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more »Bay of Plenty win Provincial Sevens
Nick Jordan
Bay of Plenty made the most of their home advantage to win the Bay Engineers Supplies Provincial Sevens by the staggering scoreline of 47-26 over Waikato.
The one-day tournament in the holiday resort of Mt Maunganui was played in glorious sunshine before a large crowd who cheered the Bay to their second consecutive title. The top seeds accounted for Taranaki 34-5 and Auckland 24-21 in pool play, came from behind to beat Counties-Manukau 24-14 in the quarter-final and easily beat North Harbour 31-12 to set up the final against their neighbours.
In an entertaining final Sikeli Bola showed exceptional pace to score three tries while Matt Hodson and Ruki Tipuna, who controlled play in midfield for the home team, each scored tries and Adam McGarvey and Chris Elvin also crossed the line. Although the Bay led led 28-0 at one stage, young New Zealand Sevens winger Frank Halai (with three tries) helped Waikato staged a spectacular comeback, narrowing the gap to 26-28 shortly after half-time. The Bay's superior fitness saw them run in a further three tries and give the home supporters the best possible result.
Waikato, the reigning national champions, had made the final with a narrow 17-12 win over Auckland after easily dispatching Wellington 39-14 in the quarter-finals. North Harbour beat Hawke's Bay 33-17 and Auckland eliminated Canterbury 19-5 in the other quarter-finals. Counties-Manukau went on to beat Hawke's Bay 22-5 in the Plate final with Taranaki thrashing Horowhenua-Kapiti 43-0 for the Bowl.
BOP coach Peter Woods said the depth of his squad, which included current or former New Zealand players Solomon King, Jason Hona, Lance McDonald, Chad Tuoro and Scott Curry, was critical to success in the main competition.
"Our experienced players rose to the occasion in the big matches and led the way and the others followed while our guys that came off the bench also played well and that's what you need as a coach," said Woods.
"The final started well then we let Waikato in for four tries and it brought a few nerves, but we stuck to our patterns and got the basics right and everything followed from there on attack and defence. Sevens in the sunshine suits our style of play. It should be played in this type of weather.
The win is a huge confidence boost ahead of this weekend's National Sevens in Queenstown especially since the Bay lost the final 21-14 to Waikato 12 months ago. "Our preparations are on track for Queenstown but it's a short turnaround for the nationals. We'll assemble tomorrow for recovery and look forward to the big one," said Woods.
The 12 teams had the extra incentive of playing in front of New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens who will select a squad of 15 soon after the nationals.
"I always judge players on more than one tournament so it's about backing up and performing again at the required level in Queenstown," said Tietjens.
"All the teams that lost today will learn from today and it should be a strong nationals which is what I'm hoping."
Tietjens, a former Bay of Plenty player and coach, was pleased with the quality of play at Blake Park. "There's some exciting players out there in Sekeli Bola and Frank Halai and it's good to see the wingers scoring all the tries. Declan O'Donnell, who didn't play the final as a precaution, also played really well today.
It was a great final as it was pretty even for a while and I thought the kickoffs were a huge part of today. Bay of Plenty controlled those and that made a big difference." Tietjens is also happy with their start in the HSBC Sevens World Series. "With six new players I'm pretty happy going into Wellington four points behind England," he said. "Some of those players are going to be competing for positions in the squad for Wellington."
BAY ENGINEERS SUPPLIES PROVINICAL SEVENS, Blake Park, Mt Maunganui
CUP Final - Bay of Plenty 47 Waikato 26
Semi finals - Waikato 17 Auckland 12, Bay of Plenty 31 North Harbour 12
Quarter finals - North Harbour 33 Hawke's Bay 17, Waikato 39 Wellington 14, Auckland 19 Canterbury 5, Bay of Plenty 24 Counties-Manukau 14
PLATE Final Counties-Manukau 22 Hawke's Bay 5
Semi finals Hawke's Bay 33 Wellington 10 Counties-Manukau 24 Canterbury 19
BOWL Final - Taranaki 43 Horowhenua-Kapiti 0
Semi finals - Horowhenua-Kapiti 17 Northland 10, Taranaki 17 Manawatu 12
SHIELD Final - Manawatu 19 Northland 12
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