Southern Lions Champ A team travelled to Arks RUFC new grounds at Harrisdale for the first time. Lions were chasing a win to keep the pressure on ladder leaders Mandurah RUFC.
The first half proved tough for the Lions with Arks scoring some nice individual tries to take the lead at half-time. Some strong words for the coaches provided the spark the players needed and some fine team tries resulted in a strong win for Lions.

Coach Dan King provided the following summary

"Really proud of the squad today we came here to do a job and we did.

The conditions really suited Arks and to be fair to them they came out pumped as they always do when both clubs play. We knew how they would play, its always hard physical rugby and you know you are in a contest, we struck first with a try but through bad tackling we let them run through us a few times and score two try’s taking them into the lead, I wasn’t pleased about this at all as we practiced certain situations at training and we didn’t execute in the first half well at all. There was some good positives in the first half and we came close a few times only for a mistake or a knock on to let them back in the game.

The second half was a different affair and we came out with a different attitude and more desire, tackling improved and when we went through our systems we executed very well. There was some really good performances and I was really encouraged by the rugby I saw. Jessie really made a big impact and was all around the field tackling and jackling, he turned them over at least 4 times. Some good running from our backs saw Konnor saw a hat trick of well worked try’s. Jayden pounced on the ball and went over also the forwards really barred up in the second half with structure and aggression, PJ had another outstanding game taking the ball forward on many occasions scoring a great try and Branden used his brute strength to power over as well. It was a game of two halves and we are really pleased with the result in difficult conditions.

This weeks preparation will need to step up as we have Bunbury away."

Team

1. Loose head prop King, Jason
2. Hooker Meyer, Bruce C
3. Tight head prop Ayscough, Jack
4. Left lock Cleary, Thomas D
5. Right lock Swinny, Irwin E
6. Left flanker Niemann, Branden
7. Right flanker Van Sittert, Dawid
8. Number eight Jackson, Peter (c)
9. Scrum half Olislaegers, Ben P
10. Fly half Lamatoa, Nathan I
11. Left wing Rigby, Blake E
12. Left centre Riches, Matthew J
13. Right centre Clifton, Michael A
14. Right wing Delome, Kurt D
15. Full back Day, Konnor J
16. Reserve Jackson, Murray P
17. Reserve Rule, Benjamin J
18. Reserve Jacques, Jayden P
19. Reserve Tairea, Junior