A Star-studded Saturday this week as the Super Rugby boys came back in force - no pun intended, or was it? The competition leaders did not like losing and boy did they have a bone to pick. The Sir Roden Cutler Shield was up for grabs at Woollahra Oval, and Easts made absolutely no mistake - running up a scoreline I personally haven't seen since the Penrith Emus were in the competition. 101 points. One. Zero. One. Elsewhere, the Eastwood-Uni thriller had the Robert and Jack Shute Memorial Cup on the line and did not disappoint, the Rats ran riot out west, and the Stags put on a masterclass at Concord Oval. Buckle up.

Eastern Suburbs v Southern Districts
Beasties def Rebels 101-5

Four minutes was all it took for Beasties to get try number one. From inside their 22m they went down the edge, Ollie Dawkins to Teddy Wilson and back to Dawkins. Jack Bowen converted. Archie Gavin was in next, bagging another from the maul. In what was already a tough game for Souths, things got harder when Blaise Barnes was sent for a deliberate knock-on. Naughty, naughty boy. My compadre, Sid Harvey (IYKYK), sliced through for Beasties' third. Bowen converted. Teddy Wilson snuck in at the ruck. Bowen converted. Moments later Freedom Vahakolo finished off some simple hands down the edge. Bowen converted. Easts were no stranger to naughty boys on this day. George Gibson was sent for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. The definition of insanity. Time out for you champion. Bowen then bagged one himself. Bowen converted. 40 points after 35 minutes. Jamie Adamson raced in from 45 out to bring up 45. Bowen converted. Seven seconds left on the clock and Dawkins bagged his double. Bowen converted. 54 points at halftime, ouch.

Considering Easts have left me with a mountain of in-game reporting to do, I've made an executive decision to keep things lean. Here's what happened as it happened in the second half.

This is certainly not the start to the second half that Southern Districts were after.

(‘c’ denotes converted try)

Western Sydney v Warringah
Rats def Two Blues 64-26

It took a while but Rats' first try was a stunner. A penalty on one touch line, Byron Smith looked up, saw an unmarked Ben Woollett and hit a pinpoint cross-field kick. Try time! Glen Vaihu, fresh from a stint with Moana Pacifica, wasted no time showing his class - counter attacking straight through broken play and into the corner. Vaihu with another dart, chipping through and offloading to Ben Marr to score. Byron Smith converted. Naughty boy Braden Stewart was sent for showing too much love above the shoulders. Drop that body height boy. Jaiden Christian made Two Blues pay from a metre out. Smith converted. With five to play Marr bagged his double and the Rats were on fire. Smith converted. Two Blues were abnormally quiet this day. Halftime.

Crikey, one minute in and a spilled ball into the in-goal gave Zac Barnabas the easiest try of his season. Smith converted. Wes Thomas was next, streaking home off the back of some very sexy interchange from the Rats. Smith converted. It took 52 minutes but finally Two Blues were on the scoreboard - Latrell Ah Kiong finished off a barnstorming run from Manasa Mataele. Iona converted. Two Blues gave away a penalty off the kick-off, quick tap from Ben Fuhiniu, and the human tree Sam Thomson went over. Smith converted. A chip from Smith and a one-handed take from Jackson Ropata gave Rats their try of the day. Smith converted. Shoutout to Stewart, who either didn't see the posts or thought he could turn into the Kool-Aid Man and go through them - safe to say he came off second best. Loose ball = try time, and Ah Kiong bagged a double. Iona converted. Two Blues went back-to-back through Mataele. Iona converted. Luke Reimer sliced through to edge Rats over 60. Smith converted. Clock in the red and Mataele set up another to give Ah Kiong his hat-trick, how touching. Fulltime.

West Harbour v Gordon
Stags def Pirates 59-25

Harbour wasted no time. An early penalty gave Hunter Hannaford three points from a tricky spot. Minutes later Jeremiah Raniga flew into the corner and suddenly Pirates were racing away. Seven minutes on the clock and the veteran Jack Debreczeni crossed over for another. Gordon found good pay at scrum time, forcing Harbour backwards until Milan Basson dotted down. Spinks converted. We've been over it before but the bounce of the ball can be a cruel mistress, regardless of how many professional caps you've got. A toe through from Connor Hickey, Debreczeni was there to cover, ball pops up and Oli Arcus scooped it up and raced home. Spinks converted. One point the difference. Halftime.

Three minutes into the second and some very soft defence from Harbour allowed Hickey to increase Gordon's lead. Spinks converted. Stags crashed over again, Presley Tufuga the recipient. Spinks converted. Ten minutes in and you could already feel the game was over. An intercept off a Pirates lineout and Brandon Quinn raced home. Spinks converted. Off the back of some silky hands down the edge, Pirates' resident musketeer Baptiste Mousques was pulled down just shy, ball spat out, dubious call to play on and Hannaford dotted down. Honestly, this bloke Arcus is a freak - no time or space and still pulls out a chip and chase, gets the bounce, steps the last defender and in under the pointy things. Spinks converted. Another loose pass from Pirates and Gordon's Spinks was in from long range. Spinks converted. Harry Holland took Stags over the 50-point mark from a metre out. Spinks converted. Last play of the game, Pirates gave away a penalty and Spinks knocked over three from the sideline. Fulltime.

