Blue Boars’ first XV earn a crack at the Bulls in the major semi-final

Narrabri Rugby Club’s first grade side won their way through to the Central North Rugby Union major semi-final on Saturday when they downed the Tamworth Pirates 29-25 on home soil at Dangar Park in the battle for second place.

The two teams entered round 18 locked on 64 points, both requiring a win to earn the right to travel over to Weebolla Oval this Saturday to meet the Moree Bulls in a match that has the home grand final hosting rights on the line.

The Pirates struck first through Jack Edwards as his try made the score 5-0, but Narrabri hit back when Sam Spanton and Will McDonnell went over for tries that were converted by Josh Schwager as the scoreboard read 14-5 with 15 minutes played.

Mikey O’Brien was next to score as Narrabri established a 19-5 lead, which became 22-5 soon after when Schwager slotted a penalty goal.

Narrabri took that 17-point lead into the half-time break, but it was cut to 12 just three minutes into the second stanza when Ramedre Naburu hit back for Pirates.

Nairn Calder then scored in the 48th minute and Tamworth had equalised at 22-all by the 53rd minute as Calder converted Naburu’s second try.

Pirates went in front for the second time in the 68th minute when Calder slotted a penalty goal, but McDonnell charged over from close range off a quick tap in the 75th minute, which put Narrabri out in front 29-25 when Schwager converted.

The Blue Boars held on to win by the four-point margin, however, the result was soured by a hamstring injury to Schwager in the final minute, putting him in doubt for the finals series.

The Blue Boars’ coach Craig Gleeson was thrilled to have qualified for the major semi-final.

“I think the boys deserve it to be honest,” Gleeson said.

“We’ve had a really good season, and that win typified it I think. There were patches of really good play and there were patches where we were not at our best, but all in all, we deserved it.

“That’s not to say that we don’t have plenty to work on going forward.”

The winner of Saturday’s semi-final at Weebolla Oval will host the 2024 CNRU grand final day on August 31, and Gleeson said that his side would face a tough battle against the Bulls in their pursuit of achieving that.

“That game against the Pirates was finals footy for us. We had that focus on being second, so we approached it as finals footy,” Gleeson said.

“The way the boys turned up and started the match and the way they dug deep to win it, I thought was a credit to them, and it showed they do have the mental toughness there when we need it.

“Moree will be really physical. They have had a couple of weeks off and no doubt they have been doing plenty of hard work at training.

“They’re coming off a loss against Pirates, and they’re going to want to make up for that.

“They also have a grand final that they want to host too, like us.

“But we know their style of play and we know how we can beat them.”

Pirates’ loss meant that they placed third, and they will host Inverell in the minor semi-final on Sunday.