Auckland Grammar School: 31 (Marco Fepuleai, William Cosgriff, Shaun Stevenson, Josh Minhinnick, Renata Roberts-Tenana tries, Stevenson 3 con) Mount Albert Grammar School: 7 (Brody Lam try, George Edwards 1 con)
The Report
Four tries in the last the ten minutes of the first half retained the Moascar Cup for Auckland Grammar School. The shrill of the referee’s whistle was about the only thing heard in the first 20 minutes as both teams started in ill-disciplined and cagey fashion.
The game burst into life when Mount Albert mounted a bold counter attack from their own goal line. Winger Brody Lam made a 40 meter break and the Grammar tackler Kiti Taimani was sent to the sin bin. Despite a numerical disadvantage, it was Auckland Grammar who scored the first try of the game. A brilliant chip, chase and re-gather by Renata Roberts-Tenana generated an attack which led to busy prop Marco Fepuleai smashing over. Mount Albert’s Leif Schwencke was then sent to the sin bin as the Auckland Grammar backs began to flourish.
Halfback William Cosgriff scored a fine individual try, beating three players with a series of left foot steps. Polished fullback Shaun Stevenson then sprinted over after nice interplay between backs and forwards, before Cosgriff showed his vision by pumping a kick from his own 22 for winger Josh Minhinnick to reclaim and dash 50 meters, 24-0 at halftime.
To their credit, Mount Albert played with plenty of heart in the second half. Brody Lam scored the last try after a 20 meter burst down the touchline and they were held up over the Auckland Grammar line three times. However Mount Albert lacked the speed and polish to really threaten the home team, whose last try was scored by Renata Roberts-Tenana after he weaved his way through the Mount Albert defence with a mesmerising 25 meter run.
For Auckland Grammar, Marco Fepuleai and William Cosgriff were standouts in their first win against Mount Albert since 2008. For Mount Albert flanker Joshua Goodhue tried hard and Brody Lam looked threatening every time he touched the ball.