OBU All Aboard the Piopio Express – Hunter Kennedy

Hunter Kennedy dives to score in the corner for Old Boys University in a recent match against Hutt Old Boys Marist. Photo: Caroline Lewis.

• By Adam Julian

The BillyGoats are all aboard the Piopio Express.

Highly touted fullback Hunter Kennedy, 18, has roared into Wellington and helped Old Boys University win five of their first seven matches in the Swindale Shield. In 2025, they won only five of 13.

Kennedy scored twice on debut in a 48-33 win over Johnsonville, where the students flipped a 28-7 deficit against a 2025 Jubilee Cup semi-finalist.

He touched down again in a 24-10 win against vastly improved Wainuiomata, then ran rings around defending Jubilee Cup champions Hutt Old Boys Marist, scoring another try in a resounding 44-17 victory.

On Saturday he scored his fifth try in a 50-5 win over Avalon having earlier in the week been selected for the New Zealand Universities for their two-match series against Japan Under-20s in Hamilton.

Tickets please. How did the Piopio Express land in the capital?

“I went to Palmy Boys, but my grandparents, Ian and Pat, own a farm in Piopio,” Kennedy explained.

”I spent a lot of time up there playing and working until sunset. I love the rural lifestyle.

”My grandparents are my biggest supporters. They come to every game they can. Suddenly, last year, I started being called the Piopio Express, and it stuck.”

Hunter Kennedy with the try against Avalon this past Saturday.

Piopio is a small town in the Waitomo District. It is situated on State Highway 3, approximately 23 km from Te Kūiti.

It’s not far from where “Pinetree” Sir Colin Meads farmed. Dame Farah Palmer and All Blacks halfback Cortez Ratama were also raised there.

Kennedy’s parents are solid folk. Hunter’s father, William, is a corporate manager for Toyota, and his mother, Suzanne, is a secretary for Herefords and the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association.

Hunter is the middle of three children. His older brother, Forbes, is a New Zealand age-group long jump champion, and his younger brother, Beau, is a keen Year 11 sportsman at Palmerston North Boys’ High School. His cousin, Ashton Steere, was a 2025 St Patrick’s College Silverstream First XV Premiership-winning winger. Both are related to the 1930s All Black Dick Steere.

Hunter excelled in basketball, cricket, and athletics in his junior years at Palmerston North BHS before abandoning all three to focus exclusively on rugby.

“I trialled for the First XV in Year 11. I was 67 kg and brave,” Kennedy laughed.

“In Year 12, I was picked for a wider training squad. I got on against Rongotai College and scored four tries. I didn’t miss many games after that.”

Palmerston North plays in the fiercely competitive Super 8. Since its inception in 1998, it has produced more National Top Four champions than any other competition.

In 2024, Palmerston North showed promise but won just two games against Gisborne BHS 42-8 and Rotorua BHS 29-19. They also shared thrilling draws against New Plymouth BHS (34-34) and Napier BHS (38-38).

With most of their roster back in 2025, Palmerston North struck the peak of a cycle. They accomplished something no Palmerston North side had since 2005 by winning Super 8. That 2005 team won 19 out of 22 games and included future All Black Aaron Cruden, All Blacks Sevens flyer Kurt Baker, Welsh international Hadleigh Parkes and Hurricanes fullback Andre Taylor, who scored 27 tries throughout the season.

The first clue that Palmerston North were genuine contenders came when they beat 15-time champions Hamilton BHS for the first time since 2011. First five-eighth Jamie Viljoen kicked a 45-metre penalty with the last play to secure a meritorious 20-18 win.

”They kicked a penalty to take the lead. When they got the kickoff with a minute left, I thought it was all over, Kennedy recalled.

”I was surprised when their halfback box-kicked me. A couple of phases later, we got a penalty. I had the ball. I wasn’t going to kick. I got ready to chase Jamie’s kick. When he hit it, I stopped. I knew it was over.”

Earlier, Kennedy scored a try and, more critically, prevented a Hamilton try at 18-16 by almost running the length of the field from a turnover.

The momentum continued in a 38-20 win over New Plymouth BHS, in which Kennedy scored a length-of-the-field first try. Then a 34-29 victory over reigning champions Tauranga Boys’ College, rallying from 19-0 down, essentially secured their place in the final. At hostile Nicholson Field, the visitors rallied from 19-0 down to prevail. Cole Cullen, son of Christian Cullen, scored two tries.

