A late Old Collegians rally wasn’t enough to stop Burnside taking maximum points from their fiery Round 15 clash at Parkinson Oval.
Two tries to Keanu Eliepa along with five-pointers from Nichel Lam Sam and Lachlan English had the Double Blues cruising at 26-3 with 15 minutes to play before seven sublime minutes saw the visitors race back into contention.
Trent Ormsby’s 66th minute try sparked a blistering passage in which Tristan Coetzer and Lincoln Ormsby also crossed to set up a grandstand finish.
The margin however proved too great as Burnside held on for a 26-20 win and their top-two berth for another week.
In other Premier Grade outings, Dulanka Gunasekara’s four-try haul iced Southern Suburb’s 92-0 win over Woodville while Thomas Sellwood matched that feat in Onkaparinga’s 72-14 win over Port Adelaide.
🤩 Our U16 were on show through the Southern States Championships with 4 players being selected to participate in an U16...
Posted by Rugby Union South Australia on Monday, August 7, 2023
Womma Park also hosted a high-scoring affair with Elizabeth and Adelaide University combining for 14 tries in the Knights’ 64-31 victory.
The weekend's results have all but locked in this year's Premier Grade finalists with Brighton, Burnside, Souths and Old Colls in the box seat.
In the women’s competition, Port Adelaide produced a drought-busting 33-29 win with Jaimee Mataiara, Raijieli Vakacegu Bovoro and Cheyenne Chilton proving the difference against Onkaparinga before Souths and Burnside extended their lead atop the ladder with respective wins over Woodville and Old Colls.
Meanwhile the Brighton mens' lower-grade dominance continued with the Tigers toppling fellow title contenders Barossa in Reserve Grade (25-8) and Third Grade (18-7) at home.
