DAVE BREW REACTION
Newman is the main man
By Daire Walsh
NEWBRIDGE College coach Dave Brew hailed the impact of Lucas Berti Newman following his side’s dramatic Leinster Schools Junior Cup quarter-final triumph over Clongowes Wood College at Donnybrook last Wednesday.
Having earned the south Kildare school a place in the last-eight with a stoppage-time winner against Temple Carrig on February 5, the dynamic centre bagged a brace of tries – including a stunning intercept effort during the closing stages of the contest.
“He [Newman] has certainly made a name for himself. I thought that play of him getting that intercept, he almost got one a few minutes earlier and our 10 [Robert Dillon] almost got one at the end of the first half. It was definitely there and it was on. It’s something that we looked at, they tend to take the ball and pass it on a bit,” Brew remarked after the game.
“They don’t care too much about where that goes. It’s something that we targeted, he got on it there and showed the pace he has once he’s away. There was nothing else going to happen there except seven points.”
While this was the score that got them over the line, Newman’s opening period five-pointer had its own level of importance. 12-0 adrift heading with 30 minutes already on the clock, he completed a multi-phase move to get Newbridge up and running.
For Brew, the decision to opt for a scrum rather than a kick at goal took the game into a whole new direction.
“We were contemplating taking the three points, but it’s still a long way back at 12-3. It’s amazing, if it’s 10-3 it’s a different game. When they had 12, we were kind of thinking ‘no, let’s have a go here’. We have a few power plays that we can use in there and ran them quite effectively. From the scrum I thought we did really well.
“There was three phases that we knew were going to come and we scored off it. Delighted with that, that’s really something that you work on and hope you get a chance to show. It changed the game really going into half-time. It being 12-7, instead of 12-0.”
Even though there was just six minutes remaining when they finally edged in front, Newbridge had to withstand a late Clongowes rally. A wayward Johnny Kiely place-kick preceded a series of carries inside their ’22’ and Brew was elated when the final whistle was eventually sounded.
“At the end they piled on the pressure, in fairness to them. The pace of their game went up. I think it’s fair to say we were hanging on until the end of the game, but we forced a turnover and I think we were very calm in the way we closed it out in that we knew one phase wasn’t going to be enough.
They were all over us, but we managed to clear the ball. We kicked it dead and the game was over. Happy days,” Brew added.