It was the first time the club had taken part in the competition and throughout the rounds, they came up against plenty of tough competition.

Held up in Wagga Wagga, there were four teams in the under-18 division finals.

Bowral played Jindabyne in the first match and went down 24-12.

Blacks coach Nicholas Combes said it was “a pretty tight affair” in which the opposition managed to capitalise on  a few mistakes by the Highlands side.

“7s is not a very forgiving game. If you give the ball up easily, they’ll take those chances,” he said.

Combes said Jindabyne’s team also several players who were part of the ACT 7s team and were “very good to watch”.

In Bowral’s second match, the Blacks were up against ACT Royals.

ALSO READ:

It was another tight game in which the Blacks went down 15-5 after a couple of tries to the Royals late in the game.

The last pool match of the day was against ACT Wests.

Bowral was down 12-0 at halftime and Combes said he gave the side “a bit of a razz up” at the break.

His halftime speech worked and the girls bounced back well to record a 15-12 victory, scoring a try in the final 30 seconds of the match.

Results put the Blacks in the playoff for third and fourth and they found themselves up against ACT Wests once more.

It was a scoreless first half  before Bowral ran in three tries in the second half to secure a win and third place.

Combes said it had been a good tournament, well run by the Brumbies and one from which the side had gained plenty of experience.

“Everyone played really well. They didn’t get flogged in any of the games and they were really competitive in every game.

“It was a good effort and the girls really enjoyed it.”

Combes said they would look at playing a tournament early next year.

“The more footy they play, the more experience they’ll get.”

Love local news? Sign up to our weekly newsletter