Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team scored a massive tens win at Dangar Park on Saturday to remain on top of the 2023 Central North Rugby Union ladder.
The Blue Boars went into the round seven home game against the Inverell Highlanders undefeated, following a pair of byes to start the season that were backed up by four straight wins, and they extended the streak to five in impressive fashion as they outscored the visitors 83-0.
The hosts ran in 13 tries across the four 10-minute quarters and their co-captain Toni Gale, who scored three of those tries, kicked nine conversions to add 18 extra points off the boot.
Bella Cruickshank was on fire as she ran in four tries in the big win, while Shona McFarland crossed twice and Abbey Anderson, Georgie Hancock, Anni Wenner and Natalia McInnes added one try each.
The win saw the Blue Boars finish the round with a maximum 35 points.
Their 2023 journey will get tougher across the next fortnight when they challenge the sides that are ranked second and third on the ladder.
Those two teams are the Gunnedah Red Devils and the Tamworth Pirates, which went head-to-head in round seven on Saturday. Gunnedah won that match 26-22 on home soil to finish the round in the second spot, just one point back from Narrabri on 34.
Pirates are now third on 27 points.
The Narrabri ladies will head to Tamworth this Saturday in round eight and will then host a top-of-the-table contest against Gunnedah in the ninth round of the season.
The Blue Boars will then have two weekends off with byes.
The other seventh-round match on Saturday was won by Scone, which earned a 36-24 victory on home soil against Quirindi, while Moree and Barraba both sat out with byes.
The teams ranked fourth to eighth, respectively, are now Moree, Scone, Barraba, Quirindi and Inverell.
In the first grade competition, the Narrabri Blue Boars scored a 47-22 win against the Inverell Highlanders at Dangar Park.
Luis Salvado, Tom Cameron, Toby Knight, Jacob Nichols, Daniel Kahl and Will Ciesiolka all scored a try each in that match, and Knight kicked four conversions and three penalty goals.
Knight opened the scoring in the second minute with a penalty goal to make the score 3-0, which became 6-0 just five minutes later when he kicked his second three-pointer off the back of another penalty.
The Highlanders scored their first points of the contest in the 10th minute when they reduced the deficit to three points with a penalty goal.
Narrabri scored the first try of the game on the half-hour mark through scrum-half Salvado, and then Knight kicked his side out to a 13-3 lead.
The hosts went into the half-time break ahead 20-3 after Cameron went over for the second try of the contest in the 37th minute and Knight kicked the conversion.
Inverell scored two tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half as Harry King went over in the 46th and then Lawson Muir crossed in the 50th.
Muir converted his try as the score became 20-15 and the Inverell men edged closer to getting in front for the first time in the match.
However, Knight scored 10 points in two minutes to make that task even tougher as he kicked a penalty goal in the 53rd minute and then went over for a try that he converted in the 55th to make the score 30-15.
That became 35-15 just after the hour-mark when Nichols scored the Blue Boars’ fourth try to secure the bonus point.
The Highlanders hit back in the 72nd minute with a converted try to reduce the deficit to 13 points, but any hope they had of producing a miracle comeback evaporated in the 76th minute when Kahl scored the Blue Boars’ fifth try and Knight added the extras to make the score 42-22.
A final-minute Ciesiolka try saw the hosts run away with a 47-22 victory.
The win was Narrabri’s third of the season in its fifth match and saw the Blue Boars remain in close touch with the top four.
Narrabri earned a bonus point out of that victory and are now on 25 competition points, just one behind the fourth-placed Walcha Rams and two behind third-placed Moree Bulls, which both had byes in round seven.
The two top-ranked sides are the Gunnedah Red Devils on 33 points and Tamworth Pirates on 28 points.
They went head-to-head in round seven and the Red Devils prevailed 46-27 at home.
That result not only meant that the Gunnedah men finished the round on top of the table, it also saw them retain the Kookaburra Challenge Cup. They have a bye in round eight and will defend it next against the Blue Boars in the grand final rematch at Dangar Park in round nine.
The other round seven match saw the sixth-placed Quirindi Lions beat the last-placed Scone Brumbies 45-26 away from home.
The Inverell Highlanders finished the weekend in seventh following the loss against Narrabri.
Narrabri scored a forfeit win against the Highlanders in second grade and now sits fourth on the competition’s ladder on 24 points.
The Blue Boars play in Tamworth against the Pirates in all three grades in round eight this Saturday.
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