Club rugby: Ōhaupō thump Frankton 43-0 in pre-season clash

Ōhaupō winger Roy Huggard looks to take on the Frankton defence at Ōhaupō Memorial Park. Photo / Jesse Wood

Ōhaupō Rugby Sports Club’s senior squad drubbed Frankton Rugby Sports Club 43-0 last Thursday.

The match at Ōhaupō Memorial Park was the second pre-season game of 2024.

Winger Caleb Kennedy grabbed a hat-trick of tries including a Dallin Watene-Zelezniak-like acrobatic try in the corner.

He was the first to cross the chalk after a crosskick from first five-eighth Reed Watson put him away.

As they did against Pāpāmoa the previous Saturday, Ōhaupō seemed to score from all over the park.

The other winger Roy Huggard weaved right up the centre of the field leaving defenders in his wake.

This movement set lock Ben Parrott up for a try after a few passes out wide.

Lucas Corney and Lance Elrick also grabbed tries for the home side, while Bronson Wilson-Beech slotted between several defenders to score the final try under the sticks.

Watson added four conversions to the tally.

Ōhaupō assistant coach Connor Larsen-Cross said: “The boys stood up defensively throughout the game and we were rewarded with a clean sheet, which is a great confidence booster heading into [the game against] Leamington.”

“We took a while to get into the game with our attack but once we identified where the space was, the boys found their form and hit their stride. Looking forward to the season ahead.”

A successful pre-season campaign saw Ōhaupō score 91 points in their two games, only conceding seven points.

This week both the senior A and B teams will head to Leamington for round one of Waikato Club Rugby Division 1 and 1B.

The Senior B kicks off at 1pm followed by the A teams at 2.45pm.

Ōhaupō 43 (Tries: Caleb Kennedy 3, Lucas Corney, Ben Parrott, Lance Elrick, Bronson Wilson-Beech. Conversions: Reed Watson 4)

Frankton 0

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.

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