Best in the world put on a show in Game of Three Halves

Bay of Plenty Volcanix captain Christie Yule fends off an Auckland defender. Photo/ Andrew Warner

Intent.

That was the main focus for the Bay of Plenty Volcanix squad as they took to the field in the Game of Three Halves match-up on Saturday.

The country's best female rugby players put on a show to a crowd of more than 500 as the Black Ferns, the Bay of Plenty Volcanix and the Auckland Storm went head-to-head at the Tauranga Domain.

The first 40 minutes saw the Black Ferns dominate the Bay of Plenty side with a 44-0 win.

But the home team showed moments of strong play throughout the half.

Bay of Plenty Volcanix assistant coach Zane Winslade said any opportunity to play against the best in the world was "pretty good".

"We were really happy we just wanted to see some intent from them and some heart."

He said there were "little moments" where he could see the team were showing what they had been working on at training.

"We weren't too concerned about getting in tries or things like that," Winslade said.

The Black Ferns continued to show their strength in the second half against the Auckland Storm with a 46-0 finish.

But the final match-up between the Bay of Plenty Volcanix and the Auckland Storm saw a much more even playing field.

Forward Lumepa Apelu came crashing over the try line in the opening minutes to claim the visiting side's first points of the day.

Prop Jacqui Aiono scored the squad's second and last try in the 26th minute and with two unsuccessful conversions the score sat at 10-0 to the Auckland Storm.

Winslade said he was happy with the side's first run out for the season.

"Clearly we had some tired people there and that showed but again it's the first game we've played together this season so we did see some good things and we're happy with that.

"All-in-all it's going to help with our fitness and building depth in our squad. We've had 30-odd players out here today, all playing so it's been awesome," he said.

Bay of Plenty Volcanix captain Christie Yule said she was happy with the team's performance.

"It was really awesome actually. It's the first time we've really run out together, we've only really come in with two training sessions into that," she said.

"Intent was one of the things we really wanted to go in with and we definitely showed that. We wanted to have some fun at the same time."

Yule said the Game of Three Halves set-up was a great idea and she hoped to see it carried on into future seasons.

She said the Bay squad went into the half against the Black Ferns without any pressure on themselves.

"We just sort of went into it thinking the pressure is on them, they're the ones who had to bring it to us and they're expected to win I guess.

"We went out there to express ourselves and show them what we can do and what the Bay rugby is about," she said.