The Cowra Eagles have suffered a 27-7 defeat to the Orange City Lions Saturday July 20 at Orange City Rugby Club.

With snow atop Mt Canobolas, Eagles Captain Cooper Sullivan said "It was a tough old game, probably the coldest game that I and the team has ever played."

"We didn't get the win we were aiming for, they came out and put a few tries on us in the first 15 minutes and we struggled to claw our way back."

Sullivan says that while the Eagles lost the initiative in the first fifteen minutes "Once we got past that initial opening it was quite a contest."

The onslaught was answered when Darcy Howard scored, with a conversion.

Sullivan also credited the performance of Canadian Jace Peters, and Tom Cummins "Tom played some great footy on outside centre, defended well out there."

The away game saw some reflection with the team aiming "to be a little more physical from the start. They had a more direct game plan when we probably weren't as physical in the first fifteen - which we did correct later but by then it was too late."

Cowra's next match up is against the Orange Emus on July 27 on the Emu's own turf. With the Eagles looking at a difficult run at the finals, Sullivan said the team is focussed on a "big couple of weeks" to get into the finals, and looking to up the tenacity when they return to Orange.