City take Under 17 clean sweep as boys down Country

City overcame a gritty Country side in the Under 17 boys' showdown on Saturday, to record a 50-24 win in a high-scoring affair.

Following in the footsteps of the City girls - who put Country to the sword earlier in the day - the boys turned up the heat in the second half, after going into the break up 22-18.

City started the match strong, scoring a double in the opening eight minutes, before Country put up a fight in the back end of the first half, nabbing two tries in the 32nd and 34th minutes.

But in the second half, it was clear that City had gone to another level, as they dominated their counterparts, running in six tries to one.

Coach Rob Tanielu said the message at halftime was simple and the win came off the back of the bonds the team formed in their short camp this week.

"Early on in the piece, going through the middle and sticking to our process, that's all we were really focused on," he said.

"They were doing that through the middle with our attack and I knew with our defence, they were going to bring it back, which they did.

"As a collective, we spoke about being connected this week. As coaching staff we just needed to ensure we could bring everyone together really quickly in that short amount of time we had them.

"Being connected on the field and building that trust, that's what got us over the line today."

City hooker Sam Martin was named as his team's player of the match, scoring a try in the victory.

"Sam Martin, I thought he was really good out of nine," Tanielu said.

"Our captain Jared Horne led really well... it was really good to see."

For country, backrower Mark Morrow was named as his team's player of the match.