Blue Boars climb into third spot on the first grade ladder during their bye weekend

Narrabri Blue Boars jumped up two positions on the 2024 Central North Rugby Union first grade table without even tying up a boot lace on Saturday as results went their way in round five.

The Blue Boars entered the round ranked fifth, but they sat out with a bye and accumulated four automatic points.

The two teams directly in front of them were the Quirindi Lions and the Tamworth Pirates, and those two teams suffered losses to drop below the Narrabri men. Pirates travelled to Inverell and were beaten 34-14 by the Highlanders, and Quirindi welcomed Moree Bulls to town and went down 28-25.

Those results saw Moree finish the day on top of the table with 24 points, four clear of Inverell (20) and six clear of Narrabri and Tamworth (18).

Quirindi are on 16 points, eight clear of sixth-placed Gunnedah Red Devils and seventh-placed Scone Brumbies who finished the day on eight points following their bottom-of-the-table encounter in Scone. The Brumbies scored their first win of the year when they downed the Red Devils 25-19. The Gunnedah men are winless in the four games they have played so far across the opening five rounds.

The Blue Boars’ first XV will have another bye this weekend while their reserve grade and women’s tens sides host Barraba Rams at Dangar Park. The Rams do not have a first grade side this season.

The bye will be Narrabri’s third in the top grade this year in six rounds before they finally get a run of games when they travel to Inverell in round seven, host Quirindi in round eight and travel to Tamworth in round nine.

They will then have two weekends off for country championships and a bye in June before they return home on Saturday, June 22, to host Moree Bulls on what will be the Blue Boars’ 60th anniversary celebration weekend.

Meanwhile, Narrabri’s women’s tens team are still ranked second on the ladder following their bye in round five on Saturday.

Ladder leaders Gunnedah remained three points clear at the top following a 24-7 win against Scone. Gun Narrabri junior Holly Ford is playing for Gunnedah in her maiden senior campaign and she continued her red-hot form for the Red Devils with a hat-trick. That took her try-scoring tally to nine in three games since her debut in a 34-28 win at home against Narrabri in round three.