Roosters beat Eels at Scrumapalooza

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Parramatta Eels v Sydney Roosters

A genuine see-sawing battle saw the Roosters come from behind to win a highly entertaining contest, despite the fact it contained over a dozen scrums

The third minute saw Kelma Tuilagi dump Lindsay Collins on the back of his neck. Collins got straight up and looked to be fine, but it was bad enough to see Tuilagi put on report and sent to the sin bin.

Almost immediately after, the Roosters shifted to the right with simple run-draw-passes until Fetalaiga Pauga got the ball unmarked and he strolled over to score. Sam Walker converted.

The Roosters scored a second try against the 12-man Eels, eight minutes later when Angus Crichton delivered a great offload to James Tedesco, who then drew and passed to Michael Jennings, who dummied and then slipped into a gap and over for a try on the left side. Walker's sideline conversion hit the upright and was waved away.

Parramatta very nearly hit back just 4 minutes later when they went to their right side to Blaize Talagi who rolled over to get the ball down, but the cover tackle effort from Luke Keary forced the ball loose and denied the try.

It wasn't until the 27th minute that the scoreboard saw some action. From a scrum, the Roosters went left to Tedesco, who executed a perfectly timed draw and pass to send Daniel Tupou over for a try. Walker converted from the sideline.

With just under 7 minutes remaining in the half, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves got sent to the sin bin for an unintentional high tackle on Shaun Lane.

Two minutes later Shaun Russell dived to score in the corner but dropped the ball over the line. 

Three minutes before the break, Parramatta finally got on the board. Regan Campbell-Gillard found himself in a gap and ran 35 metres before sending a good ball inside to Mitch Moses in support, who streaked away to score a good try. He then converted his own try.

At halftime, the Rooster held a 16-6 lead.

Just two minutes after play resumed, the Roosters very nearly scored after a legal strip by Angus Crichton saw him lose the ball forward.

Parramatta scored first though in the second half, when just over a minute later, Dylan Brown scooped the ball up at dummy half, 30 metres from the Roosters line, used his step to evade the marker, then swerved back in-field and beat 3 cover defenders with pace to scored a great try. Moses converted.

In the 47th minute, Will Penisini got a great ball to Talagi who sneaked down the narrow corridor to score. Moses failed to convert from the sideline, leaving the scores tied.

A penalty against Lindsay Collins for dissent after he brilliantly shut down a grubber on his own goal line, saw Moses kick a penalty goal from in front to give the Eels the lead.

15 minutes of back and forth ensued before the Roosters produced a short-side play, with Waerea-Hargreaves playing as a halfback, hit the trailing runner Tedesco, who miraculously got a ball to Tupou who stepped inside the defender to score. Walker converted from out wide to give the Roosters a 4 point lead.

The Roosters almost scored just 3 minutes later, however the final pass from Crichton to Tupou went forward.

With just under 5 minutes remaining, the Roosters put the match to bed when a Walker grubber into the Eels in-goal saw Crichton regather, then planted the ball for a try. Walker converted and the Roosters won a thoroughly entertaining match 28-18.