10 May 2017
Ten weeks ago, twelve girls from Years 9 and 10 decided they wanted to play Rugby Sevens. Not one of them had ever played rugby before and none of them knew the rules but that did not deter them. They were determined to play. They approached Mr Hallett with 12 names. He agreed that they could enter into a tournament but they needed a coach. Mr Murdoch was then asked. He agreed to take on the daunting task of teaching complete novices how to tackle, ruck, maul and the basic rules of Rugby 7's. These girls had come from a Touch Football background so for them to actually tackle and be tackled was a foreign concept. Training was a mixture of giggles, practice and a massive dose of listening and learning.
The first round in the tournament was held in Broulee. The girls took to the game with a huge amount of nerves and excitement. They started out with gentleness but this soon evolved into toughness, grit and determination. Tackles were made that shocked everyone watching and break away tries scored and drop kick conversions made. Ulladulla High School became the undefeated South Coast Champions. To the amazement of everyone during the presentation, the Brumbies asked if anyone from UHS had ever played Rugby before. To the shock of the crowd, not one player put up their hand. An absolute credit to the players and their coach.
Last week, these same 12 players travelled to Canberra to take on the regional winners in the ACT Brumbies Southern NSW tournament. The competition was tougher and the players more physical and skilful. The first game saw the UHS go down to St Clare's Catholic College. The girls picked themselves up, found their inner "aggression" and won the next two games against Trinity Catholic and Eden Monaro High. This however meant they would go into the Grand Final against St Clare's Catholic College again. Unfortunately, the final score did not go in favour of UHS, going down 17-12. The tournament saw swollen eyes, bruised, scraped and battered elbows, shoulders and legs as well as ripped shirts. However, taking all that into consideration, would the girls do it all over again? Absolutely. They played with not only talent but also determination. There were no ‘egos' amongst the girls and they played like a true team and it showed to everyone watching. At the conclusion the Brumbies again commented as to how tough the girls were and how their defence was the best out of all the teams. (They also had the best supporters on the sideline). The girls are a credit to UHS. They wanted something badly enough that they made it happen. A massive thank you to Mr Murdoch for taking the time and effort to teach the girls Rugby. This was a huge undertaking and he did it with skill and passion. Congratulations girls.
Thank you Penny for the wonderful write up!