FLYING Fijian Nimilote Qio scored two brilliant tries to lead Wanderers to a resounding 43-20 win over fierce rivals Merewether at Townson Oval and spoil the unofficial opening of the Green Room.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With a huge crowd packing the new multi-million dollar facility, Wanderers produced some scintillating rugby to run in seven tries and leave the home fans stunned.
Qio was involved in most of it.
The tackle-busting centre ran a great angle and powered through two tackles to touch down beside the posts on the stroke of half time to open a 19-10 advantage.
The Greens, after a poor start, had worked their way back into the match before Qio's try.
The visitors struck again two minutes into the second half when Chase Hicks crossed out wide after an initial bust by breakaway Piers Morell.
The Greens hit back through Jay Strachan to get a sniff at 26-15.
But any chance of a revival was squashed when Qio ran over three defenders on the left edge to crash over. From there the Two Blues were in control.
Apart from Qio, Morell and captain Ben Ham were outstanding and the Wanderers scrum also had Greens under constant pressure and won two against the feed.
Elsewhere Saturday, Rob Williamson scored late to secure Maitland a bruising 26-23 win over Nelson Bay at Marcellin Park.
In a see-sawing affair, the visitors led 10-7 at half-time and 23-21 with six minutes remaining.
From a ruck deep in Nelson Bay territory, Maitland shifted the ball to the right. Josh McCormack created and overlap and Rob Williamson dived over in the corner. The Bay cover defence thought they had tackled the winger over the sideline but the touchjudge kept his flag down.
At Passmore Oval, Angus Brown crossed for four tries as Hamilton thrashed a shell-shocked University 85-0. The Hawks led 31-0 at half-time.
In the other game, Lake Macquarie stormed past Southern Beaches 58-0 at Ernie Calland Field.
