National Under 16 Championships
Queensland Red defeat WA
2 October 2006 (Day 1)
After a sluggish start, Queensland Red burst into life to win their opening game of the National Under 16 Championships at Riverview College in Sydney.
In hot conditions, Queensland Red struggled early to contain a highly motivated WA outfit, but eventually wore down their opponents to win 47-7.
After trading early tries, the match was locked at 7-7 until winger Joseph Tomane dived over for the Queenslanders in the 23rd minute. Matt Toomua, who recently played for Australia A Schoolboys against Tonga, kicked the conversion for a 14-7 lead.
Another try just before half time to Aiden Toua stretched their lead to 19-7 with Toomua adding the extra two points from the successful conversion.
The second half saw a more committed Queensland performance with their speedy backline exploiting holes in the WA defence.
Two tries each to Jonathan Lance and James O'Connor ended the match as a contest as Queensland found the fluency in their back-line play that was missing in the first-half.
Queensland now progress to the Division 1 semi-finals to be played on Wednesday.
Queensland Red 47 (Jonathan Lance 2, James O'Connor 2, Aidan Toua 2, Joseph Tomane tries; Matt Toomua 6 cons) defeated Western Australia 7 (Ben Baker try; George Salter con).
NSW Country produce solid display to down WA
4 October 2006 (Day 2)
NSW Country have prevailed 24-3 after a tight contest with Western Australia at the National Under 16 Championships in Sydney on Wednesday.
NSW Country scored first points through a try to Jason Hopkins after a well-worked maul breached the WA defence. Hopkins was unable to convert his own try to leave the score at 5-0.
They repeated the dose nine minutes later when Mitchell Robinson dived over to set up a 10-0 lead at half-time.
WA cut the deficit to seven points shortly after half-time with George Salter slotting a penalty goal.
With the match evenly poised it was NSW Country who tipped the balance with another Hopkins try which was expertly converted by winger Dominic Bower for a 17-3 lead.
Hopkins grabbed a deserved hat-trick when he dived over from short range in the 46th minute, with Bower again adding the extras to set-up an unassailable 21 point margin.
The scoreline flattered the NSW Country outfit, with WA matching their rivals for long periods but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities.
NSW Country will now progress to the 5th place Play-off, while WA will battle it out for 7th place on Friday.
NSW Country 24 (Jason Hopkins 3, Mitchell Robinson tries; Dominic Bower 2 cons) defeated Western Australia 3 (George Salter pen).
Honours even between ACT and WA
6 October 2006 (Day 3)
Western Australia and ACT have battled out a 15-all draw in their final match at the National Under 16 Championships in Sydney, today.
With both teams looking for their first victory at the tournament the game was played at a frenetic pace, featuring several line-breaks and desperate defence.
A try to flanker Alex Rovira broke the deadlock and George Salter converted to take WA into half-time with a 7-0 lead.
Salter extended the lead through a penalty just after half-time before ACT bounced back with a try to speedy winger Tyler Stevens narrowing the score to 10-5.
A second try to Rovira appeared to wrap the game up for WA, but a late two-try rally by ACT leveled the scores.
ACT were awarded 7th Place in the tournament as they scored more tries than Western Australia in the match.
ACT & SNSW 15 (Tyler Stevens, Mick McDermott, Phoenix Battye tries) drew with Western Australia15 (Alex Rovira 2 tries; George Salter con, pen).
National Merit 15-Man Team
The Australian Rugby Union has named a 15-man merit team at the conclusion of the National Under 16 Championships at St Ignatius College in Riverview today.
The team was selected by ARU Elite Player Development Staff including Wallabies selector Michael O'Connor and recognises the depth of talent that was displayed during the three-day tournament.
Western Australia's Cruze Ah-Nau, was selected as the Tight Head Prop, and the only WA representative, well done Cruze!.
