Farah Palmer Cup: Slow start costs Bay of Plenty Volcanix in season opener

Winger Natalie Walford makes a break on her Bay of Plenty Volcanix debut. Photo / Andrew Warner

Despite their best efforts, the Bay of Plenty Volcanix were unable to overcome a slow start in their Farah Palmer Cup Premiership season opener against Counties Manukau today.At the Tauranga Domain, it was the away side Counties who had all the momentum early, running in three tries in the opening 20 minutes to race out to a 19-0 lead.

The Volcanix could perhaps be forgiven for their struggles early, with four debutants in the starting XV, and once they warmed into the game they were more competitive, fighting back but ultimately going down 37-24.

Still, there were plenty of positives for the home side. Fullback Sapphire Tapsell was a constant threat and winger Natalie Walford was at her rampaging best on debut, including a 50m breakaway try.

Lock Karli Faneva broke tackles at will and flankers Kendra Reynolds and Christie Yule put all their experience to good use as they wreaked havoc at the breakdown.

Trailing 19-0, it was Tapsell who made the breakthrough and sparked the Volcanix into life 30 minutes into the game. She ran on to a beautiful inside ball from first five Mystery McLean Kora to slip through a gap and score.

Winger Natalie Walford makes a break on her Bay of Plenty Volcanix debut. Photo / Andrew Warner

Unfortunately for the home side, Counties hit straight back with a try to winger Langi Veainu, her second of the game, and took a 24-7 lead into halftime.

The Volcanix were under the pump again early in the second half but this time were able to hold out the opposition. They showed patience as they worked their way up the field before spinning the ball left where Reynolds was able to dive over in the corner.

The game was starting to open up and with plenty of talented backs in action the tries kept coming.

Veainu completed a hat-trick for Counties before Walford pounced on a loose ball for the Volcanix and scored to make it 29-17 to Counties.

The other Counties winger Waikohika Flesher got in on the act with an intercept try to extend the lead to 34-17. Tapsell scored her second for the Volcanix with 15 minutes left to play but it was the last time the home side would trouble the scorers, Counties adding a penalty to secure a 37-24 win.

Bay of Plenty Volcanix co-captain Christie Yule takes a hit up. Photo / Andrew Warner

The game saw a return to the blue and gold jersey for Black Ferns hooker Luka Connor, who missed all of last season through injury. She said it was a good first hit-out for the team and they would learn a lot from it.

"We know our work ons and once we did get our systems together we could really get into the game. Counties got a good start on us, which was tough. We aimed to get a good start but that was just how it rolled out there."

Connor said, despite the loss, it was good to be back playing for the Volcanix.

"It was tough watching last year, it was so good to get out there and represent the Bay. I think we have a lot of talent, a lot of raw talent, which we saw today from a few players on their first time debuting in the jersey. It's exciting to see them coming through."

Volcanix head coach Rodney Gibbs saw plenty of positives in the performance, particularly after the first 20 minutes.

Fullback Sapphire Tapsell was a standout for the Bay of Plenty Volcanix against Counties Manukau. Photo / Andrew Warner

"We started a bit slow, we were probably a bit shell shocked at the start and as expected there were some big ladies coming down the middle who probably knocked us around a little bit. It took a while for us to get going.

"Individually, there were some really good things happening with some of the girls but collectively we didn't quite get it right."

He was pleased with the way his side stayed in the fight and excited about the performance of the debutants.

"We were there or thereabouts the whole game, it's just some little stuff we need to get better at - they tried hard, it's not that they're not trying.

"A couple of girls are in their first year of rugby so it's pretty awesome that they put themselves out there and challenged themselves to get in amongst it. We just need to work on collectively working together ... around how we support each other in different places on the field."

It was triple defeat for Bay of Plenty in the triple header at the Tauranga Domain as both the Bay of Plenty Ngāwhā and Toa sides fell narrowly short of victory.

The development side Ngāwhā conceded a last minute penalty to go down 46-45 to Auckland while the under-19 side Toa lost 19-17 to Waikato Under-19.

Triple Header Results
Bay of Plenty Volcanix 24 Counties Manukau 37
Bay of Plenty Ngāwhā 45 Auckland 46
Bay of Plenty Toa 17 Waikato 19