Australian Schoolboys have started their two-match series against Fijian Schoolboys with a 61-26 victory in Canberra.
The Fijians showed no sign of kicking the ball as they backed their skills from all parts of the field, which was their blessing early but ultimately their undoing as the Aussies piled on the points.
Nothing summed up this high-risk, high-reward attitude than the first ten minutes.
The visitors dazzled with the opening try to Jone Kunaqio that went 95 metres after several offloads found Fijian hands despite desperate attempts from the Aussies to bat it down.
But as soon as they had a lead, it was gone when a reckless pass on their goal-line landed in William Trostel’s hands for an easy try to the Trinity Grammar winger.
Nonetheless, the Fijians restored their lead through Sailosi Taka, who finished off a great run from Ratu Vonolagi.
In fact, their first kick of the game was a chip from their 22 that led to an ugly head clash that saw Aussie centre Josh Barr taken off.
The Aussies backed their scrum to win field territory and were able to build pressure; however, their lineout faltered close to the line at key moments.
They got their chance to shine after a string of high shots reduced the visitors to 14 before another wild moment gifted them five points and the momentum to kick clear in the end.
Fiji winger Vonolagi did unbelievably to run out of his own in-goal and beat two defenders, but threw the ball straight back to the Aussies, with prop Keegan Daly there to dive over to level the scores.
This gave the hosts confidence as a short-arm scrum penalty set the platform for James Finegan to cross twice before the break after setting up winger Brock Prideaux from well inside their half, adding another try for a 26-14 lead.
Some more chaos after the break extended the Australians, playing to the whistle for Trostel’s second try.
Cameron Kristen put the grubber in behind, put the pressure on the Fijians, who threw another needless offload before Denzel Veikune somehow kept it in for his winger to dot down.
Flanker Lane Edmonds followed this up with an intercept try to further the advantage.
Fiji tried to mount a comeback, but Adrian De Klerk closed the door on it with a quick-fire hat-trick.
The Reds hooker was unstoppable from short to secure the win, with the two teams finishing their series on Saturday at Viking Park.
