St Patrick’s College was delighted to welcome back Old Collegian and NSW Waratahs player Ola Tauelangi this week for our Rugby Presentation Dinner.

Ninety people filled the OCA Pavilion on Tuesday night for the much-anticipated event, which recognised the College’s 2023 rugby season and our outstanding players.

Sixteen students from our Under 14, Under 16 and 1st XV teams received awards. The award winners were:

Under 14

Best and Fairest – Hamish Quigley

Coaches Award – Charlie Farrugia & Te Nawai

Most Improved – Lawson Goodall

Players Player – Mac Lewis

Under 16

Best and Fairest – Jett Florence

Coaches Award – Charlie Burns & Jimmy Vaiotu

Most Improved – Patterson Meneely

Players Player – Hugh Jackson

1st XV

Best and Fairest – Aussie McIlwaine & William Card

Coaches Award – Max West

Most Improved – William Charles

Players Player – Aussie McIlwaine & Toby Pearse

The College also awarded the Ecka Dora Community Participation Award to Mr Anthony McIlwaine for his contributions to the SPC rugby program.

The Melbourne Rising are going back to school this Sunday when they host the Sydney Rays in the National Rugby Championship at St Patrick’s College Ballarat.

It will be the first time a school in Australia has hosted such a match, creating another unique piece of sporting history for the school which is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2018.

For the Rising, the chance to take the match to Ballarat reflects a conscious effort to spread the rugby gospel to regional areas.-

Players will feel right at home when they take to the field this Sunday, returning to the venue where they underwent their gruelling 2018 preseason camp.

-As part of the Rebels MOU with St Patrick’s Ballarat we are delighted to bring the game to the school and the community on Sunday,- said Rebels GM of Rugby, Nick Ryan.

-We feel a deep obligation to promote and grow the game, as much as achieve results on the field, and engagements such as Sunday’s game gives everyone a great opportunity to connect and influence the rugby community in Ballarat.-

Ryan was particularly impressed by the facilities on offer at St Patrick’s College, which will make a nice home for The Rising squad this weekend.

-In our pre – season camp we held at the school in January, we left very impressed with the facilities at the school and the leadership of its executive team and we look forward to continuing to support the students and the parents over the coming years with our association with the school and local community,- said Ryan.

Despite sitting at the bottom of the ladder, Rising Head Coach Eoin Toolan is cautious of the threats that the Sydney Rays pose.

-The Rays have several threats across the park who we have to be mindful of,- observed Toolan.

-Hugh Sinclair in the backrow is obviously a guy we know well after his time with The Rebels last year, and Wallaby Jack Dempsey has been impressive this campaign. He looks like he has recovered well from his hamstring injury. Together, they form a strong backrow.-

The opportunity to engage with the local community is an added bonus for The Rising squad.

-One of the things that we’ve enjoyed most as a team this year is the opportunity to take our games to regional areas. The facilities at St Pat’s are terrific and having the crowd up close to the sideline is something that will add a nice atmosphere to the game,- said Toolan.

-Having done our 2018 preseason Rebels camp in Ballarat, we know just how passionate the local community is about rugby. We actually trained up here in 40 degree heat back in January and still had a few hundred locals turn up to training, so I’m sure they’ll appreciate the cooler temperatures this Sunday.-

-For us, we really want to finish 2018 on a high. We feel like we’ve come a long way as a team this campaign and are looking forward to rewarding our fans with some entertaining rugby this weekend.-

The Melbourne Rising will take on the Sydney Rays at St Patrick’s Ballarat this Sunday at 1pm.

Gates open at noon and entry is free. Catering is available with hamburger and ice-cream vans and pizzas from The Forge Pizzeria available. The match will be broadcast live on FoxSports 3.

All members of our community are invited to attend.

