THE Parkes Boars first grade side, proudly sponsored by the Coachman Hotel Motel and Langlands Hanlon, travelled to Dubbo on Saturday afternoon to face the new look Rhinos, and thumped the home side with a commanding 27-3 victory.
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There had been plenty of hype around this game with the Rhinos promising speed, agility and a dominating forward pack to keep the Boars at bay.
With rain sweeping across Apex Park and a greasy ball it was going to be a tough match.
An offside play by Rhinos 40 seconds into the match gave the Boars their first points when Luke Bevan sent the ball across the black dot from 15 metres out.
Bevan struck again three minutes later from 22 metres out when a penalty for a Rhino high tackle was awarded.
Parkes continued to dominate the play by keeping the ball safe and close in the prevailing conditions.
The Rhinos fought hard but the Boars forwards, with the better scrum technique, kept the game in the Rhinos defensive half.
A penalty for offside play again gave Bevan a third opportunity to put the ball over the crossbar and he didn't disappoint, giving the Boars a 9-0 lead with 12 minutes of the half to go.
The forward pack, led by Dan Ryan, continued to punish the Rhinos not allowing them any room to run.
Toby Baigent and Mick Thomas tackled hard while blindside flanker Connor Farrer continued to steal the ball from the breakdown.
A repeat high tackle saw a Rhino sent to the bin for a 10 minute spell giving the Boars an open space to work through.
With nine minutes remaining in the half Dan Ryan flicked a ball wide to the wing where full back Jay Baker took it on the chest then flew to make a 35 metre run down the wing to score the first try.
The conversion hit the uprights but Parkes still led 14-0.
To cap off a strong half a penalty opportunity on the 22 metre line gave Bevan his fourth goal for the half. The Boars went to the sheds 17-0 at half time.
The second half didn't start so well for the Rhinos. A set line-out and run through by their winger was stopped by Toby Baigent in a crunching tackle, driving him over the side line.
Another penalty after the Rhinos did not release the player in the tackle saw Bevan convert again to restart the game, in a perfect start to the second half for the Boars.
A floating pass that blew forward by the Boars gave Dubbo their first points with a penalty goal from 15 metres out taking the score to 20-3.
Several injuries to Dubbo players saw the Rhinos change up the team, but that did not stop the Boars.
Winger Paddy Jones found a small gap between the Rhinos forwards and stepped and skipped and slid through the defence to score next to the posts. Bevan had no problem adding the extras taking the score 27-3 with 15 minutes to go.
A serious injury to a Rhinos player stopped the game with 12 minutes to go when referee Stacey called the game after it was evident the player could not be moved off the field.
Best wishes go to the Dubbo player for a speedy recovery.
The Boars forwards dominated this match; Rusi Lawanikula was in devastating form while Jason Lowe, Scott Chislett and Michael Thomas controlled the scrum pack.
Coach Josh Miles was pleased with the result considering several regular players were unavailable for the match.
"The lads worked hard and kept their composure in awful conditions and got the job done," said Miles.
Next week the Boars host Mitchell Rugby Club, who could only manage to beat the Rhinos 15-12 in round one, at North Parkes Oval; with first grade kicking off at 3.15pm.
