The concept of brotherhood is so normal in rugby matches as to be a cliche, but it’s normally referring to players on the same team.  For Maccabi Rugby’s first (and, thanks to the rain, possibly only) pre-season trial this year, though, the brothers were on opposite teams as the boys in blue played UNSW for the coveted Other Davis Cup.
 

The cup, contested annually since 2018, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to brothers David and George Davis, who have both represented both clubs as well as Australia at multiple Maccabiah Games.  With George the current coach of Maccabi and David the club captain at UNSW, the fixture has always been played in good spirits and always (until last night) resulted in spirited defeats for Maccabi – understandable given the considerable size disparity between the two clubs.  With Maccabi short on match fitness thanks to the rain and players thanks to some niggling injuries, including to star recruit David Horwitz, the stage seemed set for the 2022 iteration of the cup to bring more of the same.
 

In the first third, intermittent downpours and ferocious defence from both sides meant that points were hard to come by, but UNSW found two breaks in the rain and the Maccabi line to score well-worked tries through the backline to make the score 10-0 after 25 minutes.  Despite this early setback, it was clear that Maccabi were growing into the game and the break for the first third came with a sense of belief.
 

Despite an almost entirely fresh UNSW XV, it was Maccabi who came out firing in the second period and a prolonged period camped on the UNSW line ended with flanker Mackenzie Dale falling over the line for a classic forward’s try.  Maccabi had several other opportunities to score in this period, but the persistent rain meant that the match devolved into a set-piece battle of scrums and lineouts.  Maccabi’s front row of Harris Lloyd-Levy, Joshua Hoffman and Shaun Janks were all outstanding on the night, and Maccabi received an additional boost when UNSW captain David Davis, who will be representing Australia at the Maccabiah Games this year, changed shirt to join the Maccabi ranks for the second half of the game.
 

The third period began as the second finished, with Maccabi making inroads into UNSW territory before a smart blindside scrum move saw Sam Horwitz beat three defenders to slide over in the corner for an incredible individual try.  More Maccabi pressure from the resulting restart led to an attacking scrum and, in the best move of the game, fly-half Max Wright sent debutant Max Epstein through the UNSW defensive line untouched to score under the posts.  Despite further Maccabi pressure, handling errors and UNSW defensive pressure meant that there would be no further scores and the game ended in a 15-10 victory.  For the first time in its 5-year history, Maccabi had won the Other Davis Cup.
 

After being presented with the trophy, coach George Davis was elated with his team’s performance.  “This is a great sign of things to come this season – the boys showed a lot of heart to play the full 75 minutes and we saw some outstanding individual performances and a great team defensive effort.  With some of the players still to come back into the side, this bodes very well for our domestic season and the Maccabiah Games in July.  On a personal level, it’s also great to finally get our hands on the cup with my name on it!”