Newcastle make it four straight titles
Newcastle Herald
Monday March 28, 2011
HAMILTON centre Shaimus Lautaimi scored a hat-trick of tries to help steer Newcastle to a resounding 46-20 win over Central North and seal a historic fourth straight NSW Country rugby union title at Lismore yesterday.After accounting for Central West 37-11 in the semi-final on Saturday, Newcastle upped the ante to smash a shell-shocked Central North, leading 34-13 at half-time.Central North got back to 34-20 early in the second half, but the revival was short-lived.Apart from Lautaimi, Jay Strachan, Dave Kennedy and Chris Stratton crossed in the six-tries-to- three win."Three other zones had won three in a row but we are the first to win four," said coach Scott Coleman, who took over the reins from Tim Chidgey this season."It was pretty easy with the bunch of guys I had to work with. The standard was very high."Even the guys we lost through injury, the ones who stepped in were awesome."It was our intensity and speed at the breakdown which blew them away."We were able to recycle possession quickly and get on the front foot."Newcastle were rewarded with eight players - Lautaimi, Va Talaileva, Tim Walton, Matt Jarrett, Strachan, Charl van Niekerk, Matt Dun and Kennedy - in the NSW Country squad which was named after the final."We got a good representation in the Country squad and could easily have had a couple more," Coleman said.James Johnston played in the senior final and was one of five Newcastle players alongside Zac Whittal, Chris Farmer, William Kearney and Jordy Lantry named in the under-20 country side.Newcastle went down 12-3 to eventual winners Central West in the semi-finals of the under-20s on Saturday.
© 2011 Newcastle Herald
