The Fortescue Men’s Premier Grade reaches Round 10 this weekend.
With a constantly changing ladder, nothing is guaranteed as teams in the Fortescue Men’s Premier Grade hit the back half of their season.
Fourth-placed UWA is set to face Kalamunda, who are hot off a win against Wests in Belt Up Round last weekend.
For UWA, last weekend saw a 27-42 loss to Nedlands at home. Tries for UWA were scored by Dante Tatafu (20’), Jack Wickham (32’) and Vilive Sawalu (45’), with three conversions (20’, 32’, 45’) and two penalties (13’, 40’) from Caleb Young. From Nedlands, tries were scored by Manase Taufa (5’), Vaughn Robson (9’, 42’, 78’), Lotu Toumohuni (60’), Jack Curtin (65’) and Tait Wylie (74’). Matty Lansdown completed two conversions (5’, 60’) and scored one penalty (52’).
For Kalamunda, last weekend saw their first victory since their upset win of the Rendezvous Scarborough Challenge Cup earlier in the month. Coming up against Wests Scarborough, the side saw a 29-20 win, just their second of the regular season.
Tries for Kalamunda were scored by Paasi Fine (2’, 30’), Samuel Kalapu Jr (45’) and Ihaia-Lee Kamizona-Heke (69’), with conversions by Evan Jordan (3’, 46’, 70’), who also scored a penalty (78’). For Wests, a penalty try was scored (72’), in addition to a try by Graham Urquhart (59’) and a conversion (59’) and two penalties (10’, 38’) from Oliver Ashely-Jones.
UWA v. Kalamunda is set to kick off at 3:30PM at McGillivray Oval. The match will be streamed live on Stan.
Emerging from a close loss to Kalamunda, Wests Scarborough is looking forward, to their match against Associates this Saturday.
“As a team we are disappointed we let another close game go,” Wests Head Coach, Scott Batters said. “Unfortunately, we missed a couple of opportunities to score tries which ultimately cost us the game.”
“We are expecting a tough game this weekend. Associates like to play an up-tempo game and link really well between backs and forwards.”
They aren’t letting the knowledge of the challenge get to them however, and are hoping to see a strong, consistent game heading into the next round.
“We are matching it [the game tempo] week in, week out against every team we have come up against,” Batters said.
"The main thing for us at the moment is to continue to improve and be more consistent in our efforts.”
Associates saw a great win last weekend against Southern Lions, with a final score of 49-22. Tries for Associates were scored by Ian Prior, Cristiano Tizzano (2), Robert Ingram, Conor Corrigan, Scott Tolmie and Nick Johns. Ian Prior also completed seven conversions for the side. From Southern Lions, tries were scored by Kameli Tacikalou Naisiroki (2) and Raikadroka Rafaele, with two conversions and a penalty from Joel Lamatoa.
Associates match against Wests Scaborough is set to kick off at Allen Park at 3:30PM on Saturday.
This weekend is Women in Rugby Round, a celebration of the women’s rugby community within Western Australia. All Senior Women’s and Junior Girls teams are set to play at Tompkins Park from 11:00AM.
Fortscue Women’s Premier Grade teams, Palmyra and Wanneroo Divaz, kick off at 3:30PM, and will be streamed live on Rugby Xplorer.
Fortescue Men’s Premier Grade Round 10 Fixtures
Southern Lions v. Wanneroo @ Success Regional Sporting Facility
UWA v. Kalamunda @ McGillivray Oval *Streamed live on Stan
Associates v. Wests Scarborough @ Allen Park
Joondalup Brothers v. Nedlands @ HBF Arena
Cottesloe v. Perth Bayswater @ Harvey Field
