August 15, 2022
Bond University fought to the death but was shattered by a brutal three point loss to the University of Queensland in their Round 16 Battle of the Scholars blockbuster.
Wearing their native jerseys on a soggy canal, the Bull Sharks were hungry for redemption after losing to UQ in round seven at St. Lucia.
Bond made a grim comeback in the second half but the game ended in heartbreak for the hosts, 24-21
Too many wet mistakes cost Bond the Brailsford-Brown Cup and the Bull Sharks now have a tough run home in their bid to make the top four.
WHAT IT MEANS
At 44 points, the Bull Sharks are still a mathematical chance to make it to the final, but they will have to beat Brothers and Easts who are both 47 points above them on the ladder.
Bond will also rely on competition heavyweights Wests, UQ and GPS to take losses in the final two rounds of the regular season.
DISCUSSION POINTS
After an early penalty for UQ, Bull Sharks stalwart Connor Pritchard scored the first try of the game, and his eighth for the year, as he crossed the line to give the hosts a 7-3 lead after 20 minutes. Zane Nonggorr sustained a rib pattern injury in a scrum and left the field in agony.
UQ forward TJ Siakisini caught Bond’s defenders on the right side of the post a minute before half time to score his third try in two weeks. Bond’s chance to tie the scores at 10 points each ended with Hamish Roberts’ penalty kick bouncing off the post.
UQ scored their second try via a storming Joshua Nasser, but the hosts hit back with a brilliant set-piece try, which culminated in a great right pass from Joey Fittock to Roberts, prompting the afterburners to score. Three minutes later, Bond crossed again, when Tyler Campbell joined his center partner Dan Boardman to take the lead.
With only four minutes to go, Bond lost the game when UQ was shown a yellow card. But minutes later Bond also suffered the same fate.
Bond’s defense couldn’t resist UQ’s desperation, with Reuben Leilua scoring the match winner in the closing moments.
WHAT THEY SAY
“It’s a killer to lose like that with so much riding on it,” said disappointed captain Dan Boardman.
“We had a lot of chances in that first half, but if we’d capitalized it might have been a different story, but I can’t fault the effort.
“The guys were unreal today, it’s just such a shame we couldn’t win.”
Bond has two games left of the regular season, starting with Brothers next weekend before closing the regular season against Easts.
“We still have two games to go, we’ll have to dust ourselves off. We did a lot of good things in that game, we’ll just move on and see how the season goes.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Bull Sharks are back on free to air channel 9Gem next weekend when the Brothers host the match of the round at Crosby Park in Brisbane.
Brothers dropped from third to fourth on the ladder after falling two points to Easts on Saturday.
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHT
Bond University women’s feeder team the Coomera Crushers are the 2022 champions of the Queensland Suburban Rugby Union competition after winning the grand final against Redlands.
It was a close battle at the decision stage, but Coomera was under pressure to take a 26-15 win at their home turf.
Three Bond women’s players have also been selected in the Australian Youth U18 squad for the World School Sevens.
Amahli Hala, Diana Waight and Ava Wereta will be competing in the event in New Zealand in December.
RESULTS
RUGBY
First class:
Bond Bull Sharks 21 University of Queensland 24
Second grade:
Bond Bull Sharks 22 University of Queensland 21
third grade:
Bond Bull Sharks 5 University of Queensland 8
Foals one:
Bond Bull Sharks 19 University of Queensland 27
Foals two:
Bond Bull Sharks 7 University of Queensland 14
First grade ladies:
Bond Bull Sharks 24 University of Queensland 5
