Bay of Plenty secondary school sevens set to kick off

Rotorua Girls' High School's Te Aomihi Williams Paul runs the ball during a secondary schools sevens tournament earlier this year. Photo/File

This weekend Arataki Park is hosting 54 teams at the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Sevens.

The tournament, which kicked off todayand continues tomorrow,will be one of the lead qualification tournaments for the Condor Sevens in Auckland in early December.

There is an abundance of rugby action on offer with the inclusion of under-14 and under-15 boys' open and development grades today joined by under-15 girls' open and development grades.

Under-19 boys' and girls' open and development grades will compete on day two, seeking qualification for the Condor Sevens.

Trident High School's under-19 girls' team remain the unknown factor for Condors selection. Under coach Tania-Rose Taikato they could be a real threat to the top seeds Tauranga Girls' College and Rotorua Girls' High School.

In the boys' qualifier it is a tight race between Tauranga Boys' College and Western Heights High School for the second qualification spot. Rotorua Boys' High School is again expected to be too strong as number one seeds. Late injuries in the Te Puke team may make for a tougher mission for the Te Puke side to cause an upset.

Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools manager Ian Parata said: "I am really excited for the next two days.

"It is great to be able to host such high calibre teams in the Bay of Plenty and have other schools from outside the Bay keen to participate.

"This year we have Gisborne Boys' High School under-14 side, Rosmini College under-15 boys' development side, Piopio under-19 girls' development side and under 15 girls' open and under-19 girls' development teams from Nga Wahine Toa attending the tournament.

"We know a weekend of sevens rugby creates a buzz in the schools and we look forward to seeing secondary school sevens rugby continue to grow as it has done thus far."