AFTER a 21-year wait, the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Vodafone Super Deans under-18 title has triumphantly returned to Nasese.
In a masterful showcase of forward dominance, structured teamwork and an unyielding Lions spirit, Suva Grammar School roared to a commanding 36-21 victory over a determined Lelean Memorial School side at HFC Bank National Stadium in Suva yesterday.
The SGS forwards provided the backbone of the victory, relentlessly winning collisions and taking control of the set pieces.
Their powerful rolling maul produced the opening try and immediately set the tone for a final in which the Grammarians applied pressure from the opening whistle to the last.
Head coach Epeli Osbourne paid tribute to his players for delivering the relentless performance they had worked towards.
“I thought the boys were outstanding. Outstanding,” Osbourne said.
“Relentless pressure is what we wanted from the first minute to the last, and they gave us that. I take my hat off to the boys. They’re the ones who did the work.”
Despite LMS fighting back and refusing to surrender, the young Lions held firm, trusting their structures and responding whenever the Dauvilevu side threatened.
Osbourne said the halftime message was simple, maintain the pressure, remain alert and play to the conditions.
“We just wanted to keep that same pressure on and stay on our guard,” he said.
“Keep it simple, play to the conditions, just like we told them back in school before we came here.”
Grammar entered the final with confidence in its ability to challenge LMS at the set piece, an area Osbourne believed would be crucial to the outcome.
“We knew our stats. We knew what we were capable of and we just wanted to perfect that,” he said.
“We were quietly confident that we were going to come and dominate that set piece. Without a set piece, you can’t launch.”
For Osbourne, who had previously experienced the Deans competition as a Grammar player, yesterday’s victory carried special significance.
“I’ve been telling these boys ever since we’ve been coming, right from under-14, I’m sick and tired of talking to under-18s every year,” he said.
“So we talked about it as a group, and I told them, ‘I’ll jump in and we’ll try to show the boys in Grammar how it’s done.’”
Osbourne also credited the Grammar community for its unwavering support throughout the campaign.
“All the scholars and the support of the Grammar community have been awesome. We wouldn’t be doing this without their support,” he said.
The Grammar faithful turned out in huge numbers to support all three school teams competing in the finals, with the U18 victory providing a fitting reward for their loyalty.
After 21 years, the Lions have finally reclaimed their place at the top.
U14: Ratu Navula College 22 – 17 Queen Victoria School (QVS), U15: Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS) 17 – 15 Marist Brothers High School, U16: Suva Grammar School 40 – 12 Queen Victoria School (QVS), U17: Suva Grammar School 24 – 15 Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS), U19: Lelean Memorial School 15 – 14 Navatu Secondary School