Full time:– SKC 22 d SPC 7 (HT 12-0)

Try scorer/s: Josh Wilson-Stanton

Conversion/s: Pou Siola’a (1/1)

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5 -“ Eddie Sauvao 4 -“ Pou Siola’a 3 -“ Ryan Yeomans 2 -“ Inoke Siola’a 1 -“ Koni Wolfgramm

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My final report for 2018. I thought I may leave it to the new week to write, however I have surprising clarity for late on a Saturday evening. The length of our season has been well publicised, as has the commitment and efforts of our players, so I do not need to revisit that context or that this game represented a significant opportunity for our playing group, an opportunity to write a new page in the College’s rich sporting history. As I write this report, I am overwhelmed with an enormous sense of pride, which is perhaps why I have such clarity. Our players formed a special bond early in the season and strengthened it in Canberra, our first ever rugby tour. Each player has given so much on our journey to today and has represented the College with such distinction that we can all be proud of. There was a game of rugby to be played today, a game that all wanted to win, however when we all reflect on the journey that our rugby program has been on for the last few years our accomplishments are quite remarkable. I do not want this to become a reflective piece on the season at large, that can be enjoyed at our forthcoming Presentation Evening (September 6^th), but to have brought over 100 supporters down from Ballarat, a group comprising of our young, aspiring players, parents, old boys, staff, community members and more, it is a true sign of the strength of our rugby community and that success cannot be forgotten by a Grand Final defeat.

Unfortunately, it was a defeat, a defeat to a quality opposition with a history of their own, of continued, sustained success. St Kevin’s are to be applauded and are deserved champions for 2018. Ultimately, we must dust ourselves off, climb from the canvass and ensure we are prepared for the many new challenges that await. For our Yr12 players it won’t be a challenge that they face as today marked their final chapter in their own St Patrick’s College rugby story. To a player they can each reflect on an outstanding school career and I wished success for them today, however we fell just short. This senior group have led our younger players with distinction and left everything on the field this afternoon. Some critical decisions went against us, however we shall not point the finger of blame at anyone else except ourselves. We were the determiners of our own destiny and today we were not able to execute either our attack or defence strategies as we had hoped to. Playing a significant period of the game with a player down did not help our cause and credit must go to the remainder of the players for their resilience and determination to continue to believe, even when the scoreboard looked desperate.

What a season. A season that saw many firsts and much to celebrate in a few weeks time. There were tears on the final whistle, but these were just a sign of the desire that our players showed. This game, this opportunity, meant everything to our players -“ and they came up just a fraction short. The occasion was spectacular and one that will live long in the hearts and minds of all who attended. The whole group (and there are too many to thank individually in this report) are indebted to everyone who made it so special, who fought alongside us to the final whistle and who wrapped us up in your embrace to pick us off the floor.

Our 2019 season will commence on October 8^th, please forgive me for the break that we all need until then. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It has been a pleasure. –

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Full time: 25 -“ 17 (HT 12-3)

Try scorer/s: Josh Wilson-Stanton, Eddie Sauvao, Penalty

Conversion/s: Pou Siola’a (2/3)

Penalty/ies: Pou Siola’a (2/2)

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5 -“ Ethan Jessop 4 -“ Josh Cooper 3 -“ Eddie Sauvao 2 -“ Regan Champley 1 -“ Ryan Yeomans

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Last week the -prize- was a home semi-final, today it was a place in the Grand Final. This was evident in the intensity of the game. A wonderful crowd was treated to a spectacular game of rugby, fiercely contested, by two quality sides. Facing each other in consecutive weeks led to a closer contest this week given each other’s knowledge of our two respective sides. There was an element of attrition and, ironically, the side against the elements won their half, however we would be able to defend with greater success for longer periods and still enjoyed opportunities to score.

We won the first half, into a strong breeze, 12-3. The turning point was a yellow card to our opposition’s Fullback, which also resulted in a Penalty Try. After sustained periods of pressure, our defence was resolute and our transition into attack was clinical. Such a moment led to our first try of the contest, scored by Josh Wilson-Stanton. Marcellin concluded the half with a Penalty Goal, but the damage was done and the lead was significant, as was our opponent’s inability to breakdown our defence.

The message at halftime was to not assume the game was won, that with the elements on our backs that the result was now a foregone conclusion. We needed to utilise our advantages, however we needed to do so by playing smart rugby. Ultimately, we made many questionable decisions in the second half that let our opposition into the contest. The key to our final success was our ability to maintain scoreboard pressure. As Marcellin fought their way back, we were able to keep just out of touch. Marcellin pressed to the final whistle and won the second half, however the damage had been done in the first exchange and there was jubilation for all supporting us as we secured a place in the Grand Final.

So many people have got us to this point and Saturday’s game provided a snapshot of the power of our rugby community and those supporting us. Preparations were outstanding (I would almost say perfect), the field was resplendent and the support was something Shed Oval had never seen before. We are so close to creating history and now just wish all within our College’s extensive community to join us next Saturday and help us over the line.