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![Former Gunnedah juniors Ben Gunter and Harry Wilson catch up after the Reds' clash with the Wild Knights in Japan on Friday night. Picture Reds Facebook Former Gunnedah juniors Ben Gunter and Harry Wilson catch up after the Reds' clash with the Wild Knights in Japan on Friday night. Picture Reds Facebook](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/dfa5c0b3-2457-4a35-8bf9-31b4d67ca393.jpg/r0_0_2048_1461_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A world away from where their rugby journeys started, two of Gunnedah's finest came together when the Queensland Reds wrapped up their Japan tour against the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.
Ben Gunter is part of the Wild Knights squad while Harry Wilson is one of the Reds' stars.
He certainly was in Saitama on Friday night, the No.8 scoring a double as the Reds outgunned the home side 55-30 to claim the inaugural Saitama-Queensland Shield.
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It was the first meeting between the two clubs since 1991 and is part of a reciprocal partnership with the Wild Knights set to travel over to Australia in 2023.
Gunter and Wilson both played junior footy with the Red Devils, and have gone on to realise their boyhood dreams of playing test rugby in recent years, with Wilson celebrating his Wallabies debut in 2020 and Gunter making his debut for Japan in 2021.
Left out of the Spring Tour, Wilson, who won the Pilecki Medal as the Reds' best player this season, scored their second try on Friday night after a break from fellow Spring Tour discard Suliasi Vunival.
He then became the fourth Queenslander to score a double when he juggled a cross-field Lawson Creighton kick and regathering to barge his way over.
The win saw the Reds go unbeaten on their two-game tour.
Former Pirates junior Bo Abra is also in Japan with the Western Force, for their two-match series against the Urayasu D-Rocks.
They play the Japan Rugby League One side this Sunday (November 6) and then again the following Sunday.