Viewpoint

This was an ideal fixture, as it provided coaches and players with an accurate yardstick for our skill development, game awareness, and decision-making against St Augustine’s, a school rugby program that has consistently produced high results over a number of years.

Throughout the day, there were some very promising performances across all age groups, with many competitive matches and our share of victories. Wins and losses are one measure of success; however, at this point, we are firmly focused on enhancing our technical skills and tactical understanding of the game, aiming to significantly improve across all areas over the course of the season.

This weekend is another good test against another strong program in Oakhill College. All teams will focus on improving the areas they worked hard on during training throughout the week. Our coaching team has been very motivated to improve our individual skills, particularly in the areas of tackle, breakdown, and our passing game, as these are the rugby skills that are crucial to any good-performing program, team, and player.

Looking forward to seeing the results of this hard work on Saturday at Oakhill College and other venues across Sydney, with many teams playing stand-alone matches at other schools.

Each week, we will feature some of our TOP PERFORMING TEAMS, including a 1st XV match report from the coaches.

This week's TOP PERFORMERS were the 14As and 15As, whilst the Under 16s age group had a great day out at Manly Oval with very strong results across the board, despite the 16As losing on the scoreboard.

1st XV Rugby Report – Saturday 2 May vs St Augustine’s College

The team entered the match full of confidence after a productive, physically demanding rugby camp during the term break. Strong performances against The King's School (3–3 draw), Tonga College (7–0 win) and Knox Grammar (4–1 win) had set a positive tone leading into the opening trial of the 2026 season.

Preparation throughout the week was solid, and conditions on game day were favourable, with only a light drizzle the night before and a slightly windy but sunny afternoon providing ideal rugby weather.

St Augustine’s, however, came into the fixture well-hardened, having already played two matches at the end of Term 1, completed a tour to New Zealand, and featured in an ANZAC Day clash against Joeys. Their experience showed early.

Our performance lacked fluency at times, with handling errors and turnovers allowing St Augustine’s to maintain pressure and control possession. Despite finishing the first half camped on the opposition try line, we were unable to convert opportunities into points and went into halftime trailing 7–21.

St Augustine’s fly-half controlled territory effectively with a strong kicking game, consistently pinning us deep in our half. In the second half, while we showed intent with the ball in hand, we made further costly errors, which the opposition capitalised on with three long-range tries.

To the team’s credit, they remained committed until the final whistle, managing to cross for two additional tries. Sadly, the final score of 19–45 did not reflect the effort shown in patches throughout the match.

The group will take valuable lessons from this performance and look ahead to an opportunity for improvement this Saturday against another strong opponent in Oakhill College.

Anthony Calavassy – 1st XV Head Coach

14A vs St Augustine's

The 14 As began their season's campaign with an emphatic 19-7 victory over a physically imposing St Augustine's team last Saturday on Field 1C.

The previous afternoon, we had our last training run for the week. After that, on the week of Anzac Day, we heard the stories of three inspirational Old Ignatians: Kevin Fagan, Conyers Clifford and Tom Coughlan.

On Saturday, we had taken a slender lead by half-time, but the team continued to play selfless Rugby, involving all 15 players, in our 19-7 victory. In particular, Hugo Redpath's edge defence shut down their dangerous ball runners. Felix McLean produced fast ruck ball. Myles Strudwick took not one backward step.

On Friday, the team identified four main values that we want to live by, on and off the field, during this season: COMPASSION, RESPECT, COURAGE and SACRIFICE.

On Saturday, we showed what those values look like, with the firm purpose to continue to improve throughout the season.

James Rodgers – 14As Assistant Coach

15A v St Augustine’s

As we approached our first team trial match, mindful of the results of previous years, our focus throughout preseason was never simply on the scoreboard. The greater objective was to lay the foundations for the season ahead, building our standards, our identity, and a framework that will carry us through the challenges to come. Yet within that process, competitiveness remained essential because collective buy-in is earned through the willingness to compete for one another in every moment.

The match itself became a tale of two halves. At halftime, Augs held a 10–0 lead, and in that moment, the game offered something more valuable than comfort; it revealed character.

