Perfect 10 in rival territory

Above: Narrabri’s Tenayah Woodward went over for three tries and kicked four successful conversions on Saturday.

The Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s side is on a roll in the Central North Rugby Union sevens competition, currently sitting just seven points from the top of the table following two convincing victories on Saturday.

The second-placed Blue Boars have won 10 matches in a row and are now 11 points clear of third-placed Inverell.

Narrabri lost its first two matches of the season away from home against first-placed Gunnedah back in round two on Saturday, April 13, but quickly regrouped and has won every match since.

The Blue Boars’ most recent victories were earned when they took on the Moree Bulls away from home in round nine at Weebolla Oval on Saturday.

Moree did not field a team in 2018 so the two rival clubs met for the first time in the sevens competition in the weekend’s match-ups.

The Blue Boars kicked off that rivalry in style with two bonus point victories, downing Moree 31-10 and 24-5.

Narrabri sevens coach Dean Hancock was pleased with his team’s performances, especially in the second match which has been an area of focus recently.

Hancock said that he had challenged his side to be better mentally in the second matches, having let teams back into contests throughout the season after winning most of its first games comfortably.

He credited the team’s defensive effort as the catalyst for the improved second match performance.

“We attacked really well but our defence was just great, it really allowed us to go and attack the way we did,” Hancock said.

The Narrabri coach told The Courier that he was extremely impressed with the footy his team had played in the first half of the season, and that he challenged them to show the same consistency throughout the second half of the campaign.