Hawke's Bay Tuis women's rugby team manager Blair Heasley was heaping praise on his winless troops on Saturday.
"There was big improvement. It was easily our best performance of the season," Heasley said after their fourth round 43-18 loss to Wellington at Park Island.
The Tuis trailed 19-13 at halftimeand 19-18 shortly after the interval.
"If we had that defensive intensity against Bay of Plenty we would have rolled them. If we can play like this against Canterbury we will be serious contenders ... that's Amy's 50th game, they will get up for that," Heasley said referring to this weekend's match at Park Island which will be vice-captain and former Black Ferns utility back Amy Williams' 50th first-class game for the team.
Busy No8 Kathleen Brown was the Tuis player-of-the-match. Prop Sharlena Maui was again powerful until she was taken to hospital to have a pinched nerve checked out after a scrum collapsed on top over her in the 60th minute.
Halfback Gemma Woods impressed with her never-say-die approach.
Poor defensive work proved costly for the Hawke's Bay Saracens as they lost their Hurricanes competition opener 37-15 to Manawatu Development in Palmerston North.
"Poor tackling and our inability to retain possession. But in saying that we were behind 22-15 with 20 minutes remaining and Manawatu finished stronger," Saracens manager Mike Smith said.
Former Magpie Star Timu, who had stints at centre and fullback, was the best of the Saracens. Substitute wingers Mikey Vuicakau and Matt Garland, who scored a try each, provided quality impact and captain Andrew Gardner was again consistent.
Woeful defence in the first quarter let the Bay under-19s down during a 46-5 loss in their Hurricanes competition opener to Wellington in the capital. The Bay trailed 30-0 after 20 minutes and 39-0 at halftime but coach Stu Drew was proud of the character they showed in the second half.
Of the six Bay rep teams in action on Saturday only two won. The under-16s beat Poverty Bay 22-13 in Gisborne and the under-14s beat Manawatu 39-12 at Park Island.
