“On the first game, they were a bit tired after the travel and we had three games in that one day,” coach Sereima Vakuruivalu said.
“In the second game we played against them, and we had a warm-up against Horowhenua-Kāpiti, our girls just dug deep and played hard.
“We all sat down and had a good discussion around our goals for the game, and they executed really well, which was great.”
The tournament was held on the same grounds as the HYC Girls Under 18 competition the previous weekend, with Rivercity Golf Whanganui U18 taking part.
“Our key players will be moving up [to that team] next year, which is good, but always brings room for the younger generation to grow,” Vakuruivalu said.
“One of our key players is Kara Delai, plays No 13 for us, and had a massive impact over the season – she’ll move to 18s next year.
“We had Te Mauriora [Hamahona-Barlien], she played No 9 after our No 9 got injured and broke her hand, where she made a really good impact.
“Our starting No 8, Taylah Waitokia, she played well.”
Delai is at Whanganui Girls College, Hamahona-Barlien at Cullinane College, while Waitokia represents Whanganui High School.
Division 1 among teams from the NPC unions was won by home side Hawke’s Bay.
Whanganui Collegiate hosted Rounds 2-3 and the finals of the HYC Under-16 Boys Tournament last week.
Coming in off a loss away in Round 1 to eventual Division B champions Wairarapa Bush, AGC Training Whanganui U16 Boys started the week well with a 22-12 win over Horowhenua-Kāpiti, but then had a 52-19 defeat to a strong Poverty Bay team who progressed to the Saracens Cup final.
Whanganui entered the playoff for third with Horowhenua-Kāpiti, who secured a payback victory.
The Division A Don Broughton Shield was claimed by Wellington who beat Manawatū in the final.
