest:
3 - Will Weeks
2 - Christian Jones
1 - Jack Walters