THE future for rugby union in the colour city appears blindingly bright following the representations of both Orange City Lions and Orange Emus’ players in the Central West sides at this year’s NSW Country Championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Lions provided the bulk of each age group, with players selected in the under 11s through to the under 17s.
Dominating the region’s under 16s side, Phillip Peters, Mitch Winslade, Lachlan Stewart, Hugh Westcott, Ricky Eggins, Luke Alexander, Darcy Holmes, Michael Shamibra and Jacob Follent all made an impact with the junior Bulls.
Harry West, Jack Morrison and Angus Staniforth represented in the under 11s, while Nicholas O’Hara, Henry Bouffler, Gabe Sio and Sean Carpenter (all under 12s), William Smith, Ben Bellamy, Beau Westcott and Jerry Overton (under 13s), Jack Parr, Richard Sear, Jayden Slingsby and Monty Eccleston (under 14s), Hunter Ward, Felix Quinn, Yool Yool, Nicholas Smith, Nicholas Fisher and Mitch Leonard (under 15s) and Ethan Kelly, Treii Savkura, Nicholas Thomson, Hiksri Hashida and Matt Cheon (under 17s) made their respective age group sides.
Emus were also represented by Lachlan Duncan (under 15s) and Andrew Romano (under 12s).
The Central West under 15s travelled to Newcastle last weekend to defend the NSW Country Championship from last year.
This side suffered one loss across five games of rugby, meaning the Central West wasn’t able retain the title. Their only loss was 10-7 to Hunter.
Other scores were 48-0 against New England, 36-0 against Illawarra, 7-3 against Central Coast and 23-5 against Mid North Coast.
The side only conceded three tries all tournament.
The under 14s also had an improved run at the championships, lifting their ranking two places.
The under 16s and under 17s Central West teams that played in Dubbo on the Anzac weekend met some tough competition, finishing sixth and fourth respectively.
The under 12s and under 13s play in Nowra this weekend.