In a disappointing day, results wise, Central West Rugby Union’s opens and colts sides will both be playing to avoid relegation on Sunday’s second day of the 2017 NSW Country Rugby Championships at Port Macquarie.
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But the region’s women?
Well, they’ve taken the competition by storm, going through the opening day undefeated.
Where the Blue Bulls and Baby Bulls fell victim to Newcastle-Hunter and Central Coast, respectively, Central West’s women’s sevens side came up trumps, twice.
First, they thumped Mid North Coast 29-0 and then dished out a shellacking to Far North Coast as well, winning that game 22-0.
As a result, the side has won through to the semi-finals on Sunday morning.
Central West takes on Central North in the final four, the winner will play the victory of the other semi-final between Hunter and Mid North Coast in the decider.
“It was just a really good team effort, everyone played well,” Central West coach Amanda Ferguson said.
“I watched all the women’s games and I think the semi-final will be a tough, physical game from what I saw of Central North.
“We’ll just need to stay solid and play well again.”
Hunter is also undefeated while Central North went two and one from three games, being defeated by the Novocastrians 22-0.
In the top tier Caldwell Cup, Newcastle-Hunter just proved far too strong for Central West, dominating the Blue Bulls in a 58-8 romp.
However, there was promise for the Blue Bulls. When the Blue Bulls put it together, although it didn’t happen that often, they looked excellent.
Orange Emus winger Tom Green was exceptional in the loss and his clubmates Nick Hughes-Clapp and AJ Sykes also performed.
The Blue Bulls face Central North in the Caldwell Cup third place play-off, the loser will be relegated to the second tier Richardson Shield for next year’s Championship.
Newcastle-Hunter plays Illawarra, again, in the final.
The Baby Bulls were unlucky, going down by just eight points to Central Coast.
In a thrilling fixture that was deadlocked for a long time, Central Coast eventually prevailed 13-5.
The Baby Bulls take on New England to avoid relegation to the second tier.
DAY ONE RESULTS:
CALDWELL CUP: Newcastle- Hunter 58 def Central West 8, Illawarra 55 def Central North 17
RICHARDSON SHIELD: Far North Coast 50 def Central Coast 41, Western Plains 43 def New England 5, Mid North Coast 23 def Central Coast 12, Far North Coast 43 def Western Plains 19
ROWLANDS CUP COLTS: Newcastle Hunter 46 New England 10, Central Coast 13 Central West 5
COLTS SHIELD: Far North Coast 41 Central North 5, Illawarra 15 Mid North Coast 7
WOMEN’S: Mid North Coast 22 def Far North Coast 5, Hunter 29 def Central Coast 5, Central North 36 def New England 0, Central West 29 def Mid North Coast 0, Hunter 33 def New England 0, Central North 17 def Central Coast 12, Central West 22 def Far North Coast 0, Hunter 22 def Central North 0, Central Coast 15 def New England 12, Central Coast 27 def Far North Coast 5
DAY TWO DRAW:
CALDWELL CUP: Final: Newcastle-Hunter v Illawarra, 2.40pm; Play-off: Central West v Central North, 12.50pm
RICHARDSON SHIELD: Final: Far North Coast v Mid North Coast, 11.30am; Play-off: Central Coast v New England, 10.10am
ROWLANDS CUP COLTS: Final: Central Coast v Newcastle Hunter, 1.15pm; Play-off: Central West v New England, 11.40am
COLTS SHIELD: Final: Far North Coast v Illawarra, 9.40am; Play-off: Central North v Mid North Coast, 9am
WOMEN’S: Semi-final 1: Central West v Central North, 9am; Semi-final 2: Hunter v Mid North Coast, 9.20am: Final: Winner SF1 v winner SF2, 11.05am