Blue Boars hit the ground running with a bonus point victory against Quirindi

Narrabri Rugby Club’s first XV kicked off its 2021 Central North Rugby Union first grade campaign with a bonus point victory in front of a large and loud home crowd at Dangar Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Boars downed the Quirindi Lions 34-18 in the season opener after outscoring the visitors five tries to two and kicking one penalty goal to the opposition’s two.

The hosts led 12-10 at the half-time break before finding themselves behind 18-17 on the hour-mark.

However, they found their feet at the back end of the game and piled on 17 unanswered points in the final 20 minutes to earn all five competition points on offer.

Blue Boars coach Hunter Harley told The Courier he was pleased that his side fought until the end to earn the five points against a tough opposition outfit, but added that Narrabri had a lot to work on.

“We were very clumsy but we haven’t played much footy for the past 18 months so we were going to be rusty,” Harley said.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Quirindi. I thought their game management was great, especially from their nine and 10, but really from their whole team.

“They’ve obviously got some new troops and they definitely put us under a lot of pressure.

“We made a ton of mistakes but Quirindi forced a lot of the mistakes too.

“Our defence was good but I think our whole urgency wasn’t the same, we didn’t have the intent that we came out of the sheds with against Albies.

“We were definitely flat and I thought that we could have been more aggressive, especially in the first 20 (minutes).

“One thing I am proud of though which was the biggest take home of the day was that even when we were behind, or at half-time when things hadn’t been going all our way, the guys didn’t panic and they maintained their composure.

“That speaks to the character of all of the players we have I think.

“We have the Matt Schwagers and Todd Farrers there to help keep everyone calm, but I think we have some really good young heads across the park.

“I was proud we kept our composure and earned the five points.”

Harley challenged his side to stick to its structure moving forward.

“Another big issue on top of urgency and mistakes was our structure which I keep going on about,” he said.

“We went away from the framework which I am trying to get us to play and that in turn leads to mistakes which puts pressure on us and we leak points as a result.

“If we stick to our structure more it’ll get us field position and open the game up later on.

“But to our credit, we’ve only had about 40 minutes of ball work and getting into the nitty gritty of our team stuff so I can’t be too hard on the gents there.

“We’ve got a lot to work on and we know that but we’ll get there.”

Blue Boars flanker Matt McDonnell picked up the three best and fairest points in the first grade fixture on Saturday and he also earned praise for his performance from his coach.

“Matt McDonnell did a lot of good things in the middle of that field,” Harley said.

“His running game was good and he made some good metres, his tackling game was good too which included a great try-saver after a great chase.

“His all-round game made him a clear three points I thought.

“Jydon (Hill) at fullback was great as well, he was put under enormous pressure but he sustained it really well and his kicking game was as good as some clubs’ halves’ best kicking games.

“Will Turner and Jack Maunder did a lot of hard work in the middle too.”

The Blue Boars’ second grade side and women’s sevens team were also in action on Saturday.

The second XV downed Quirindi 22-17 and the women’s sevens side defeated Barraba Gwydir 19-17 and 15-12.

Narrabri’s sevens team was originally scheduled to play against Quirindi, but the visitors forfeited the fixtures which meant that the Blue Boars picked up a combined 10 competition points on the day.

Barraba Gwydir had the round one bye and were happy to travel to play two friendly matches at Dangar Park.

In the first grade contest, Quirindi scored the first points of the game when Riley Beresford slotted a fifth minute penalty goal to make the score 3-0 before the Blue Boars hit the lead with the first try of the contest in the 10th minute.

That was scored by Sam Knight, less than two minutes after skipper Matt Schwager came up centimetres short while stretching out in attempt to ground the ball.

Two Quirindi tacklers denied Schwager and forced the ball loose but the home side won the ensuing scrum and Knight would not be denied when he dived between two defenders.

Jacob Nichols then booted Narrabri to a 7-3 lead with his first conversion of the day.

Matt McDonnell then brought the Dangar Park crowd to its feet with a massive defensive effort in the 27th minute. The flanker covered more than 50 metres as he chased down a Quirindi Lion who intercepted a Will McDonnell pass inside the Blue boars attacking 22. The number seven turned and chased and eventually made a try-saving tackle which allowed his side to win the ball back in the ruck.

However, it was to no avail as the Blue Boars coughed up possession and the Lions crossed for a try through Daniel Calavassy which Beresford converted to make the score 10-7.

Narrabri then regained the lead in the 35th minute when Jack Maunder crashed over from close range for his first try of the season. The hosts won a penalty 10 out from the Quirindi line and threw everything at the visitors’ defence. In typical Schwager style, the halfback threw the right pass at the right time which gave Maunder a simple path to the tryline. Nichols’ conversion attempt came crashing back off the right post and the score remained 12-10 to Narrabri.

The Blue Boars had one last chance inside the final minute of the first half when they fed a scrum 10 metres out from the Lions’ line, however, the home side coughed up possession with a lost ball and was forced to settle for a two-point lead at the break.

The see-sawing nature of the contest continued in the second stanza and the Narrabri men found themselves trailing by three points in the 48th minute after they were punished for another error. The hosts fed a scrum close to the Quirindi line and went on the attack, but another dropped ball was scooped up by Calavassy who ran 75 metres to cross for his second five-pointer of the game.

That made the score 15-12 to the visitors but they could only hold onto that lead for seven minutes before the Blue Boars went over for their third try. It was scored by Todd Farrer and came off the back of more Schwager brilliance after the Blue Boars won a penalty 15 metres out and the halfback caught the Lions’ defence napping with a quick tap. He ran at the line before offloading to Farrer who dived over to make the score 17-15.

That became 18-17 to Quirindi on the hour-mark when the Lions kicked their second penalty goal of the match.

The flurry of points then continued when the Blue Boars crossed for their fourth try in the 62nd minute.

The home side fed a scrum 40 metres out from which the ball was spread from the right edge to Nichols on the left edge who darted through a gap in the defence to break the line. He threw a pass to winger Clayton Pursche who charged down the sideline before finding Hill with a pass inside who caught the ball and dived over. Nichols then added the extras from the tee from five metres inside the left sideline to give his side a 24-18 lead.

That was the eighth lead change in the match and this time the Blue Boars refused to surrender it again as they began to play with more fluency and momentum.

With 10 minutes remaining the hosts scored their fifth try which was claimed by front rower Turner who charged through a gap and went over between the sticks after running onto a pass 10 out from the line. Nichols slotted a simple conversion to make the score 31-18.

That became 34-18 with seven minutes remaining when the Blue Boars won a penalty in the centre of the field on their attacking 22. They elected to kick for goal and Nichols made no mistake from the tee as he scored the last points of the match.

In the other round one games on Saturday, the Tamworth Pirates demolished the Walcha Rams 57-6 in a rematch of the 2019 first grade grand final, Moree

Bulls downed Barraba Rams 64-5 and Gunnedah Red Devils beat Inverell Highlanders 20-7.

All four of the winning sides earned five points in round one, as did the Scone Brumbies which had the bye.

In round two this weekend, the Brumbies will travel to Tamworth for their first game of the season where they will meet the Pirates, Barraba will host Gunnedah, Inverell will host Walcha and Moree will play away from home against Quirindi. Narrabri has the round two bye.