Ophir entertained Cooke II’s at the UUJ playing fields on Friday evening in a preseason hit out.

Ophir are looking forward to their first competitive season and are keen to get as many games under their belt as they can as they continue to build their squad. I popped along for the first half to see how they were getting on.

The home side were unlucky to come up against a Cooke side featuring Naomi McCord on form with the rangy 2nd row running in three early tries as Cooke dominated the first half. The experienced Laura Cairns and Tamzin Boyce also crossed and with Coral Lapsley converting all 5 the visitors took a 35 point lead into the break.

Ophir did have their moments and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions but it will take them a while to find the consistency required. The team continued to work hard throughout and if they continue with that attitude they’ll have a successful season.

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