7s: Taranaki Day 2 results

Taranaki have cruised through to the semi-final stage of the the Bayleys National sevens tournament in Rotorua after beating hosts Bay of Plenty 17-12.

The victory is the fourth on the trott for the defending champions after strong performances in pool play yesterday.

Taranaki didn't get off to a great start after Beaudein Waaka was sent to the sin bin 30 seconds into the match for kicking the ball away after an infringement.

Blues winger Waisake Naholo scored first after going around the Bay of Plenty defence and used his pace to move past them. The try was converted and Taranaki moved to a 7-0 lead early in the match.

Both sides made mistakes, which could have been tries early on. The first came from Cody Rei, who knocked the ball on after an off load from Naholo, then Elliot Hagen from Bay of Plenty knocked on while knocking over the New Zealand sevens coach on the sideline in the process.

Bay of Plenty came back and drew level at halftime thanks to a Te Aihe Toma try in the corner flirting with the touch line and a brilliant conversion from wide out.

Taranaki coach Willie Rickards spoke about “controlling the tempo” moving into the second half.

Waaka bounced back from his appearance in the sin-bin scoring from a brilliant turn over from Iopu Iopu. Due to Bay of Plenty being on attack, there was no one at home and Waaka strolled in to extend the lead.

Hagen had another opportunity to strike back but was caught with his hands in a ruck and was penalised by referee Brendan Pickerall.

Big mid-fielder Seta Tamanivalu cruised through under the sticks for Taranaki's third try to stretch the lead to 17-7 but the lead was narrowed down thanks to a second Toma try to Bay of Plenty. Like their first try, Bay of Plenty couldn't convert from wide out and left the score at 17-12 at full time.

The semi-final will be at either 4:05pm or 4:25pm depending on other results this afternoon.

The Taranaki women's side lost to Auckland 22-7 earlier today.

The loss also included a brilliant try by star player Michaela Blyde.

They bounced back with a win against Bay of Plenty in the plate semi-final 24-5 which will put them into the plate final at 5:10pm.

Follow William Johnston on Twitter @WillJohnston91