Armidale Rugby Carnival

Eighteen boys and three Pacific staff members travelled more than 1170 kilometres to play five games of rugby over three days at the Armidale Rugby Carnival last weekend. Pacific has enjoyed competing at this carnival for the last seven years and once again sent a team of eager Under 12’s to the event in northern New South Wales.

There were 43 teams competing in the carnival from Noosa right down to the New South Wales southern highlands. Pacific was placed in a pool of five teams against The Armidale School (TAS), Matthew Flinders Anglican College (MFAC), Scone Grammar and St Mary’s Saints. All teams played each other on the Saturday to determine rankings for the finals games on Sunday.

This year, Pacific’s team had a number of younger boys who are only turning 10 or 11 years old. As such, this was a development year for our team, playing up in in an Under 12 carnival. It was always going to be challenging but all boys played to the best of their ability and were very competitive.

On the first morning of competition, Pacific played Scone Grammar from the Hunter Valley. It was a closely matched game in the first half, however Scone Grammar was able to exploit Pacific’s defence and score a try in the second half to take out the match 17-10.

With only a half an hour break until our second game, Pacific needed a quick turnaround against the carnival host school, TAS. Unfortunately this was not to be. TAS had a big team and was able to assert their physical dominance over Pacific from the kick off. Pacific worked hard throughout the game but sheer size and strength won out on the day.

Pacific faced St Mary’s Saints next and was keen to record their first win for the carnival. St Mary’s scored two tries in each half compared to Pacific’s one and comfortably won the game 22 -7 when the full time whistle blew.

In the last game of the day, Pacific faced our local Sunshine Coast rival MFAC. From the outset, Pacific dominated possession and field position and looked like the stronger team. With two tries in the first half, Pacific took a lead into the half time break. In the second half Pacific continued to dominate the game and won 17-5, recording our first and only win for the carnival.

On day two Pacific played against the Bond Pirates from the Gold Coast. Pacific went into half time 14-0 down but returned for the second half with a more determined effort and scored two quick tries. After missing one of the conversions, Pacific was only trailing by two points with minutes remaining in the game. A break down the field saw Pacific attack the try line of the Bond Pirates but the referee ruled that the Pacific player was held up over the line as the fulltime siren blasted in the background. Unfortunately the scores remain unchanged at 14-12 with Pacific loosing the match.

The Pacific team can be proud of their efforts over the weekend. The boys showed great team spirit and sportsmanship throughout all games. Thank you to all parents and supporters who travelled down to cheer on the team. Your support was greatly appreciated by the players and staff. Also a big thank you to Mr Josh Danzey and Mr Andrew Block who gave up their weekend to coach and supervise the boys throughout the trip.