Rugby: Volcanix run out of steam

Chanelle Rata-Makene (with ball) played well for the Bay of Plenty Volcanix on Saturday in Palmerston North. Photo / Stephen Parker

The Bay of Plenty Volcanix have lost their opening game of the season to Manawatu 29-7 in the Women's National Provincial Championship, but have shown some big improvements since rejoining the top grade last year.

The Volcanix dominated the opening 30 minutes of their match on Saturday in Palmerston North but ran out of steam against a Manawatu side who boasted plenty of quality in their backline.

It is the second season back in the top flight for the Volcanix after they rejoined the national competition last year, losing every game in 2014.

Despite losing on Saturday, the Bay will feel they created plenty of chances and matched Manawatu up front in the forwards. Luka Connor, Hana Tapiata and Animei Skudder were especially impressive for the Volcanix in the forward pack.

One thing Bay of Plenty will need to fix though before their next match against Waikato is their lineout as they lost a lot of momentum with some sloppy set pieces.

The visitors got off to a great start in the match at Arena Manawatu after Skudder put on a big tackle in defence. The Bay showed plenty of patience to slowly work their way down the field without making any mistakes.

Rotorua's Mystery McLean-Kora, who enjoyed a good debut at halfback, made a nice break and a few phases later Tapiata scored next to the posts.

Nothing was going right for Manawatu as they dropped a lot of ball but they eventually got going after 30 minutes.

The home side scored two tries towards the back end of the half to push out to a 17-7 lead at the break, thanks to two tries to speedster Lauren Balsillie.

The Bay could not manage any points in the second half despite creating a couple of good chances including a long run from Autumn-Rain Stephens. Manawatu showed their talent out wide and scored two more tries to close out the match.

Bay captain Janina Khan said they played well. "It went really well considering the last hit out we had with them [in pre-season] was a really big margin."

She said they were a new team, with most the ladies debuting on Saturday.

"We will be working on our systems this week ... it broke down in a few places but that is all part of being part of a new team."

- Manawatu 29 (Lauren Balsillie 2, Janna Vaughan, Krysten Duffill tries; Krysten Duffill 3 con, pen) Bay of Plenty 7 (Hana Tapiata try; Lauralee Hillman con) HT: 17-7.