Rugby: Bay schools' side primed for championship

Team manager Katherine Bennett said "this year our team is phenomenal and the girls believe in themselves as a team". Photo / Thinkstock

The Bay of Plenty Secondary School Female Rugby team intends to rewrite the history books this weekend.

It has been 13 years since a Bay team has won the Northern Regions Secondary School Female Rugby Championship title - and that is about to change, according to coach Charlie Hurihanganui.

He is confident he has got the team to beat the Auckland East team in the final at Rotorua Girls' High School on Saturday.

Team manager Katherine Bennett said "this year our team is phenomenal and the girls believe in themselves as a team".

The team comprises 13 players from Rotorua, 10 from Rotorua Girls' High School and three from Western Heights High School. There are also players from Opotiki, Whakatane, Otumoetai and Te Puke.

Hurihanganui said there were some outstanding players in the team, including Rotorua Girls' High School student Sorrento Bockman-Rureheplaying at centre.

Some of the squad are also members of the Rotorua Girls' High School rugby team which won the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Girls Rugby title this year.

He said it was always a challenge playing Auckland teams as they had a much larger player pool to draw on.

"We have got a big province, but the pool of players is not big. Our team is not big, but they play above their weight."

He said he wouldn't be surprised to see selectors at Saturday's game eyeing up potential 2016 Olympic rugby sevens squad members.

Although kick-off for the final is at 1pm Hurihanganui said everyone should get there earlier and cheer the team on.

"We want as many supporters as we can, it will be awesome."