Manly v Randwick
Wicks def Marlins 31-21

Manly opened the game well. Great patience in attack inside the opening two minutes. Come will points, pressure you must build, the great master Yoda would say. Come points did. A quick tap from Billy Dickens and Manly were in front. Kaye converted. Wicks let the bobbling ball roll towards the dead ball line - the last bounce sat up and Kaye came tantalisingly close to Manly's second. Randwick managed to build phase after phase, the big men upfront putting their heads in unholy places. Eventually Jack Barrett plopped down. Intercepts were rife this week - against the run of play Solomon Tuqiri leapt up, plucked the ball and raced in from 60 out. Right on the stroke of halftime, Randwick went to the maul, number 9 Mitch Short added his 60 kilos and to be honest, I don't know if they would have got there without him… The Bobcat, Oniti Finau the scorer. Turinui converted. Halftime.

A huge tighthead effort from Manly turned over Wicks' scrum from right in front. Dickens scooped it up and was under the black dot for his double. Kaye converted. Well, well, well. I love a bit of drama, me. A cross-field grubber from Joe Dillon was fielded by Meli Dreu as he bundled into touch. Randwick lineout five out. Enter the overthrow - plucked by Manly's Ben Chapman and Manly were back in front. Kaye converted. Four minutes later Barrett bagged his second and Wicks retook the lead. Turinui converted. Patience was strong with this team and Matias Jensen found himself flopping over the line with 20 to go. Turinui converted. Wicks were denied late thanks to a forward pass. Manly's scrum will be the focus at training this week. Fulltime.

Eastwood v Sydney University
Woods def Uni 42-39

It was a hot start for the Students as they looked to continue their recent streak. Young gun Boston Fakafanua raced down the edge inside the opening 10 minutes. Curtis converted. Minutes later the Northman, Curtis - with a one-handed pickup - finished off a tidy Uni attack. Curtis converted. 20 minutes in Woods hit back. Jack Parsons picked it up and put it down right under the sticks. Tane Edmed (my other compadre, IYKYK) converted. We bloody love seeing big men doing smaller men things. Eamon Doyle busted through two defenders, offloaded to Leafi Talataina, the filthiest of steps to show Isaac Crowe he isn't the only one with razzle and or dazzle and raced into the corner. Jhy Legg continued his try scoring form, closing the gap for Eastwood. Edmed converted. A Joey Fowler kick into the corner was then booted into touch by Eastwood (yeah, look, I don't know either). Uni went to the lineout. A cheeky inside pass to the tropical fruit Joe 'Mango' Manglesdorf and Uni increased the lead. Halftime.

You really couldn't write this one. Woods had a midfield scrum five out from Uni's line. Ball went to Crowe, and he returned serve on Talataina stepping back inside and under the posts. Anything you can do, I can do better… Edmed converted. With three the difference Uni were back on the prowl. Another lineout attack on Woods' tryline but this time it was the backs showing their prowess. A cross-field kick from Fowler to Benjy Joseland and Uni were in. Score for score as Woods rolled around the corner - Immanuel Opetaia closed the gap. Edmed converted. A spilled ball turned into an Eastwood counter-attack and the resident gas man Crowe went slicing through from inside his 22. Uni turned it back over and won a penalty. Curtis knocked over three. Cometh the hour, cometh the naughty boy - Jhy Legg sent for a lack of arms and Woods were down to 14. Despite the numerical disadvantage Eastwood's George Methven strode through the gap and Woods were back in front. Edmed converted. With nine on the clock the Wonder Kid Fowler hit another cross-field kick. Joseland, diving with arms stretched out, caught and scored. I hear Cricket Australia are looking for a specialist fielder… Curtis converted. Two to play and four the difference, Woods were desperate. Offload after offload and Dylan Nelson found the ball in space - inside then outside and he raced into the corner. Holy mackerel the kid can finish. Edmed converted. Fulltime. Game of the round.

Northern Suburbs v Hunter
Norths def Wildfires 22-19

Mosman played host to the men from the Central Coast. Norths were first to cross inside the opening 10 minutes - a naughty short side attack off the scrum and Seb Cameron went over in the corner. Hunter hit back through some sexiness of their own. A chip and regather off the lineout and Sitiveni Vahai raced home untouched. Gray converted. A Wildfires trick play at the lineout had the behemoth Philip Talaileva rolling back to the edge and bashing his way over. Gray converted. Hunter were denied another maul try on the stroke of halftime. Halftime.

An eventful opening 12 minutes saw Norths holding the ball in attack but Hunter able to keep them out. John Downes got his timing wrong in the tackle - yellow for a head-on-head and a blue card, deemed unfit to return. Look after that noggin mate, best wishes from the Gallery. Norths maintained possession and Hunter kept giving away penalties. Kieran Curran went over at maul time. Burey converted. Two points the difference and 15 to go, Hunter used their big men to punch holes in Norths' defence. Silky hands into a tasty grubber into the corner and Adam Plummer increased their lead. Nine left and much like their first try, Norths went down the short-side at scrum time. For his efforts in the corner Cameron almost became Nearly-Headless Nick. This is obviously illegal behaviour as TJ Talaileva found out - 10 in the bin and a penalty try awarded. Ouchie. All square with three to go. Norths lineout, maul goes to work, penalty goal. The Fat Lady hath bellowed. Hunter lineout inside Norths' 22, phase after phase, forward pass. Game over. Fulltime.