It was a chilly Mothers Day for all the Walla mums on the sideline in Orange at the Kinross Gala day on Sunday.

The Under 11s team faced hosts KWS Blue in their opening match of the day.

Darcy Summerhayes quickly got Parkes on the board with a try from the kick off which marked his first time across the chalk in Under 11s.

After this great start the remainder of the first half was a bit messy with the turn-over rate going through the roof.

When Parkes had possession of the ball Dom Gibson made sure they used it wisely with a number of solid runs, gaining valuable metres.

Aidan Rayner showed it’s not just forwards who muscle up, neatly folding one opposition attacker in half with a text book tackle.  

After a quick half time chat ball security was much improved after the break. Holly Duncan gave the KWS side a taste of their own medicine and pinched every ball within her arms reach.

The improved retention and some great go forward provided by an always probing Ewan Moody and hard hitting Dylan Quade led to Parkes crossing the line a further four times with tries to Aidan Rayner, Sonny MacGregor and a double to Sam Rayner.

Impressive defence from Kyan Rathbone and Patrick Simpson helped keep Kinross satisfyingly scoreless with the final result 5-0.  

The second game was against another Orange team, Emus Brown. Ewan Moody got Parkes off the mark with a try early in the first half and then played a hand in the second try by breaking the line and offloading to Lachie Reynolds who posted the points.

After Emus hit back from the restart, Parkes took a narrow lead into the half time break.

Lachie picked up where he left off with a hit, spin and crash solo try shortly after the start of the second half.

After a turn over to Emus from the restart, Sam Rayner got us back on track running in a long range try.

However, Emus weren’t taking the Parkes attack quietly making sure they were the next to score.

When Riley Duncan injected himself in the game he proved very hard to stop, at one point requiring at least 4 opposition players to bring him down. Sonny made a number of determined hit ups to keep the team on the offensive while Henry Rice was solid, pulling off some attack stopping tackles and holding his wing to ensure Parkes were eventual winners 4-2.

KWS White were Parkes’ final opponents of the day and the first to cross the line.

As it turned out these were to be the only points posted in the first half and at the break Parkes found themselves behind for the first time all day.

When play resumed the young Boars had to dig deep to find the line in a fairly evenly matched tussle.

Eben Labuschagne happily slotted into the hooker position during this game, packing into the scrum with the front row bookends.

After some creative attack Dylan Quade was in the right spot at the right time to crash over the line to even the score.

Lachie Reynolds managed to pull the ball back for ever present Fergus Keiran to pick up and dart forward gaining valuable metres before being tackled.

His secure place back of the ball allowed Ewan to get the pill back into the hands of Lachie who finished what he started scoring the match winning try just before full time.  

Next week sees the young Boars head to Dubbo.

by Michelle MacGregor

It was a Chilly Mother’s Day in Orange last Sunday while our four under 9 Boars took on some strong opponents with the help of some Cowra Eagles and Narromine Gorillas.

The boys are continuing to show improvement in their rugby skills, every game. Running strong and straight, cleaning out and giving each other support during and after play.

Max MacGregor showed strong support backing up his team mates, making and taking big tackles.

Heath Rathbone’s tackling techniques are always growing, while his ball and run skills continue to improve.

Zac Guy earned his first try of the season during the last game, after dodging and plowing through the opposition. Also making strong clean outs, tackles and support.

Hugh MacGregor continues to dominate all over the field. Scoring tries, stealing the ball in running mauls and turning the ball over while defending in the ruck.

Looking forward to seeing what these boys are going to do next weekend in Dubbo.

by Nicole Guy