Sydney Junior Rugby grand finals: winners, stars, standouts, results, top try scorers, clubs, photos
There were three, four and five try heroes, kicking guns and last minute thrillers as 98 teams played Sydney Junior Rugby Union grand finals. Stars, standouts, top clubs and wrap.
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You name it, the Sydney Junior Rugby Union grand finals had it with 49 grand finals played across Sydney - including nuemrus young guns scoring three ior more tries in their matches.
There were draws, last minute wins, close encounters and big scorelines as the first season since Covid was run and done.
Matches were decided from the under 10s category right up to the 16s with numerous multiple tryscorers and some great kicking all the way through the ages.
The majority of games were decided on Sunday at venues including northern beaches, Hunters Hills, Ryde, Dural and Penrith pitches.
A army of volunteers helped on the day as the first grand final in three years was played.
For the U10s it was their first experience of grand final football while older players were just happy to be back after Covid ended their season early last year.
Coach Gareth Inches’ son Cooper was one youngster playing in his first grand final with the Seaforth Raiders.
The side went down to the Allambie Jets 26-7 in a battle of the northern beaches in the U10Cs.
But there was plenty of friendly rivalry with Inches playing against the Jets coach Andrew Hay back at the Manly Marlins in their past and their sons Cooper and Max now tackling each other at rival clubs.
Another club with multiple teams competing was Mosman with the Dolphins in the U12s and the Whales in the U13s.
“Last week we had our girls in the Frosty Sevens and our U14 girls, the Tigers Sharks, finished third. Tiger sharks,’’ said Mosman president Paul Bellantonio.
“The club is now about 500 across boys and girls from U6s to U16s.
“Our numbers have actually gone up since Covid.’’
The Wahroonga Tigers were another well represented team in the comp.
“We have about 400 doing the winter season and others who do touch and sevens as well,’’ said Wahroonga Tigers president Andrew Hill.
“It’s been hard for two years with Covid so it’s just awesome to have rugby back.’’
Norwest Red got the better of the Wahroonga Black 10s 26-0.
In the 10As the Western Raptors beat Collaroy 59-14 with Jensen Brown and Urijah Steven Leach both scoring two tries.
In the 10E match, Manly Roos Red beat the Chatswood Stags 41-21. Romeo Maubourguet and Richard Lee scored two tries for Manly.
In a hotly contested 10F match, Briars beat Norwest Blue 22-19 with Zach O’Donovan scoring twice for the winners.
In the 10Cs KWP Blue beat Balmain Black 19-15 and the Allambie Jets beat Raiders White 26-7 with Tristan Kelly the first three-try heroes of the day.
In the 10Gs Easts Yellow beat Lane Cove Blue 20-14 with Lenny Rafferty scoring twice for the winners.
Penrith’s Adam Bullivant’s club had two teams playing on grand final day.
“We have about 240 registered players and had teams in the U11s and U14s,’’ he said.
In the 11Bs, Oatley defeated Hunters Hill 21-5 with Karepe Faulkner converting all three of his teammates tries.
In the U11Gs, Norwest beat the Newport Sharks 38-26 with Cooper Bruton going over for an amazing four tries.
In the 11As Raiders Black beat Dural Blue 7-0 and in the 11Bs the Dee Why Lions beat Penrith RSL 38-12 with Lucas Locke also scoring three tries.
Lane Cove Gold beat Hills Red 33-19 with Ted Forsey scoring twice for the winners.
In the 11Es Hunters Hill White beat Hills Raptors 12-5 and Newport Dolphins beat Eastwood Barbarians 21-19 in one of the closest matches of the big day out.
Eamon Nilan scored two for Hunters Hill while Newport shared the scoring around
In the U12As Harbord Harlequins beat Wahroonga Black 34-12 with Finn Bailey going over twice.
In the U12B games, Harbord Harlequins Blue beat the Mosman Dolphins 31-12 and Cooper Eveleigh scored two tries.
In another match the Clovelly Reds beat South Coogee 35-12 with Sonny Allport a two-try star.
In the U12Cs, Raiders Black beat Central Eastwood 21-12. Darcy Herring scored a try and kicked three conversions.
In the 12Es, Balmain Black beat Chatswood Highlanders 31-14 with Fidel Alvarez scoring two tries and Charlie Pavey one along with three conversions.
In another match Petersham beat the Manly Roos 12-5 with Jack Quailey scoring two for the winners.
In the 13As the Blacktown Scorpions beat the Mosman Whales 36-7 with Cordell Arama diving over the try line on three occasions and Bailey Logue scoring a try and kicking three conversions.
In the U13Bs Western Raptor beat the Lindfield Tartans 23-19 in a hotly contested match.
Jaylin Moran scored a try and also kicked a conversion.
In the 13Ds Buraneer beat Manly Savers White 19-7. Chase Junior Stanley went over twice for the Burraneer’s at Ryde Park.
In the 13E’s, Wakehurst beat Ryde 26-10. Liam McLaffery converted three and also scored a try.
In the 13Fs Hills Black beat the Newport Dolphins 31-17 with Cooper Tesoriero scoring all of Hills’ tries.
In the 14As, Dural Blue beat North Pirates 42-12 with Talen Risati scoring twice and converting five.
In the 14Bs, Manly Savers Black and Penrith RSL drew 10-10 with Patrick Seymour and Taj Scarr scoring for their clubs.
In the 14Ds Balmain Black beat the Manly Savers White 28-7. Joseph Lane scored two tries and kicked a conversion.
The Manly Savers came up with the win in the U14Es, beating Wests Junior Briars 31-26 in a high-scoring match. Hugh Yiend and Finley Forbes both score two tries each.
“We had three games in the 14s and we won the E grade, were runners up in D grade in the 14s and joint premiers in the B grade grand final after a 10-all draw with Penrith,’’ said Savers Michael Clarke.
“We had 60 kids playing across the three teams and that's keeping them playing rugby and staying active which is great.
“We have U13 to Opens, eight teams and we had five of them in the grand finals.
“We also had wins in the 16 and a win in the opens which was a joint venture with Forest rugby and they won 37-17 over Oatley.’’
In the 15B’s the Lindfield Tartans scored five tries to beat Wahroonga Black 29-10.
In the 16A’s, Randwick Warriors Green beat Norwest Hills 15-3 with Mitch Chen and Luca Cleverley both tryscorers.
In the 16Bs, Manly Savers beat the Liverpool Cougars 27-0 with Henry Conick scoring two tries and kicking two conversions.
In another northern beaches battle Newport won the U16C Sydney Junior Rugby Union decider with their 12-5 defeat of Collaroy.
Lewis Wilson and Evan Flynn scored for Newport.
In the Opens B match the Manly Savers beat Oatley Opens 37-17 with Jack Donaghey scoring a try and kicking three conversions and two penalties.
The Clovelly Whites played on Friday night with the 11s beating South Coogee 36-0.
In the 10s, Maroubra Missiles beat the Clovelly Whites 41-14.
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Mark Gardner from sponsor Maqro, who also back junior girls rugby and the recent City v Country series, said the grand final day across Sydney was a great event.
“I’ve got a couple of young boys playing, daughters interested in playing sevens and I see everyone’s dedication to the cause,’’ Gardner said of the Maqro backing.
“My mother ran junior rugby league on the north coast and I know how organisations need support.
“This (junior rugby) is growing very rapidly with the girls game coming on and anything we can do to support that growth is great. We are proud to be involved.’’
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