Coast’s top talents reunited in rivalry
SOME of the Gold Coast’s finest emerging rugby talents are back in the city showing off just how far they have come.
The difference this time is they are squaring off with one another for their respective nations in the Oceania Rugby Under-20 Championship at Bond University.
Noah Lolesio, Egan Siggs, Kohan Herbert, Leroy Carter and Josh Vuta all came through the same wave of Gold Coast Cyclones junior representative teams.
Lolesio and Siggs are part of the Junior Wallabies squad trying to stop New Zealand – who have Herbert and Carter in their ranks – from completing a clean sweep of the first five editions of the annual tournament.
First they’ll have to go through Vuta’s Fiji side at
5pm today.
Fiji lost 53-7 to New Zealand in the series opener on Friday night before Australia accounted for Japan 62-14.
“It was a bit scrappy being the first game and all but we had a lot of goals to achieve and I think we hit every single one,” 20-year-old loosehead prop Siggs said of the Japan win.
“We’ve set another four goals for Fiji and if we hit them, we will probably get away with the W (win).”
Siggs attended The Southport School alongside centre/ flyhalf Lolesio, who is based in Canberra these days as part of the Brumbies system.
Lolesio is looking forward to taking on Vuta, who he played with at South Coast rugby level as well as in rugby league for Southport and Burleigh.
Herbert, the 19-year-old son of Nerang Bulls stalwart Cameron “Bushy” Herbert, said Australia can expect a “physical” encounter with Fiji.
“They have got a lot of fight in them. Obviously islander teams love to play with pride and for their family so it was good to play against them,” he said.
The openside flanker was born on the Gold Coast and only moved across the ditch in January last year but qualified for New Zealand as both of his parents were born there.
“I have always gone for the All Blacks because I have always been around it my whole life,” Herbert added.
Carter plays with Herbert at Bay of Plenty and said the prospect of facing ex-teammates such as Siggs on Saturday will be “interesting.”
“I feel like we’ll be mates off the field but when we’re on the field it’s a different story I guess,” the Helensvale junior said.
The group’s former Cyclones junior coach Sonny Jobe said their progression to under-20 national honours was inspirational for the Coast’s next generation.