Bay of Plenty's Josh Honey on his way to a try against Auckland tonight. Photo/Ben Fraser
Bay of Plenty's Josh Honey on his way to a try against Auckland tonight. Photo/Ben Fraser
The Bay of Plenty men's sevens team will face Taranaki in their quarter-final tomorrow after finishing second in their pool at the Bayleys National Sevens tournament in Rotorua.
The Bay had wins over Northland (21-0) and South Canterbury (26-10) before losing to Auckland (40-12) today in pool play at theNational Sevens.
It means Auckland finish top in Pool A and Bay of Plenty finish second, which is good enough to see them safely into the quarter-finals.
The home province will play Pool B winners Taranaki tomorrow at 12.25pm during their quarter-final fixture.
The biggest shock of the day saw the Hawke's Bay men's team, who were seeded number two going into the tournament, miss out on the quarter-finals. A link to all the results from day one and fixtures for tomorrow's playoffs can be found below.
After scoring four tries in his last game, against Mid Canterbury, Bay of Plenty's Mason Walker picked up where he left off scoring a cracking 90m solo effort to open the scoring against Auckland. He got the ball at the back of a scrum and took off down the short side before beating two defenders who scrambled to catch up with him.
Bay of Plenty's Mason Walker hits the gap against Northland during their first game of the Bayleys National Sevens at the Rotorua International Stadium today. Photo/Ben Fraser
A classy Auckland side hit back straight away scoring a try of their own to go up 7-5.
Walker was involved again as the Bay scored the next try. He passed to a team mate in plenty of space who in turn linked up with Josh Honey, who broke the line before scoring under the posts. Once again, Auckland hit straight back taking the lead again, 14-12. That was how things stayed at half-time.
Bay of Plenty's Teddy Stanaway came a metre short of opening the scoring in the second half but he was tackled close to the tryline and gave away a penalty, as his support was slow to catch up with him.
Auckland showed their attacking prowess by scoring a few plays later. They added another try not long after to push out to a big lead. The Bay never recovered and Auckland ran out winners 40-12.
All Blacks Sevens representative Isaac Te Aute (Bay of Plenty) did not feature in the game and looked to be nursing an ankle injury.
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EARLIER:
The Bay of Plenty men's sevens team are through to the Cup quarter-finals after beating South Canterbury 26-10 during their second pool match today at the National Sevens in Rotorua.
Mason Walker starred for the Bay during the match scoring all four of his team's tries, helping his side win 26-10. The Bay had earlier defeated Northland 21-0.
Bay of Plenty's Isaac Te Aute in action today. Photo/Ben Fraser
The Bay will join Auckland, who also defeated South Canterbury and Northland in their first two matches today, to progress out of Pool A at the Bayleys National Sevens.
All eight quarter-finalists in the men's draw have now been found with Wellington, Taranaki, Counties Manukau, North Harbour, Manawatu and defending champs Waikato completing the top eight.
The Bay have one more match today against Auckland at 6.35pm to decide the top qualifier in Pool A.
The Bay of Plenty men's sevens team have got off to a perfect start at the Bayleys National Sevens in Rotorua, beating a good Northland side 21-0 in their first pool match today.
Bay coach Peter Woods will be pleased with his side's first up match which not only saw his team score three unanswered tries but all his players looked to make it through uninjured.
The National Sevens tournament features all the best provincial sevens teams in the country who are chasing national titles at the Rotorua International Stadium this weekend.
The crowd cheer at the Bayleys National Sevens at the Rotorua International Stadium. Photo/Ben Fraser
Isaac Te Aute scored the opening try for the Bay showing plenty of pace to get on the outside of his defender, before racing away down the left flank. An impressive conversion from out wide put the home province ahead 7-0.
The Bay then showed some good patience in the build-up to their second try putting together about six or seven phases before All Blacks Sevens rep Teddy Stanaway made a break through the middle and scored. The Bay went into the break 14-0 up.
The home side was first to score in the second half which all but ended the contest, crossing close to the try line.
The Bay's next match is against the lowest seeded team at the tournament, South Canterbury, at 3.55pm on field two. They then play their last pool match against Auckland at 6.35pm tonight on field one.
