Sevens: Tournament provides big wake-up call for Bay teams

Bay of Plenty's Hana Tapiata grimaces after being tackled.

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union's hopes of being recognised as the home of sevens was cruelly exposed as fallacy at the Bay Engineers Supplies Provincial Sevens Tournament at Blake Park on Saturday.

Both the men's and women's teams were exposed by bigger, swifter and fitter opposition in muggy conditions in front of a fair walk up crowd.

At the end of a long day the home sides had just a draw and a win to show alongside their battered bodies - with even the lone success coming with a giant caveat.

The men's second team gave the top team a 36-12 hiding in a consolation match, but in truth that was little more than an opposed training run.

In the end, it was the Auckland men's team and the Manawatu women's side who looked most at home on Sir Gordon Tietjens Field at Blake Park, handily seeing off Taranaki and Auckland respectively to claim overall honours.

Men's coach Rodney Gibbs supplied an accurate description of how the two men's teams performed.

"It was good to have two teams on show but really disappointing we didn't progress through the day," Gibbs said.

"I think we started well - the number one team did at least - but they fell away as the day went on which was disappointing.

"The second team probably got better as the day went on so it was a bit of a mixed bag, really."

Decision-making and experience are two areas Gibbs needs to see marked improvements in if the side is to be competitive.

"It was a lack of experience from some guys - for some of them it was their first time on the big stage and they were a bit keen at times.

"It's a game that you have to play a lot of to get better and for most of these guys it's still pretty new.

"It was an eye opener alright and it means that we have a lot of work to do in a week."

He feared the poor showing might adversely affect the mentality of his players.

"We have to make sure we get our heads in the right space. It will be very important for us, with our make up, to get a win first up.

"That would create some confidence. In the last few tournaments we've started well but picked up a loss and struggled to get back into the day.

"I don't think we're that far away from the other teams, it's just mentally at the moment - we're not able to match it for a whole day against high quality opposition."

Women's coach David Mays pulled his extended squad out of the consolation rounds due to a mounting injury toll.

A dislocated shoulder, broken finger and knee injury are just three of the ailments collected during the day's six matches, so Mays saw no reason to risk further collateral damage.

"There was nothing at stake this week, other than to try to finalise the team for nationals," Mays said.

"I got out of it what I wanted to see, but the unfortunate thing is we didn't get the chance to see two teams - an A and a B team - play two different styles.

"For me it cemented who my final 12 are really."

Captain Calli Turner had ice on her problematic ankle at the end of the day, but came through well after largely playing within herself.

Mays was largely happy with how his squad managed to compete on a relatively even footing with all the sides apart from beaten finalists Auckland, and was looking forward to the national showpiece next weekend in Rotorua.

"I think the girls will enjoy it. There is no real pressure on us; we're going in ranked ninth out of ten."