Pirates coach Andrew Bowden has been continually impressed by what his side has produced in the inaugural Central North women’s 7’s competition.
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Bowden conceded going into the season he wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
He hadn’t had a lot of experience coaching girls/women, but admitted they surprised him in the first week.
Since then they’ve continued to surprise, and impress him
None more so than at Saturday’s gala day at Gunnedah with Pirates winning all four of their games.
After convincing wins over an understrength Inverell (36-7), Narrabri (32-7) and Scone (29-nil) they overcame the hosts in a hard-fought encounter 26-10.
“The last game was a nice tough one to finish with,” Bowden said.
The win saw them leapfrog the Highlanders and go to the top of the table.
Bowden attributed their success, and the commanding nature of their first three wins on Saturday, to the hard work they have been putting in and the way they were able to work out their opposition’s weaknesses and then use that to their advantage.
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They were also able to dictate the tempo of the game.
“We controlled the pace of the game and worked the ruck well. We got a lot of turnovers,” Bowden said.
Rosie Ferguson stole about six balls in one game alone.
It’s an aspect of their game they have been working on.
“We have been the last two weeks working a lot on our ruck structure, and the set pieces,” Bowden said.
As the scorelines suggest they were also very strong in defence conceding only four tries for the day. Bowden couldn’t remember them missing too many tackles either.
It is a testament to the way they are working as a team and backing each other up, Bowden remarking that the thing that has surprised him the most is how well they have combined.
Amy Raphael was their players’ player for the day.
The 17-year old is in only her first year of rugby and played every minute in the second game.
“I coached her with Central North and she made the Country side and is stepping up well,” Bowden said.
The loss to Pirates was Narrabri’s only blemish beating Scone 38-5, Gunnedah 15-5 and Inverell 34-nil.
The Highlanders were missing several of their stronger players who were in Brisbane with the UNE Lions.
Ashlee Knight, Ashleigh Walker, Lauren Nott, Rhiannon Byers, Shana Povey and Hannah Crisp were part of a Lions squad that faced Uni 7’s rivals Griffith University, University of Queensland and Bond University as well as rep teams from Darling Downs and Tribe.
