Darby Lancaster might be a world away from his Test teammates in Argentina, but the one-cap Wallaby was the difference in his side’s 38-34 preliminary final victory over Warringah at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.
After Warringah playmaker Coby Miln banged over his eighth penalty of the afternoon in the 75th minute, it looked like the Shute Shield’s leading point scorer had kicked the Rats into the final.
Re-enter Lancaster, who kept Eastern Suburbs’ hopes of ending their 55-year Shute Shield drought alive.
The 21-year-old former Australian sevens flyer, who debuted for the Wallabies against Georgia last month, showed his express pace and dived under the sticks to lead his side into a massive come-from-behind victory.
“Jeez, there’s very few of them (celebrations that can top that),” Lancaster told The Roar. “I can’t think of any to date.
“It was a really special moment with the Easts boys in the background. It was an awesome moment.”
Darby Lancaster scored a hat-trick for Easts during their nail-biting preliminary final win over Warringah. Photo: Karen Watson, Sydney Rugby Union
By crossing in the final minute, Lancaster completed his hat-trick in a fine individual performance where the Super Rugby rookie showed his never-say-die attitude right from the outset.
During a sloppy, ill-disciplined performance, Lancaster led the way and showed the worth of doing the little things well.
Indeed, his first try in the fifth minute, where he charged down a clearing kick after Miln’s early penalty and scored, showed a player desperate to succeed and put an emotional, roller-coaster past month back on track.
“I’m absolutely stoked to get here at Easts and play in a finals series and to get out there against such a classy Rats side, we played very different game styles out there but it could have gone either way, there’s no doubt about that,” Lancaster said.
“I’m just stoked to be here playing footy and playing week-in, week-out.”
After being dropped following the Wallabies’ 40-29 win over Georgia and missing out on The Rugby Championship squad, Lancaster’s starring role revealed the importance of having competitions for players to return to.
“I just want to play the best footy where I can,” he said. “It’s really beneficial for me to play here the last few weeks. I’m loving every second.
“I’m still fresh coming over from sevens and learning it all.”
Emerging Waratahs halfback Teddy Wilson once again showed his quality during the late win, scoring twice while flanker Charlie Gamble was excellent at the breakdown.
Eastern Suburbs, whose season has been overshadowed in recent weeks after a points scandal saw them docked five competition points on the eve of the finals series, will meet Northern Suburbs in the final after Zak Beer’s side upset last year’s champions Randwick 34-17.
Northern Suburbs were too strong for Randwick at North Sydney Oval on Saturday. Photo: Karen Watson, SRU
After opening up a 20-3 half-time lead, Norths managed to keep Randwick at bay every time they threatened of making a comeback.
Former Junior Wallabies midfielder Henry O’Donnell’s ability to find some space and offload ahead of Jack Radford’s try after 60 minutes was a telling blow after Randwick had earlier struck back.
While Randwick hit back through Tom Nowlan, who ran a strong, straight line off Andrew Deegan to cut the deficit to ten points, a turnover on their own line in the 74th minute proved telling.
Waratahs lock Hugh Sinclair then crossed shortly after to seal their place in the final and atone for last year’s Shute Shield final defeat.
The Shute Shield final will be played at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon.
