Western Australia claim back to back Southern States Under 20s title

Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 1:00 AM
AAP
by AAP

Western Australia have won the Southern States Under 20s Championship for the second year in a row with 32-27 final round match win against Victoria in Adelaide on Wednesday at Adelaide Airport Stadium.

WA finished the tournament undefeated with victories over NSW Country and the ACT ensuring the title returned to Perth.

Australian National Under 20s coach Adrian Thompson was impressed with the high standards of the tournament.

“The Southern States Under 20s was an excellent tournament with highly competitive fixtures.

“I congratulate Western Australia for their efforts in winning the competition.

“The WA-ACT game was one of the highlights of the week with both sides playing excellent Rugby.

“Many players have put their hands up for further selection as we now head to the National Under 20s Championship starting on Saturday March 21 in Canberra.”

WA Under 20 coach Dwayne Nestor said it was pleasing to see his side continue on from last year’s success.

“Last year we had some outstanding players within the group, while this year was certainly a real team effort,” he said.

“It’s been pleasing to see that across our representative sides we’re developing a real belief and understanding of what it takes to be able to win these games.

“In our squad we have some guys that had been with the team last year, as well as some from the Under 17’s side that won the Junior Gold Cup, and the game management from the squad was outstanding at times.

“The exciting thing is that we still have a number of guys eligible to compete again next year and we’ll certainly be looking to bring another strong team to the championships in 2016.”

The best players from the Southern States Under 20s will be selected in the Australian Barbarians side to play at the National Under 20s with a further chance of making the national Australian team that will compete at the World Rugby Junior World Championship in Italy in June.

Southern States Under 20s Championship Results:

Day One

Western Australia 39 defeated NSW Country 7

ACT 53 defeated Victoria 20

QLD Country 52 defeated South Australia 0

Day Two

NSW Country 41 defeated South Australia 0

Victoria 33 defeated Queensland Country 20

Western Australia 28 defeated ACT 24

Day Three

Queensland Country 34 defeated NSW Country 31

ACT 70 defeated South Australia 12

Western Australia 32 defeated Victoria 27

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