Byron Bay first grade notched up a convincing win beating Casuarina Beach 28–5 at home in the Far North Coast Rugby championship on Saturday.
To date the Byron side has had a stop-start season and the win will help them get back on track, particularly after last week’s 41–12 loss to Lennox Head, according to captain Craig Wallace.
‘At training this week a lot of the guys expressed their opinions on that loss and what went wrong. At the end of it we were really on the same page,’ he said.
The strong win was also a sign that the new players in the squad are starting to enter their ‘comfort zone,’ he said.
‘The new guys are finding their feet and we are all starting to get used to each other,’ he said.
The win was driven by an outstanding performance by the forward pack, who started to ‘bully the opposition off the park’ towards the end of the game, Craig said.
Byron Bay led 14–0 at half time. Tries for Byron went to Charlie Read, Marc Logan, Dru Baggaley and James Bulmer, who also converted all four tries.
The win puts Byron Bay RUFC into fifth position just one point behind fourth placed Southern Cross University, but they still have a game in hand.
The table is very congested from third to sixth place but Craig is certain his side can meet their goal of breaking into the top four and staying there for a run into the finals. But there will be plenty of competition from Ballina, Bangalow and the SCU team for middle-order places, he said.
The Reserve grade Sandcrabs of Byron didn’t fare so well losing to the Mullumbimby Moonshiners 29–17, in the first ‘Ashes’ grudge match in five years.
The Sandcrabs played well enough to stay competitive for much of the game but weren’t strong enough to hold out the in-form and undefeated Mullumbimby side, who scored two tries late in the day.
Try scorers for Mullumbimby included: Tim Watkins, John Ainsworth, Jack Gavett and Keelan Jenkins.
‘It was a good game played in great spirit. Everyone was pretty excited about it,’ treasurer Teale Pyne said.
‘There was a lot of fun between the teams,’ he said.