”That was a special win. The crowd was nuts that day, with horn bands and old boys, Marquess. It was intense, and at first we got caught up in the occasion,” Kennedy said.

“When we scored our first try, we settled, and we had the belief we could win. We had a lot of returning players and trusted each other.”

The Super 8 final was played before a fervent crowd in Palmerston North. Kennedy electrified the local spectators with a stunning 40-metre solo try to make it 22-10 at halftime, the New Zealand Herald reported.

“Those locals with unkept mullets guzzling Monster and Musashi drinks bring a unique energy which frothed in the 35th minute when fullback Hunter Kennedy blasted into a hole, skittling all in sundry.”

“That’s probably the best moment I’ve had playing rugby,” Kennedy added.

”I called Charlie Robbie for the ball, and the pass was a little late and behind me. We joke about it now. I stepped, and there was a hole. Here we go. It happened so quickly. In the goal, some of my mates mobbed me. It was surreal.”

It was almost in vain. Rotorua stormed back to take a 24-22 lead, only for Jamie Viljoen to repeat history by kicking another last-minute penalty to win the match, albeit from closer range.

“Our goal at the start of the season was to win the National Top Four. It was disappointing not to do that, but in many ways winning the Super 8 is harder,” Kennedy said.

”Some of us weren’t even born the last time it happened. Those rivalries are historic and tough. I think by the time we got to Feilding, we were spent. That’s not a discredit to them, but beating Hamilton Boys’ and then winning Super 8 was a massive weight off our shoulders.”

Kennedy was selected for the New Zealand Barbarians Schools and scored two tries in a September 51-37 win over New Zealand Māori U18 Ngā Whatukura.

Palmerston North coach Dan Turnock observed.

“Hunter’s try in the Super 8 final was a real punch in the guts for Rotorua, but it’s typical. He can turn a game on a dime with his pace, skill, and bravery. He’s a hardworking and humble young man. I think he’s got a big future in the game.”

Kennedy will be hoping Old Boys University doesn’t run out of puff soon. Following a faultless opening month, the students have dropped their last two matches against Tawa (31-26) and Upper Hutt (38-20).

Kennedy leading Tawa’s defenders on a chase down Lyndhurst Park in a recent match. Photo: Andy McArthur.

”Tawa and Hutt Old Boys are huge, easily the biggest teams I’ve played against,” Kennedy said.

“Against Hutt, our plan was to run the big boys around, and it worked. Same thing against Tawa, but we didn’t execute as well.

”On Saturday against Upper Hutt, we started slow, scored a couple of tries to get back in it, and then let ourselves down in the last 20 minutes. To be honest, Ieti Campbell ripped us to shreds.

”We’re struggling with injuries. Losing our two props, Gareth Ward Allen and Laurence Jarel Lim, has been an adjustment, but I believe we’ll adapt.

”The culture at OBU is awesome. The coaches encourage us to express ourselves, and I live with some of the boys in the Victoria University halls where I study law and commerce.

”I chose OBU because of their academy and proximity to Uni. We do gym and skills in the morning, then I can walk to class. It’s a good routine.”

A routine that’s been awarded with selection in the New Zealand Universities who play in Japan Under-20 on May 26 at the University of Waikato and May 30 at FMG Stadium in Hamilton as a curtain raiser to the Chiefs v Blues Super Rugby Pacific match.

“I’m excited and humbled to wear a Black jersey. I know a couple of boys in the team, like Nehemia Sua, who was at Palmy Boys with me and Noah “Le Freak” Rogers from the Hurricanes Under-18s. I don’t know a lot about Japan. I’m guessing they’ll play fast and be really competitive,” Kennedy said.

*The New Zealand Universities were founded in 1908 and have won 241 of 325 matches. Their most notable successes were beating the 1956 Springboks (22-15) and the 1977 British & Irish Lions (21-9). Many legendary All Blacks, such as Ron Jarden and 1987 Rugby World Cup-winning captain David Kirk, have represented the New Zealand Universities. Last year on their tour of Japan they were beaten twice by a Japan XV 78-28 and 30-21.