Avondale five-eighth Silipa Tuigamala has led the Wombats to a dominant 30-point victory over Shoalhaven in his return to the team’s lineup.
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After missing the Wombats previous three matches, Tuigamala sliced the Shoalies defence apart with surgical precision as Avondale scored seven tries in the 47-17 win.
Avondale hit the front early and never looked back, delivering what coach Murray McDonald described as a complete performance.
“It was one of our better performances of the year,” McDonald said. “Especially without having our halfback and a winger, the boys slotted in well to resolve that. Last week we switched off at times, but this week was a lot better.
“‘Lipa was away in Samoa for three weeks, but he was back. He’s our 10, we were missing our halfback, but Antonio [Ale] slotted in well. He’s been filling in all over the place and has been really good. It was good to have ‘Lipa back though, he’s an X-factor.”
Much of Tuigamala’s success came at the set piece, with a raft of backline moves bamboozling the Shoalhaven defensive line. However, while it was Tuigamala who was orchestrating the attack, McDonald heaped praise on the forwards, who provided the platform for the backs to attack with space.
“Our set piece is getting better every week. We were focused on that today [Saturday], our set piece and our structure. We really wanted to get it right so we’re ready for Uni in two weeks.
“We’ve spoken about the forwards laying the platform the last few weeks. Our forwards haven’t been scoring tries, they’re going forward, the ball’s going out wide and our wingers are scoring tries.”
The Shoalies day started on the worst possible note, with Avondale fullback Mani Tuigamala crossing in the opening minute of the match. From there, the visitors could never get into the game, making errors every time the team looked set to take the upper hand.
“We started really poorly,” Shoalhaven coach Paul Connor said. “Our body height was far too high, it was big guys on small guys and their big guys made us pay for that.
“Our line speed in defence is still not adequate. The boys can score tries, but we’re leaking a lot of points at the moment.”
The win was Avondale’s seventh-straight and they will have the chance to chase an eighth consecutive victory in a fortnight when they come up against the only side to defeat them this year, University.
The Bulls survived a scare at Campbelltown Showground on Saturday, claiming a 29-24 victory over the Harlequins. The Shoalies take on Campbelltown on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Vikings scored late to overcome Tech 21-16, while Shamrocks defeated Kiama 29-0 and Bowral overcame Camden 55-5.