For the players, it was an opportunity to respond to adversity; for the coaching staff, a chance to better understand this group's mindset and resilience, knowing adversity will remain a constant throughout the season.

What followed was a response filled with courage and intent. Two tries in quick succession shifted the momentum firmly in our favour, and belief began to surge through the side. The support from the 14s and lower-grade 15s lifted the atmosphere immensely, reminding us that we are part of something bigger than the fifteen players on the field. With the game within reach, our first win felt close enough to grasp.

In the end, discipline proved costly, conceding field position and allowing Augs to reclaim the lead with a try on the final play.

While the result did not fall our way on the scoreboard, the true measure of success stretched far beyond it. The performance reflected the commitment and resilience forged throughout the preseason. It offered a glimpse of what this team can become. We will continue building toward something greater together.

Coming up

9th May - Trial game #2 at Oakhill College

16th May - GPS Round 1 v SHORE at HOME

What a massive day at Riverview in two weeks' time.

The middle-distance events are notoriously tough at a national level, yet our boys looked right at home. In the U20 800m, Charlie Culbert and Lachlan Maiers fought through a physical and demanding race. While they didn't quite hit their peak times on the day, they lined up against the fastest U20s in Australia and represented the College with immense pride.

Joining them on the PB trail was Thomas Poynton , whose brilliant execution in the U20 800m saw him shave time off his previous best. Meanwhile, Matteo Shipman proved that his season-long consistency was no fluke, delivering yet another personal best performance in the U18 800m.

The busiest athlete of the week was undoubtedly AJ Lukas . Competing across the U15 800m, 1500m, and 3000m, AJ showed incredible stamina and grit to come away with a Personal Best in all three events .

The highlight of the sprints came from Miller Siasat , whose journey to the Nationals involved a truly unique preparation. During the holidays, the College was privileged to host Trinidad & Tobago’s Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship medalist Keston Bledman . Mr Bledman, now working with the Adidas High Performance team alongside global stars such as Paris Olympian Noah Lyles, spent time sharing valuable speed insights with our U14 and U15 rugby teams through the efforts of coordinator Oscar Dempsey, before leading a national coaching clinic for Athletics Australia at Sydney Olympic Park.

Miller was selected to act as a demonstrator for the Olympic star, and he clearly took every word of advice to heart. The following week, Miller put those elite tips into practice, exploding out of the blocks to clock a blistering 10.88sec PB in the U20 100m. This breakthrough performance secured him a spot in his first-ever national semifinal, marking him as a rising star to watch.

While the results and PB marks are impressive, what truly stands out is the character these boys displayed. Competing at a National Championship requires months of lonely training, early starts, and the courage to test oneself against the nation's best.

We congratulate each of these students. Their success is a direct reflection of their hard work, the expert guidance of our coaching staff, and the fantastic support from their families and the College community.

We couldn't be prouder of our 2026 National representatives!

Early in the second half, Riverview was awarded a penalty, but the Shore ’keeper guessed the right way to dive and intercepted the shot. Better things were to come for the ’View boys when, after a sweeping up-field move, Harry Ivancic was on hand, after the ’keeper had been beaten, to cross the ball into the net from the left-hand side 5 minutes after his insertion into the fray. Cooper Edwards found space when both teams had a man in the sinbin and added to the Riverview lead to complete the scoring for the match.

2nd XI

Riverview’s 2nd XI assembled for their first match of the 2026 season following a somewhat disrupted preparation given the CIS cup match during the week and the late withdrawal of a couple of originally listed players. This match was against Shore School which some of the boys had an experience of due to an earlier CIS cup match then the Holiday Invitational Tournament. Riverview scored first through captain Sam Rowe when a penalty was awarded which he duly converted after 20 minutes.

Shore equalised early in the second half. Marcus Camilleri finished a well-executed team move in the 46th minute to give Riverview the lead again. However, Shore was able to build pressure on the home defence, and finally, a couple of minutes from full-time, they found a second equaliser. Thus, the game finished in a somewhat unsatisfying draw, with the home team rueing their inability to close out the match.

The full football report can be read HERE .