The New South Wales Under 18s, led by captain and Rabbitohs player Cameron Murray, have hammered the Queensland Under 18s 26 points to nil in the curtain raiser to Origin II at Suncorp Stadium tonight (Wednesday).
The Young Blues scored six tries to nil in a dominant performance.
There were a few familiar faces amongst both teams with NSW fielding three Rabbitohs in captain Murray, prop Emre Guler and replacement forward Keaon Koloamatangi. The yellow short trainers for both sides were also familiar to Rabbitohs Members and supporters with Matt King running water for NSW and Michael Crocker doing the same for Queensland.
Queensland knocked the ball on from the kick off which gave the New South Welshmen the perfect opportunity to post early points. The Young Blues took that opportunity with winger Zac Lomax scoring on the first tackle from the ensuing scrum in the right corner.
The Blues followed up their first effort with a second try in the tenth minute, when winger Isaac Lumelume tapped back a bomb to back rower Samuel Radovu to give NSW an eight-point lead.
Both sides made errors for the rest of the half which saw attacking opportunities go begging, but NSW would cross for their third try in the 39th minute when centre Tui Afualo crossed following a Lumelume break down the left hand touchline.
Halfback Sean O’Sullivan missed all three conversion attempts in the opening 40 minutes, seeing the New South Welshmen lead 12-nil at the half time break.
Captain Murray tackled everything that moved in the first half, cutting down attackers by tackling around the legs. Guler was also making good metres in the middle.
Zac Lomax crossed for the first try of the second half and his second try of the match, dragging in a bomb with a one handed catch, extending the Blues’ lead to 16-nil early in the second stanza.
Cameron Murray would set up the next try for the Young Blues, making a bust down the left hand side of the field then putting fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen away under the posts. Lomax kicked the first conversion of the night to give NSW a 22-nil lead.
The Blues extended their lead to 26 points in the 65th minute when Lumelume crossed in the left corner, capping off a dominant performance from the boys in blue.
Murray led from the front, leading the defensive effort for the Young Blues. Guler made good metres with the ball in hand and Koloamatangi made a good contribution to the team with his game time.
Rabbitohs Members and supporters can now look forward to seeing Murray and Koloamatangi continue their development in the Rabbitohs’ under 20s outfit throughout the remainder of 2016.
New South Wales Under 18s 26 (Zac Lomax 2, Samuel Radovu, Tui Afualo, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Isaac Lumelume tries; Zac Lomax goal)
defeated
Queensland Under 18s 0
