A late converted try from classy first five-eighth Monte Timu secured the draw. Lock Daniel Toala, a younger brother of Magpie Danny Toala, was West's player-of-the-match.
Toala and blindside flanker Salvidor Karangaroa-Mackenzie were tireless defenders.
"We had to play our best to get the draw as did Napier. They will be the team to watch for the rest of the week," Rurawhe added.
Captain and No 8 Zavier Dunn scored 29 points as Hastings East opened their campaign with a 76-0 drubbing of Wairoa. Dunn scored three tries and kicked seven conversions.
Winger Daniel Aitken also scored a hattrick. Captain and lock Ollie Barham and prop Reef Luxford joined player of the match Dunn as the pick of the East forwards.
"We're pretty happy with what was a very good team effort," East assistant coach Mark Solomon said.
"We won all five of our pre-tournament games and we continued that form. You are always a bit nervous when it comes tournament time and we played with structure which was our main focus. We didn't want to get too loose," Solomon added.
Wairoa co-coach Sid Ropitini said his squad includes six Year 7 players and the bulk of them are first-timers at this level.
"East were too big for us and ran hard on the fringes. However in saying that we were a lot stronger in the second half when there was a 15-minute period when East couldn't score."
Shane Ashby, who had stints at lock and No 8, openside flanker BJ Stewart and No 8 Kael Thompson-Maxwell were workaholics in the Wairoa pack. Substitute halfback Zade Thompson-Maxwell impressed with his never-say-die approach.
"We will bounce back tomorrow," Ropitini warned.
Dannevirke secured the favourite's tag for the Life Members Salver for the best country team with a 38-5 win against last year's winners Central. Dannevirke head coach Simon Prouting was proud of his troops and he had every right to be.
Fullback Josh Augustine was classy and scored two tries and kicked four conversions. Prouting said Chance Sherrard-Chase was the best player on the paddock and had a half in each of the midfield positions.
Captain and No 8 Angus Prouting, who is a third-year Ross Shield player, blindside flanker Jack Stratford and lock Rico Phillips impressed with their carries and defensive workrates.
Central manager Ian Large said while the hosts didn't stick to their game plan Dannevirke deserved plenty of credit for their display.
Winger Caleb Watene was a powerful runner for Central. Fellow winger Max Wilson and his twin brother and halfback Harry Wilson were also lively in the Central backline.
Today's games will see Central take on Wairoa from 1pm, Napier play Dannevirke from 2pm and Hastings East play Hastings West from 3pm.
Scorers:
Napier 19 (Te Aotaki Edmonds, Tama Pohatu, Hunter Kinney tries; Tyler Vette 2 cons), Hastings West 19 (Monte Timu 2, Payton Godinet tries; Timu 2 cons). HT: 5-all.
Hastings East 76 (Zavier Dunn 3, Daniel Aitken 3, Reef Luxford 2, Ollie Barham, Joel Russell, Kyan Lowe, Noah Edmonds tries; Dunn 7, Francis Kirkland cons), Wairoa 0. HT: 41-0.
Dannevirke 38 (Josh Augustine 2, Rico Phillips 2, George Prouting, Chance Sherrard-Chase tries; Augustine 4 cons), Central 5 (Cameron Brans try). HT: 14-0.
Points: Hastings East 2, Dannevirke 2, Napier 1, Hastings West 1, Central 0, Wairoa 0.
