Day of Rugby Brings Out The Stars

By Samantha Elley

They say rugby is the game played in heaven and if the weather was anything to go by, God certainly was shining down on the 2026 Ray White Casino & Kyogle Alex Gibbon Cup last week.

Under sunny blue skies over 500 secondary school students from across the Northern Rivers competed at Queen Elizabeth Park, over six full-sized fields in Casino in the rugby sevens event.

Named after former Australian Rugby Sevens representative, Alex Gibbon, the event is bigger than ever for both boys’ and girls’ teams across the under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups.

“Sevens is a very fast-growing Olympic sport,” said Alex.

“Getting kids involved in any of these games is good, especially the women’s side of it now.

“Women’s rugby is growing and women’s rugby league is growing so it’s really good to have development pathways so when these girls get to a professional system they actually know what they are doing.

“It’s really important to get these schools involved too and make a competitive environment, not just for the area but for rugby in itself.”

Mr Gibbon said schools have come from as far north as the Tweed and down to Grafton, both Catholic and state schools.

“(My advice for players) is to listen to your coach and don’t be afraid to express yourself and work on your strengths, not just your weaknesses,” he said.

Will Campbell, zone manager for Far North Coast Rugby Union and NSW Rugby development officer, said it takes a couple of months of solid work to get the day going.

“The school we see out here, St Mary’s (Catholic College), they actually have a dedicated weekly program, we call them academies and we’ve got a couple of those now on the Northern Rivers,” he said.

“(Rugby) is in our golden decade as we had the British and Irish Lions tour last year which brought a lot of money and a lot of interest back into rugby.

“Going into 2027 we will also have the Rugby World Cup so we have opportunity here as NSW Rugby Union and Australia Rugby Union to set up the future generation of rugby players and it starts with events like these, with kids like these.”

Year 12 student, Chloe Sivewright, is an example of the players who were out enjoying the competition of the day, playing for Richmond River High Campus.

“We had our first game this morning and we won 46-0,” she said.

“I’ve been playing for four years; I just loved it.

“I just started backyard footie with friends and neighbours and then got into it and signed up and now I’m playing.

“I love getting out there and seeing heaps of girls out there.”

Chloe said she loves the speed of Rugby Sevens and is working towards playing in a professional category.

“You’ve got to work for it and train hard, do extras,” she said.

“I’ve played for CHS and NSW, did that last year and then I made my way to the Aussie Schools Sevens team and hopefully trying to make my way there this year as well.

“It’s good fun.”