Blue Boars sink the Pirates to climb into fourth

Narrabri Rugby Club has surged into Central North Rugby Union’s 2023 first grade competition top four with a sensational 40-38 comeback victory against Tamworth Pirates at Dangar Park on Saturday.

A try to winger Joe Baker on the bell in the round 17 clash saw Narrabri come from three points down in the 80th minute of the penultimate-round contest to keep their finals hopes alive as they jumped Quirindi into fourth.

The Blue Boars were tailing by 15 points with just 12 minutes remaining but they powered home with three tries, one of which they converted, to earn a crucial five points.

The Narrabri men also retained the Kookaburra Challenge Cup heading into this Saturday’s round 18 clash away from home against Gunnedah, so the Blue Boars will be crowned Cup champions on top of qualifying for the finals if they can get the job done against the Red Devils.

Even if the Blue Boars lose that match, they can still clinch fourth and play finals footy if they earn a bonus point and Walcha does not win away from home against Pirates.

The Rams beat Inverell 73-10 in their final home game of the year at Walcha to rise to fifth, while Quirindi Lions dropped from fourth to sixth as they were beaten 65-14 away from home against Moree.

Those results meant that Narrabri climbed to 57 points, with Walcha (55) and Quirindi (53) now both close behind.

Quirindi has a bye in the final round and is therefore guaranteed to finish the regular season on 58 points, but Narrabri has accumulated more wins than the Lions this year, which is the tie-breaker if teams finish level on competition points, meaning the Blue Boars would finish above Quirindi with just one bonus point even if they lose in Gunnedah.

If that is the way it unfolds, though, Narrabri would need Walcha to lose or draw to finish fourth.

Narrabri’s round 17 clash at Dangar Park was an entertaining affair as the Blue Boars scored on the bell to win it in style.

As they had done throughout the game, they worked hard in the middle of the field to drag Pirates defenders in before moving the ball wide. This time, they created a four-on-two on the left edge and they spread it out of the ruck through the hands all the way to winger Joe Baker, who had 20 metres to run and managed to shrug off two defenders to get over in the corner.

That was the Blue Boars’ seventh try of the day compared to Tamworth’s six, but the visitors kicked better with four successful conversion attempts to the home side’s single conversion and penalty goal.

Narrabri’s fullback and first grade coach Jake Packer lined up for his 100th Blue Boars appearance in that match and went over for two tries.

He told The Courier it was special to celebrate that milestone with a win alongside his mates, and he was proud of his team for holding its nerve and getting the job done.

“It’s always good to beat the Pirates because they are really tough,” Packer said.

“I’m very proud. We knew that there was so much on the line for us, but at no point in that game did I feel like we were panicked, even being 15 points down with 15 minutes to go.

“It was another resilient effort.

“It was a good game where either team that got up in their half scored.

“It was ebbs and flows I thought. We had periods where we were on top and they had periods where they were on top. Each team, in our attacking halves, were quite dominant.

“It was a battle of who held their nerve, and we held our nerve.”

Narrabri came out firing and went over through Jack Maunder in the fifth minute of the contest to take an early 5-0 lead, and then Nathan Nott scored the home side’s second try to make the score 10-0.

That became 10-5 when Conrad Starr crossed for Pirates, but Todd Nichols then kicked the Blue Boars out to a 13-5 lead with a 13th-minute penalty goal.

Tamworth Pirates crossed for their second try through Jack Edwards, and Brendan Rixon converted it to bring the Tamworth men within a point, but Narrabri stretched its lead to six points when Nichols scored the home side’s third try to put them ahead 18-12.

Tamworth scored again late in the half through Josefa Goneduadua, and another Rixon conversion put them in front 19-18.

However, Packer crossed for his first try of the day when he dived over into the right corner a minute out from half-time to ensure Narrabri picked up a bonus point for the ladder and took a 23-19 lead into the half-time break.

Pirates gained ascendancy in the second half when they piled on 19 more points via tries to Starr, James Kitchener-Waters and Rixon.

The latter converted two of those as the visitors led 38-23 with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Packer went in for his second try of the game with 12 minutes to go and Jydon Hill slotted the Blue Boars’ only conversion of the day to make the score 38-30, which became 38-35 when Baker crossed for his first try of the game in the left corner soon after.

There were five seconds left on the clock when Baker went over again as the home side completed a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

The Pirates picked up two bonus points in that loss, one for scoring four tries and another for losing by seven or fewer points. That saw them move to 72 as the minor premiership race intensified with Gunnedah (70) and Moree (69) both picking up five points.

Moree has the bye this weekend and is guaranteed another five points, so Gunnedah and Tamworth have work to do in round 18 on Saturday.

It will be an exciting day for rugby union in Central North, with three teams playing for the first grade minor premiership, three more teams battling it out for fourth spot, and the women’s tens minor premiership up for grabs as well when Narrabri and Gunnedah meet in a top-of-the-table clash in Gunnedah.

Narrabri beat Pirates 52-0 at Dangar Park in the women’s tens match on Saturday to remain in first place, but the Blue Boars’ second grade side lost 29-12 against Tamworth, and will finish the season in third place regardless of its round 18 result.