South Coast recovered from two narrow losses to take out the consolation prize at the 2014 NSW Primary Schools Sports Association Rugby State Carnival at Kiama.
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MacKillop, drawing students from Goulburn/Canberra, Sydney, Parramatta, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong Catholic schools, won the three-day carnival for the first time beating another Catholic region Polding 19-12 in the final at Kiama Showground.
The victorious Mackillop team was represented by four Illawarra juniors, Isaac Devine, Jordan Karakousis, Thomas Cusack and Noah Hill.
South Coast lost 5-0 to the strong Combined Independent Schools and suffered a narrow two-tries-to-one 12-5 defeat to Sydney West in wet conditions on the opening day to miss out on contention for the major trophy.
However, South Coast showed they were among the top sides at the 13-team carnival by winning their final four games on days two and three to take out the Conveners Shield.
Kiama junior Luke Males was also named South Coast player of the rugby carnival.
The championships showcased many of the best NSW primary school rugby players representing 13 public, Catholic and independent school regions.
The tournament was also a trial for the NSW Primary Schools Rugby squad with Mackillop's
Micheal Eid (St Maddeleine's Kenthurst) and Tolutau Koula (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) selected.
Australian Rugby Union Participation Manager Sean Barrett praised all the teams for their efforts in tough conditions.
"Despite the wind and the rain that hammered the area on Monday and Tuesday the rugby was played at a very high quality," Barrett said.
"The ground held up well with over 30 games of rugby over three days and the Kiama Council assisted greatly in helping us.
"Congratulations to all teams involved and congratulations to those boys who were selected in the NSW PSSA to contest the PSSA Nationals later in the year," Barrett said.