Wellington and Manawatu win National Sevens titles

Above: The Wellington and Auckland teams about to take the field ahead of the Men’s Cup final. Photo credit: @aucklandrugby Twitter feed

The Wellington men’s team and the Manawatu women’s team are the 2014 Bayleys National Sevens champions.

Wellington defeated Auckland 26-17 in the Men’s Cup final and Manawatu overcame Auckland 19-12 in the Women’s Cup final.

The win for the Scott Waldrom and Sam Rasch coached Wellington team was the province’s first national Sevens title since 2002.

Wellington combined power on attack and outstanding committed defence to play through the two-day tournament unbeaten, the only team to do so. The win in the Cup final over Auckland followed up their 17-14 win over them on day one.

They brought a physical game to the tournament and backed it up with superb fitness and a high skill level.

New Zealand Sevens veteran Lote Raikabula was a star of the tournament, as was Vaea Fifita.

Manawatu were deserved Women’s Cup champions, also bringing excellent defence and some sparkling attacking play to the tournament.

New Zealand Women’s Sevens player Selicia Winiata was dymanic throughout and scored a stunning try in the final against Auckland, keeping the bouncing ball alive near the touchline with her boot.

Manawatu flyer and former New Zealand Sevens player George Tilsley was the men’s Player of the Tournament.

Counties Manukau’s Hazel Tubic was the women’s Player of the Tournament.

Manawatu beat Bay of Plenty 40-17 to win the Men’s Plate final. Taranaki defeated Otago 21-12 in the Women’s Plate final

Some match Reports and Day two tournament wrap

Men’s Cup Final

Wellington led 19-5 at halftime, scoring three unanswered tries after Auckland scored first.

Murphy Taramai and Inoke Rasabele made a joint try saving tackle for Wellington after a burst up the right hand touchline by Auckland’s Akira Ioane.

Ben Lam eventually scored the first try of the final for Auckland, after a second? barging run by Ioane. Auckland 5-0.

Wellington broke out up the right hand touchline through Vaea Fifita, but Auckland held on.

Murphy Taramai took a quick tap penalty, leading to a Lote Raikabula try for Wellington. Rasabale was unable to convert and it remained 5-5 after seven minutes.

Wellington regained possession from the re-start, Fifita handing off to Raikabula who crossed for his second try. Rasabale converted and Wellington were ahead 12-5.

Under pressure, Auckland made an error from a lineout and Wellington attacked from a resulting scrum. Tomasio Alosio and Taramai both made strong bursts, Fifita crossed the line and he handed to Afa Fa’atau to score under the poles and give Wellington a 19-5 lead.

Auckland made a strong surge early in the second half, but again Wellington’s defence inside their own 22 held them out.

Instead Auckland scored a 50-metre try to Ioane. The conversion was missed and Wellington now led 19-10.

Auckland let Wellington off the hook with a poor kick-off. Tomasio Alosio made a break up the middle but couldn’t link up with his support and Auckland regained possession.

Ben Lam skipped through a hole to score untouched, Orene A’ii converted and the lead was cut to 19-17 with three minutes still to play.

Auckland had Wellington stretched again, but again Wellington turned defence into attack, scoring the match winner and taking a 26-17 with a minute left.

Men’s Cup semi-finals

The Men’s Cup semi-finals were both hotly contested.

Auckland beat Northland 17-14 and Wellington knocked over defending champions Taranaki 10-5.

Auckland scored first through big wing Kelly Meafua, but Northland attacked Auckland up the middle and teenaged Jack Goodhue crashed over to give Northland a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Auckland scored almost immediately from the second half re-start through New Zealand Secondary Schools No. 8 Akira Ioane. Northland hit back off a scrum move, putting Northland back ahead 14-10.

Auckland pressed again and scored through Sam Limu-Franklin, converted by veteran Orene Ali’I, and took a 17-14 lead.

The second Cup semi-final was based on big defence and the individual brilliance of Vaea Fifita, who scored two tries.

Wellington made a patient start, using the width of the field and maintaining possession. Fifita opened the scoring, giving Wellington a 5-0 lead.

Fifita made a big tackle on Taranaki captain Warwick Lahmert, winning another penalty and more vital territory. Taranaki held on as a Tomasio Alosio stab kick created another scoring opportunity that was thwarted as well.

Inoke Rasabale went desperately close to crossing the chalk, as Wellington led 5-0 at halftime.

Taranaki struck back midway through the second half through Beaudin Waaka out wide, locking up the score at 5-5 with three minutes to play.Fifita burst up field from a ruck on halfway to score his second try of the match, Wellington now ahead 10-5.

Men’s quarterfinals

Wellington pipped Otago 24-19. Otago were the first to score but when Wellington went into the lead, the southern men were breathing down their neck throughout the match in a fest of tries.

The match was drawn deep into the second half thanks to a brilliant Miller try, but Wellington had no option but to bite back.

