Runners wrap

The Brumbies ‘A’ program for 2021 was a shortened one with Covid again rearing its head and impacting the original match schedule.

The Runners squad was made up of Brumbies contracted players, Academy players and then invited players from local clubs who played 3 games over a 5 week period.

Over the course the squad included 9 players who will wear the Queanbeyan jersey in season 2021.  A great achievement from the youthful squad that Sam French and his coaching and management staff are building.

Whites players who appeared for the Runners were wing sensation Junior Tupou (who spent a large chunk of the off season training with the Brumbies main squad), centres and new recruits Reece Tapine (one of the clubs Brumbies allocated players) and Liam Richman from Queensland, fly half Tony Alifipo along with a swag of forwards including Fred Kaihea, Justin Sikimeti, Davea Teoteo, Zeph Tuinona and Jed Stuart. Unavailable for selection through injury but joined the squad for trainings was lock Zane Marolt.

It must be said that all the representatives did themselves and the club proud and performed when required and certainly all have put themselves in a strong position for future higher opportunities.

Already from the program Kaihea has made his senior Brumbies debut and Tuinona has recently returned from The Australian Under 20s camp.

To add to Whites connection to the side, Dan Hawke was the teams Assistant Coach whilst Bob Brady assumed the Team Manager role.

Results wise, the Runners program saw a 21-29 loss to the full Rebels Super Rugby squad in a clash played at RMC Oval in Canberra that surprised most with the closeness of the scores, noting the Runners had just 5 contracted players in the squad. Most believed that had the game gone much longer an upset looked in the offing.

This was followed by a convincing 36-17 win in sweltering heat also at RMC Oval over the Waratahs ‘A’ and this was followed by a loss in the return match in Sydney where the Waratahs took the opportunity to play a large contingent of their Super Rugby squad to the tune of 19-47.

At this stage there are no plans for any further Runners matches this year but as we know things in this space are changing constantly and similarly it is unclear what a local representative program will look like.

Having 10 players exposed to this level of rugby this early in the season can only be a positive for the Club going forward.