SAINT Stanislaus’ College students Yool Yool and Hunter Ward can now call themselves Australian champions after they and their NSW Blue team-mates won the boys Youth National Rugby Sevens crown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pair enjoyed a dominant tournament at Perth, a 34-0 victory over Queensland Red in Sunday’s decider at McGillivray Oval capping an undefeated campaign.
After dominating on the opening day of play, the Stannies duo and their NSW Blue team-mates booked a semi-final appearance against Western Australia.
The hosts provided a stern test, but NSW prevailed 12-0 then went on to dictate terms in the championship decider.
NSW Blue head coach Gerard McLenaghan said the victory was built upon a strong preparation.
It was one which required particular commitment from country-based talents Yool and Ward.
“I’m very for happy for the team, knowing how much work they put into this,” McLenaghan said.
“For a lot of us we have been involved in training for the championship for over four months, so to come away with the victory is really thrilling.
“We really weren’t expecting that result [in the final] after the way Queensland had played all weekend, but I’m very happy with the win and full credit goes to the players.
“The players in this team have been scouted from various tournaments over the past nine months, including the recent NSW State Championships, NSW school championships and schoolboy rugby competitions.”
Yool and Ward were not the only Bathurst students who put their skills and fitness to the test in Perth, with Mackillop College student Teagan Miller and All Saints’ Jakiya Whitfield competing as well.
They lined up for NSW White in the girls championship and picked up their own piece of silverware.
Though not being ranked in the top four teams after the opening day of competition meant the Bathurst duo missed out on playing for the national championship, NSW White went into the plate draw.
There they beat the National Indigenous team 20-5 in the semi-finals before crushing Victoria 42-0 in the the plate decider. That effort saw NSW White ranked fifth overall.
Australian Rugby Union pathway services manager Dale Roberson said the championship was a good way to both promote sevens and encourage talents like the Bathurst students to further enhance their skills
“This is a huge tournament for us, it’s the starting piece of our pathway for the elite level of this age group, looking towards Youth Commonwealth Games, Youth Olympics and then progressing into our development teams and hopefully national teams in the future,” he said.
