It has been a mixed opening day for Bay of Plenty fans to cheer about at the 2017 Bayleys National Sevens.
The Bay of Plenty women's side sailed through to tomorrow's Cup quarter finals after three straight wins during pool play at the Rotorua International Stadium today.
Bay of Plenty, coached by Victoria Grant, rounded off their Pool B matches with an impressive 33-0 win over Wellington, after a previous 42-5 victory against Hawkes Bay and an opening 24-19 win over Auckland.
The on-form side will now face the best third place finishers in tomorrow's Women's Cup quarter finals after topping their pool.
Rotorua's Autumn Stephens impressed for the Bay of Plenty women's team today. PHOTO/BEN FRASER
Grant said she was happy with her side's all round performance but is wary of defending champions Manawatu and Counties Manukau who both also remained unbeaten after day one - topping their respective pool with three hefty wins each.
"I'm very pleased with the team all round. Everyone was shining out there today and tactically we kept to strong structures," she said. "Manawatu looked very good and Counties [Manukau] - we just need to take this confidence in will us.
"We'll be closely watching back video tonight to see where we can make improvements but we'll be ready."
Meanwhile the Bay of Plenty men's team lost two out of their three pool matches and will compete in tomorrow's Bowl quarter finals.
They had given themselves a chance of reaching tomorrow's Cup quarter finals when they beat Tasman 28-17 in a dominant display in their second Pool C match.
Bay of Plenty led 14-5 at half-time after converted tries from Danny Kayes and former Rotorua Boys' High School student Isaac Te Aute. Tasman's captain Trael Joass slid over for his side.
Former Rotorua Boys' High School student Isaac Te Aute powers through for the Bay of Plenty men's side. PHOTO/BEN FRASER
In the second half Bay of Plenty extended their lead to 28-5 with Regan Ware diving over and Scott Curry - Te Aute successfully kicked both to maintain his accurate conversion rate. The home side then took their foot off the gas allowing Tasman to finish with a more respectable score line after tries from Jesse Pitman and Sam Chamberlain.
But any hopes were then dashed after they ended pool play on a low note with a 21-17 loss to Taranaki after leading 12-0 half-time thanks to tries from Ware and Kayes - with both converted by Te Aute.
In the second half Bay of Plenty looked shell shocked as Taranaki raced out the blocks scoring three quick tries - two from captain Jason Ormond and Liam Blyde also dived over. Trinity Spooner-Neera converted all three. Bay of Plenty's Ware scored his second off the game with a few minutes remaining but it was too little.
Bay of Plenty started today with a narrow 19-17 against Canterbury, in a closely fought contest.
2017 Bayleys National Sevens day one results here:
