Club sevens: Ōhaupō pipped by Morrinsville Sports in plate final

The Ōhaupō sevens squad.

Ōhaupō Rugby Sports Club played in the Hinuera Sevens tournament below the Kaimais on Saturday.

This was their second sevens tournament after playing in the Waikato Sevens Competition at Hamilton Marist in 2022.

In the Division 1 pool, Ōhaupō came up against Morrinsville Sports first.

With the players still adjusting to the shortened version of the game, Morrinsville scored several tries, with Ben Parrott grabbing the only score for Ōhaupō.

The second match was a different story. Ōhaupō put hosts Hinuera to the sword.

Tries were scored by backs Jack Kelly, Josh Thomas and captain Queyst Michael-Tapu - who ended up being the star of the day for his side.

Game three saw a clash with invitational touring sevens side Matakesi Dusters, who contained the likes of Waikato flanker Joe Johnston, former Bay of Plenty hooker Bernie Hati and Legin Hotham of the well-known Hamilton Hotham dynasty.

Ōhaupō put up quite the fight but could not cross the chalk against Matakesi. The pink-and-yellow touring side scored plenty of points of their own, and it was no surprise that they were the eventual division winners.

Ōhaupō's fourth match of the day saw a narrow one-try loss to Leamington.

This game featured a Michael-Tapu hat-trick and confirmed a spot in the plate final (third v fourth) - a rematch with Morrinsville Sports.

Although Ōhaupō had improved vastly from their first meeting, it wasn’t to be.

Morrinsville narrowly took the win and walked away with the bronze medal.

“I think the boys played exceptionally well considering this was most of the players’ first-ever sevens tournament,” Ōhaupō player/manager Josh Thomas says.

“I think everyone in the team can hold their heads high and look forward to doing it all again next year with the experience under [their] belts.”

Chris Ferguson, Hayden Thomas and Met Camaibatiki provided strong carries for Ōhaupō throughout the day, while Michael-Tapu, Josh Thomas and Scott Thomas provided the razzle-dazzle.

Matakesi’s second squad, the Sweepers, were champions in the Premier A division, completing a clean sweep of the tournament for the invitational club.

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

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