Queensland Reds halfback Tate McDermott made a positive, try-scoring return for University of Queensland on Saturday in the Sumo Energy Hospital Cup.
McDermott played his first rugby in more than seven months with 40 minutes for UQ in their 32-28 win over Souths at St Lucia.
"I was pretty rusty to be honest but it was really good to see the boys playing with such free spirit," McDermott said after UQ had raced to a 20-7 lead at half-time.
McDermott will have got huge value out of testing his repaired hamstring in match conditions.
He had two handling blemishes but all the trademark McDermott strengths were there.
He delivered quick passes to his supports to get UQ's rhythm rolling and was always alert for shortside chances. At the 17-minute mark, he took a quick tap from 10m out, took on three bigger, backpedalling defenders and weaved over for a try and 15-0.
Fullback Tom Howard had a fine first half with a try and the quick catch-and-pass to put centre Navi Tiko over.
UQ jumped to 25-7 just after half-time when replacement halfback Archie Xavier swooped on an intercept for a try from a loose Souths pass. The Magpies rallied by scoring three tries-to-one in the second half.
In the other matches, Brothers stretched their unbeaten run to six games with a 50-26 win over Sunnybank. Easts beat GPS 31-24.
Norths remain in second spot after a strong 38-34 win over premiers Bond University at Courtney Field.
Norths' first-half defence on their tryline powered the Eagles to their statement win over the reigning premiers.
The Eagles stifled Bond's attacking ruck in the final stages of the game to secure the gutsy four-point victory and prove themselves as a genuine contender for the Sumo Energy Hospital Cup.
Post-game, fullback Will McCulloch said the past fortnight proved Norths could match it with the competition's best.
"We don’t make it easy on ourselves but if we put an 80-minute game together, we can consistently beat these big teams," McCulloch said after Norths had led Brothers at half-time a week earlier.
After a period of play outside the 22s, it was Bond who grew into the contest with their offload game.
The visitors started to earn 22 entries and forced a five-metre lineout. This resulted in Norths becoming victims once again to opposition dominance at maul time, with hooker Nik Mitchell plunging over for his first of two tries. 5-0
It was a poor 22 exit by Bond that allowed McCullough to utilise his footwork to knife his way through an unstructured Bull Sharks defensive line. He sublimely put in speedster Mackenzie Fox for his third try in the last fortnight. 5-5.
What followed was consistent passages of Bond being turned over by a steely defensive Eagles unit, leading to a runaway 96m Alex Flanagan Smith try off a handling error inside the five of the Norths tryline.
This was converted by Harry Langbridge, who was the more accurate kicker on the afternoon, going four-for-six off the tee. 12-5.
Bond were peppering with great intrigue around the short restart and it proved monumental for their quickfire hit-back. Tryscorer Heremaia Murray was the recipient of brilliant aerial instincts and all-around elusiveness by winger Deon Evans-Ao.
After asking what goes into defensive sequences on their tryline, McCullough responded: "I think it's huge if we’re just communicating and making sure we stay connected."
Try-saving tackles and constant forced mauls from the Eagles' innate ability of holding Bond players up in contact were finally undone after another rolling maul for Mitchell’s second after 15 minutes of territory dominance. 17-12.
This was soon cancelled out by a converted try to hard-working openside flanker Leo Langbridge, picking and crashing over to give the Eagles a 19-17 lead heading into the interval.
Frustration for the Bull Sharks crept over into the second stanza through ill-discipline. This cemented a path for Norths to get down the field, allowing solo try hero from last week, Alex Watkins, to stretch out athletically to put the ball down. This extended the Eagles' buffer to 24-17.
One turned into two in quick time by way of a powerful run off a rolling maul by skipper Josh Mongard. It provided astute scrumhalf Mosiah Christian with the quick ruck speed to powerfully carry the ball over the line.
After side-to-side phases by Bond leading to Ethan Morgan’s try, Bond were down two men after a succession of penalties on their own goal line. This gifted a pick-and-go double to Leo Langbridge and a 38-22 advantage heading into the final 18 minutes.
The Bull Sharks came home with a wet sail, scoring two tries in the final 10 minutes to spur doubt inside the locals.
Simple execution of hands down the short side provided industrious skipper Kobe Walters with the chance to stroll over.
Not before enterprising shape inside their own 22 provided a platform for a cross-field kick to the five-metre channel for openside flanker Kohan Herbert, linking with pace winger Morgan to set up camp inside the five.
William Rua took advantage of a tiring Eagles forward pack and crossed. Reserve back Dion Samuela added the extras to make it 38-34, setting up a grandstand finish.
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