It was a dominant start for the Dauphin Clippers rugby teams, last week.

The Clippers girls handily beat the Crocus Plains Plainsmen, 80-0, while the Clippers Green boys beat the Plainsmen, 53-0.

Kiersten Vandekerckhove led the way for the girls with three tries and five converts, while Felicity Sahulka also had three tries.

Alina Genik and Edie Fleck had two tries each and Ryann Richard-Soltis, Mindy Chartrand, Paityn Bourgouin and Halie Garlinski had singles.

Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak said it was the first experience at the 15s level for the rookies.

“Our vets led the way and it was a nice win. They haven’t really lost a beat. They got some games in Wales and England, which puts us ahead right from the get-go,” he said.

With eight different players finding the end zone, Sarkonak was pleased to see the scoring spread out, something the coaching staff has stressed leading up to the season.

“It’s a team game. It’s not an individual game. You don’t get anything for scoring the most points at the end of the season, so let’s get everybody involved. And it was nice to see that some rookies got in, as well,” he said.

As lopsided as the game was, Sarkonak said there are always things to work on to get better.

And both teams, he added, were battling the cold weather. The temperature was hovering around 0C, so player’s hands were getting cold quickly.

“There were a lot of knockons on both sides, so that’s what we were focused on at practice (last) week, just core skills and watching the ball go into your hands and making good passes,” Sarkonak said.

The Clippers hosted the Swan Valley Tigers, last night, beating their Parkland rivals, 110-5.

Desiree Lareive led the way with five tries. Vandekerckhove, Sahulka and Garlinski had three tries each and Richard-Soltis had two tries. Chartrand, Bourgouin, McKenzie Kropenlicki and Mila Heschuk each had singles.

Vandekerckhove had three converts, while Kropelnicki had two.

The girls’ next game will be, Thursday, in Brandon against the Vincent Massey Vikings.

Read the full story in this weeks Dauphin Herald.