On Wednesday May 7, Gundagai South Public School’s Years 3/4 Barbarians Rugby Union team played 4 games of 10-a-side rugby over in Wagga.
All students from Gundagai South Public School, Adelong Public School and Jugiong Public School were said to have played with determination and outstanding sportsmanship.
They went through their pool games and finished in second place, putting them into a tough final. The school said the players dug deep and managed to finish 6th out of 16 teams from across the Riverina.
Mr Steve Smith said he was extremely proud of their grit and determination to play with fairness and in a respectful manner.
Mr Smith said, “We had kids from Gundagai South, Jugiong and Adelong that all joined forces to play in a knockout last term in Tumut and then we made it through as a wild card in the Wagga Championship. There were boys and one girl in that team and they won one, drew one and lost one in the pool game. They finished second in their pool of four teams and then played a really tough final afterwards and ended up finishing sixth out of 16 teams from all across the Riverina.
“We played against Griffith North, a team from West Wyalong and Wagga as well.
“It’s wonderful for all the schools in the sense that they all got an opportunity to be a part of something that they on their own they wouldn’t have been able to be a part of just for numbers. It gave them an opportunity to be a part of a competition and to shine in ways that we wouldn’t ordinarily see in school settings.
“That’s a wonderful thing to do and every single kid was learning new skills to play rugby union. They were applying their skills from rugby league or soccer or whatever sporting background they’d come from. None of them had played rugby union before, so they were learning new skills. We had one of the Brumbies development officers come and give me a hand to coach the kids.
“Will Edwards scored three tries, Brock Bower ran from almost one try line to another to score a try, that was huge.
“For me the highlight was just seeing all the kids coming together from different schools, playing as one team, really embracing the spirit of the game.
“We didn’t see any bad sportsmanship and we had people that stepped up to do things that they properly weren’t that comfortable to do. It was really good.”
Great job to the Barbarian boys.
-Jack Murray
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