Matchwinner Finn Mackay and his jubilant St Laurence’s College teammates grabbed a late victory to conclude the three-day Ballymore Cup carnival in style.
Left-footer Mackay arced over an angled conversion on the breeze to snatch the 14-12 victory over Downlands College in the Under-18 Boys’ final on Sunday afternoon.
It was the culmination of a huge three-day carnival for 40 teams from all over the state in three age groups. A girls’ Under-18s divison featured for the first time.
The Mackay conversion of the Justin Wilson try with four minutes to play gave Lauries the lead for the first time after they had trailed 7-0 and 12-7 in the evenly-contested final at Albany Creek Rugby Club.
The victory can only add confidence to the Lauries squad which will shoot for a fifth successive premiership when they open the AIC season against Iona at home on April 27.
“I could see out of the corner of my eye that they were trying to charge down the conversion. They were coming fast so I had to concentrate on my process. The kick curled in on the wind,” Mackay said.
It’s obvious that long-time head coach Welmar Du Plessis teaches more than good rugby because there was no hint of grand predictions or cockiness when Mackay absorbed what the team had achieved.
“We built our connection with a camp on the Gold Coast and winning a tournament like this obviously helps with confidence going into the AIC season,” Mackay said.
“The Ballymore Cup has given us some good momentum but one of the goals was also to use it as a depth-builder because it always takes more than 15 players to do well in a season.”
Downlands had toppled Lauries 17-13 earlier in the tournament so there was the satisfaction of payback as well.
Headgeared lock Justin Wilson, 16, plunged over at the end of a series of patient pick-and-go plays to level the scores at 12-all.
“Once we got close to the line, we knew exactly the plan. We worked the play a bit closer to the posts,” Wilson said.
“The confidence of working well together is a very good build-up for the AIC season.”
Wilson said seeing recent Lauries product John Bryant earn a Super Rugby Pacific call-up with the Queensland Reds this season was a positive for the whole rugby program at the school.
Downlands coach Domenico Cullen said playing five 40-minute games across the Ballymore Cup proved the carnival’s value.
“It’s an excellent tournament. It’s a great opportunity for our boys to show their skills at this level of school rugby and it’s what they deserve,” Cullen said.
“The effort and the fact they kept fighting on through the final was excellent. We created opportunities for sure. We’ve now played Lauries three times this season and it all helps our rugby program.”
Centre Ben Lotz was a positive figure throughout the tournament for Downlands.
For Du Plessis, last year’s premiership is now history as positive as it is.
“We’re fortunate to have seven or eight boys back from the 2023 team but this is a new year, a new season,” Du Plessis said.
In the Under-18 Girls' Division, King's Christian College were clearcut 22-0 victors over St James College in the final.
King's Christian College (Boys' Under-13s), St Patrick's College (Boys'' Under-15s) and St
Peters Lutheran College (Boys' Under-18s Div 2) also won their divisions.
