Ōhaupō 7s pipped in plate final
Hinuera Sevens tournament challenge was on
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, haupō 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 haupō.
The second match was a different story. haupō 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 wellknown Hamilton Hotham dynasty.
haupō 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.
haupō’s fourth match of the day saw a narrow one-try loss to Leamington.
This game featured a MichaelTapu hat-trick and confirmed a spot in the plate final (third v fourth) — a rematch with Morrinsville Sports.
Although haupō 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,” haupō 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 haupoŌ¯ 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 OOtournament.¯¯