"It showed the character of the team, learning from their losses and preparing for new opposition because [Kamo Hawks] are a well-drilled, fit team."
Kaipo said they had planned to restrict a dangerous Kamo Hawks backline by keeping the ball in close and pulling their opposition's backline defenders in.
"Our job was to keep it tight, bring their backline into the forwards and then execute with numbers out wide when we had the overlap."
With strong performances in their set piece, Kaipo credited his flankers Lily Murray-Wihongi and Whitney Palmer for their work across the park and defensive effort around the ruck.
City next play Kaikohe and Kaipo said the consistency of good opposition will be a beneficial learning curve for his players.
"Having the three top teams in a row is giving our girls more experience and allowing us to understand how the finals are going to be," he said.
"We just need to focus on our communication and backline defence because Kaikohe have got a reputation for having one of the sharpest backlines."
In the round's other game, Kaikohe won by default after Marist OB could not field a team.
