Game Preview - 2018 Round 8

By Samuel Lindsayvs Sydney University (A) Off the back of two home games Southern Districts will be heading to Camperdown to take on the ladder leaders, Sydney University. After back to back wins the Rebels appear to building some momentum that eluded them in the early rounds. This weekend will be the first of two momentous tests, the Rebels face second place Northern Suburbs next week, which could have a huge bearing on Southern Districts home semi-final aspirations. Sydney University’s sole defeat this season coming at the hands of Northern Suburbs. Southern Districts will be hoping to emulate that feat this weekend. The return of Paddy Ryan to the NSW Waratahs bench is a loss for Sydney University, and results in a valuable gain for Southern Districts with Shambeckler Vui released from duties to link up with the Rebels this weekend. He’s been listed as a reserve alongside Fili Tufui. Apolosi Latunipulu remains sidelined, which gives the Wessels, Chalmers, McGrath partnership a further week to flourish following a dominating performance against Gordon last week. The only change from last weeks starting team comes in the form of Albert Hemopo, the back rower stepping into the side following the injury of Alex Perez. There will be a few eyes on Christian Kagiassis as he takes on his former club for the first time. The Rebels fullback has been deadly from the tee, on top of his regular try scoring exploits. 2017’s fixture between these two sides was an end to end thriller with plenty of length of the field tries scored from both teams. The Students came away with the victory on that day, the Rebels will be out for revenge this time around. First grade will be kicking-off at 3pm and the first game of the day, fourth grade will get underway at 10:20am. SDRC TEAM NEWSStarting Line-up1. Matt Gibbon2. Liam Dwyer3. Willie Ma'umalanga4. Angus Ryan5. Jake Douglas6. Albert Hemopo7. Conor Mitchell8. Marcus Carbone (c)9. Waldo Wessels10. Ben Chalmers11. Luke Smart12. Angus McGrath13. Denny Godinet14. Rowland-Keni Kotabalavau15. Christian Kagiassis STATSForm – Last 5 matchesSouthern Districts L L L W WSydney University W L W W WSouthern Districts vs Sydney University at University Oval – Past 5 years2017 Round 9 Sydney University 54 – 36 Southern Districts2015 Round 15 Sydney University 10 – 31 Southern Districts2013 Round 16 Sydney University 48 – 6 Southern DistrictsSouthern Districts 5 year record vs Sydney University P W L F AForshaw Rugby Park 4 0 4 78 115University Oval 3 1 2 73 112Finals 3 2 1 74 98Total 10 3 7 225 325