After defeating ladder leaders Tamworth last week Armidale Blues came crashing back to earth after a comprehensive defeat at the hands of St Albert's College at Moran Oval on Saturday.
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Albies were unstoppable.
The surged to a 10-nil lead early after two power-based tries through the forwards with prop Keagan Size capitalising. A converted try in reply closed the gap to 10-7, but that was as close as the Blues could get.
The students were lead from the front in a real captain's knock from six Will Burke, ably supported by loose forwards George Crawley and Lachie Holz, allowing the backline time and space to first probe gaps with astute kicking, and later to exploit room out wide.
Armidale threatened a brief renaissance with some razzle dazzle football.
Junior Lai and Bis Moce, combined in a Lachie Pollard converted try, but Albies held them off, galloping away from 27-14 just after half-time, to close out the match 51-14 with tries to Ted Stuart, Tom Condon, Lachie Holz, Sam Brandon, Joe Vary and Size's double.
Besides the skipper, Albies' best were Size, Crawley, Holz, Condon and Brandon, while Armidale's evergreen Anthony Kaberry, Ian Ranger and Matt Williams were the best for the Blues.
Albies won all four grades and the two women's 7's matches.
Over at Alcatraz, Robb College piled on the points against a win-less Barbarians outfit.
The reigning premiers were formidable, downing the Baa Baas 57-8.
In the absence of co-coach Sam Ditchfield, David McCathie took the reins.
"We knew it was going to be a hard game, we knew the Baa Baas had nothing to lose and would be very physical, they always are," McCathie said.
"It was really important for us to maintain possession and maintain our composure.
"Make sure we did the little things right, tackle well, hold on to the ball and just value possession."
McCathie couldn't fault the performance of his troops.
"We have had a continuous stream of injuries and we have had guys are fitting in really well, coming up from second grade," he said.
"We have made a lot of changes to the team and the depth of the club is fantastic and a credit to the boys."
Robb are on top of the table in first, second and third grade while the women's sevens team sits in fourth.
McCathie made special mention of the girls.
"Their effort at training and their improvement has been nothing short of incredible," he said.
"It has just been fantastic to see, they are such an important part of the club."
New England Rugby Union takes a break this weekend for the Country Championships in Tamworth.
