Bay of Plenty's Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly takes off against Tasman during the TECT National Sevens tournament at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Getty Images
Bay of Plenty's Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly takes off against Tasman during the TECT National Sevens tournament at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Getty Images
Day one of the TECT National Sevens at the Tauranga Domain is complete and the Bay of Plenty men's and women's teams had very different days.
The Bay of Plenty women are a cohesive unit and they provided plenty of highlights on their way to the top of Pool Cwith three wins from three.
They opened their campaign with a 22-12 win in the battle of the Bays against Hawke's Bay. They cruised to a 26-0 win over Tasman in their second game and in their last game of the day Bay of Plenty had to dig deep but finished strong against Waikato to win 24-7.
Tomorrow, Bay of Plenty will play Otago in the Cup quarter finals at 10.45am.
Captain Rebecca Kersten said the most pleasing aspect was the way the team improved throughout the day.
"We were able to unleash out potential in that last game against Waikato, that was awesome. It was a good confidence builder, but tomorrow will be another big step up."
She said all the players had built a close bond which played to their advantage.
"Everyone's really chilled and really relaxed, we're just here to have some fun and play some footy when it comes to that time. It's a really good group of friends.
"I think today we built really nicely and picked the intensity up as the day went by. Tomorrow the focus will be on recovering really well and picking up where we left off."
Bay of Plenty's Elijah Nicholas makes a break against Taranaki during the TECT National Sevens tournament at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Getty Images
The Bay of Plenty men, meanwhile, endured a tough day at the office, losing all three of their pool games.
They lost their opening match against Taranaki 10-0 before struggling to hold onto the ball in a 24-7 loss to Canterbury. In the final round of pool play the Bay of Plenty men produced their best performance of the day, but still went down 21-17.
Co-captain Josh Honey was disappointed, but said there were still positives for the young side to take from the day.
"We got better as the day went on, it was tough at the start, but that last game was a close loss. It was there for us to win, but it didn't go our way.
"We didn't really execute our game plans and what we've been coached in the last few months. I think the boys were a bit shy and a bit nervous.
"It's a new team and good for the future, but for this campaign we wanted to be in the Cup playoffs. We'll put today behind us and focus on tomorrow. All we can try to do is win the next three games and take home some silverware."
The Bay of Plenty men will play Northland in the Bowl quarter final at 10.45am tomorrow.
Results
Bay of Plenty men Lost 10-0 v Taranaki Lost 24-7 v Canterbury Lost 21-17 v Hawke's Bay
