Rugby: New uniforms bring new hope

The Bay of Plenty men's and women's sevens teams have a new uniform for their up-coming season. Pictured is Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers, players Calli Turner and Te Aihe Toma, and councillor Clayton Mitchell.

The Bay of Plenty men's and women's sevens teams will begin an exciting season of elite competition at the Northern Regional Sevens in Hamilton.

The Northern Regional Sevens event tomorrow will act as a qualifier for the Bayleys National Sevens being held in Rotorua on January 11 and January 12.

The Bay women's team will need to make the top four tomorrow to qualify for the nationals.

Meanwhile, the men's team have automatic selection into the nationals, with the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union hosting the televised event in Rotorua.

A new team uniform was unveiled on Tuesday during a season launch and will be on display this weekend.

The two Bay teams will also compete in the Bay Engineers Supplies Sevens Rugby Festival in Mt Maunganui on Saturday January 4.

The festival will attract top provinces from across the country as part of the build up to the nationals.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers said he was excited about the growth of rugby sevens in the region.

"We have worked hard to provide formats that will lead the way for sevens rugby in New Zealand and it is exciting to see the explosion in participation numbers and the quality of players coming through within the Bay of Plenty," he said.

"With the union hosting the two biggest provincial sevens tournaments in consecutive weeks, we encourage the public to get along to see some amazing talent and national players right on our door step."

The Bay of Plenty sevens teams are sponsored by Bay Engineers Supplies.