The weekend saw some very close games with only 9 points in total separating our 3 sides from the opposition

A Grade v Pine Rivers Boars

This was always going to be a tough game against a side that we were unable to beat last year in the 3 rounds.

Before the game even started there was disruption caused by the non appearance of Kev Gazzard, our tight head prop which required us to sub off Dan Stephenson from Reserve Grade to take his place. I have since heard form Kev that the reason he didn't show was that his mother was at a conference in NZ and was rushed to hospital meaning he was on a Sat am flight to Christchurch and obviously rugby was the last thing on his mind. She is now out of hospital and Kev returns from NZ today and will be at training tomorrow but the thoughts of everyone in the club are with him and his family

The game was always going to be physical against a side renowned for their forward power and the way to beat them was going to be found out wide. Rory Bowe stepped in as outside centre and immediately formed an understanding with Aaron Stevens on his inside. Rory ran some great lines and on a couple of occasions it was only the blinding speed of the Boars' right wing covering across that denied us scores when great breaks had been made

Rory's hard work eventually paid dividends with a great try and also added a penalty to his tally

A set move which brought left wing Andy Smith into the line, taking an inside ball from Stevens saw him slice through the defence before some good inter passing saw full back Josh Walters go over

The boars were still in this game and while this was going on they notched up 2 unconverted tries of their own 

This meant the last 10 minutes were fiercely contested with the Boars throwing everything into attack, determined to get a try that would gain them the victory. The pressure was on and despite some dubious options being taken when we were in possession the defence was outstanding and a real credit to the club spirit

The final whistle eventually went and the Irish had come out on top to give us a fantastic victory against a side that will prove to be one of the front runners in the competition. We showed in this game that we are genuine top 4 contenders and the reversal against Gatton was merely a hiccup that everyone will be determined to correct when they come to us in 2 weeks time

Final Score: Brisbane Irish 13 - Pine Rivers Boars 10 

Reserve Grade v Pine Rivers Boars

In hindsight the Bears Reserve Grade side appeared bigger and more physical than their A Grade and 2 yellow cards for their back row was testament to this. The Boars played a very forwards orientated game with the ball not straying very often more than 10 yards from the breakdown with a lot of inside pases being thrown to their forwards. This meant that the defensive work rate of our forwards had to match this and it certainly did.

In attack though we got a bit caught up in playing their style of close attack rugby and didn't look to play the ball in the hands enough which meant the game was always going to be close

A try and a penalty to the Boars with a Brendan Flaherty penalty for the Irish meant that going into the last 10 minutes we were behind by 5 with everything to play for. It was only at this stage that we started to let the ball do the work and some good handling moves involving forwards and backs showed a glimpse of what we are capable of but it was all too late

With a bye for Reserve Grade this weekend it provides a week to reflect and to focus on the fact we are a club whose strength lies in playing the ball in hand and away from the breakdown so our objective for the next game must be to start off with the same approach as we finished this game

Once again the defence was outstanding showing that throughout the club there is a spirit and commitment that cannot be learned and can only stand us in good stead for the rest of the season

Final Score: Brisbane Irish 3 - Pine Rivers Boars 8

3rd Grade v GPS

Played at GPS with them having 10 players on the Bench and coming off 2 impressive wins to head the table this was always forecast to be a great measuring stick for where our new 3rd Grade will rate in the competition and we were not disappointed. In a game that could have gone either way we showed that we can be very competitive in this competition despite narrowly going down in the end

Final Score: Brisbane Irish 5 - GPS 7