Blue Boars bounce back with dominant win at home against Walcha Rams

Central North Rugby Union’s two top-ranked sides could not be separated for yet another week as the Narrabri Blue Boars and Gunnedah Red Devils scored big wins in the seventh round of the 2022 campaign.

The duo has been on the same amount of points every week since round one, and they have been the two frontrunners for the past month, with the Blue Boars leading at every turn as the tiebreaker of games won has always been in their favour.

On Saturday, Narrabri Rugby Club’s first XV became the first and only team to score five wins so far this season when it demolished Walcha Rams 53-12 in front of a home crowd at Dangar Park.

The Blue Boars bounced back from a round six away defeat against Pirates in style as they ran in nine tries to two and kicked four conversions to two against the Rams.

They produced a dominant second half, during which they outscored Walcha 34 points to five after the score at the half-time break was 19-7.

Hooker Hamish Moore got the ball rolling with the first try of the contest in the seventh minute, but Walcha hit back and established a 7-5 lead with a converted try in the 13th minute.

Narrabri regained the lead in the 20th minute when Will McDonnell went over and Jacob Nichols added the extras to make the score 12-7.

Felix Cobb-Johnson then scored the final try of the opening half in the 36th minute, and Nichols booted the Blue Boars into a 19-7 lead.

The home side came out firing, and it was Mitch Creighton who went over first as he scored his first try of the campaign in the 47th minute.

Cobb-Johnson scored his second try of the match eight minutes later as the score became 29-7.

Either side of Walcha’s second and final try, Linton Grumley went over for two tries in three minutes, and Nichols converted them both as the score became 43-12 after 70 minutes.

Toby Knight and Cambell Hancock both got on the scoresheet in the final 10 minutes as the home side ran away with a dominant 41-point victory.

The Blue Boars earned their seventh bonus point of the season during that victory. It was their sixth for scoring four or more tries in a match.

The Gunnedah Red Devils also earned a bonus point victory on home soil when they outscored Pirates 47-7.

Both sides scored a converted try early in that match to make the score 7-all after seven minutes of play, and then the Red Devils piled on 40 points and kept the Tamworth men scoreless for the final 73 minutes of the contest.

The other round seven match was won by the Moree Boars, which scored a 38-0 shutout win away from home against Scone.

Inverell and Quirindi both had byes on Saturday.

Narrabri and Gunnedah finished round seven on 32 points each in first and second place, respectively. They are eight points clear of third-placed Inverell Highlanders.

Inverell finished the weekend on 26 points and leapfrogged the Tamworth Pirates, which finished the round in fourth spot on 24 points.
Quirindi (20 points), Moree (18 points), Walcha (16 points) and Scone (10 points) make up the bottom four.

The Blue Boars have a bye in round eight this Saturday, which means that they will earn an automatic five points.

However, Narrabri can be overtaken by Gunnedah if the second-placed side wins an away match against the Walcha Rams with a bonus point.

Should that occur, the Red Devils would move into first place on for and against difference as both would have scored five wins each in 2022.

The other round eight fixtures will see Inverell host Scone and Moree host Quirindi.

Meanwhile, Narrabri Rugby Club’s second grade side had the day off on Saturday after the Rams forfeited their round seven contest.

The Blue Boars second XV finished the weekend in fourth place on the second grade ladder with 23 points, just six behind the top-ranked Moree Bulls.

Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s 10s side was also victorious on Saturday in round seven after it beat Barraba/Gwydir Ram Rats 46-5 away from home in Bingara to remain on top of the ladder.