Taranaki beat Bay of Plenty 17-12, recovering from Beaudein Waaka being sent to the sin bin just 30 seconds into the match. Scores were level at halftime, before big mid-fielder Seta Tamanivalu cruised through under the sticks for Taranaki's third try to stretch the lead to 17-7.

The lead was narrowed but Taranaki held on to win.

In the other Men’s Cup quarterfinals Northland enjoyed a good 26-0 win over Canterbury and Manawatu pushed big guns Auckland to extra time before losing 14-19.

Men’s Plate, Shield and Bowl finals

Manawatu over ran home side Bay of Plenty 40-17 to win the Plate final, shooting to an early 14-0 lead and never looking back.

Waikato defeated Mid Canterbury 31-7 in the Men’s Shield final.

North Harbour came back from a man down in the sin-bin and from behind on the scoreboard to pip Counties Manukau 28-26 in the Men’s Bowl final. Trailing 7-19, they fought back to lead 28-19 before Counties scored again at the death to end a thriller.

Women’s Cup semi-finals and final

Auckland Women defeated Waikato Women 17-12 in one Women’s Cup semi-final and Manawatu defeated Counties Manukau 24-5, setting up a final between the defending champions Manawatu and traditional big guns Auckland.
Manawatu pounced on an Auckland dropped ball and Hayley Hutana opened the scoring to give Manawatu a 7-0 lead.

Auckland attacked, but gave away another turnover and Manawatu turned defence in attack. Chrystal Mayes put Selicia Winiata away for a runaway try and a 14-0 lead.

Auckland responded with a breakout try to Kayla Mcallister, cutting Manawatu’s lead to 14-7 at halftime.

Manawatu absorbed Auckland’s first assault of the second half, Hutana making a try saving tackle in the corner. Auckland came back and Linda Itunu scored on the opposite side of the field, closing the deficit to 14-12.

Winiata scored a sensational solo try that extended Manawatu’s lead to 19-12. Winiata took a quick tap penalty near halfway, kicked ahead towards the touchline, chased up and skillfully kept the ball in play with her feet, re-gathered and scored unhindered.

Auckland attempted to break out from under their posts, but Manawatu reclaimed possession and almost scored a fourth try on fulltime to Hutana who knocked on over the line.

Taranaki pulled clear to beat Otago 21-12 in the Women’s Plate final. ?Canterbury beat Southland 31-7 in the Women’s Bowl final, after leading 10-0 at halftime.

Day two results:

Counties Manukau Women 45 - Wellington Women 5 (Women’s Cup quarterfinal)
Hawke’s Bay 24 - Poverty Bay 14
Manawatu Women 10 - Otago Women 7 (Women’s Cup quarterfinal)
Counties Manukau 36 - Mid Canterbury 5
Auckland Women 22 - Taranaki Women 7 (Women’s Cup quarterfinal)
North Harbour 31 - Tasman 24
Waikato Women 29 v Bay of Plenty Women 5 (Women’s Cup quarterfinal)
Southland 19 - Waikato 17
Auckland 19 - Manawatu 14 (Men’s Cup quarterfinal)
Northland 26 - Canterbury 0 (Men’s Cup quarterfinal)
Taranaki 17 - Bay of Plenty 12 (Men’s Cup quarterfinal)
Otago Women 29 - Wellington Women 12 (Women’s Plate semi-final)
Wellington 24 - Otago 19 (Men’s Cup quarterfinal)
Taranaki 24 - Bay of Plenty 5 (Women’s Plate semi-final)
Auckland Women 17 - Waikato Women 12 (Women’s Cup semi-final)
Manawatu Women 24 - Counties Manukau Women 5 (Women’s Cup semi-final)
Poverty Bay 31 - Mid Canterbury 14 (Men’s Shield semi-final)
Manawatu 26 - Canterbury 19 (Men’s Plate semi-final)
Counties Manukau 27 - Hawke’s Bay 17 (Men’s Bowl semi-final)
Bay of Plenty 21 - Otago 19 (Men’s Plate semi-final)
North Harbour 24 - Southland 21 (Men’s Bowl semi-final)
Wellington 10 - Taranaki 5 (Men’s Cup semi-final)
Taranaki Women 21 - Otago Women 12 (Women’s Plate final)
Waikato 34 - Mid Canterbury 7 (Men’s Shield final)
North Harbour 28 - Counties Manukau 26 (Men’s Bowl final)
Manawatu 40 - Bay of Plenty 17 (Men’s Plate final)
Manawatu 19 - Auckland 12 (Women’s Cup final)
Wellington 26 - Auckland 19 (Men’s Cup final)

Results unofficial and TBC

Day one wrap-up

On day one, Wellington in the men’s draw and Auckland in the women’s draw both went through pool play undefeated.Wellington defeated Poverty Bay 28-7, Southland 31-7 and Auckland 17-14.

All Blacks Sevens player Ben Lam scored twice as Auckland led 14-5 at halftime, but Wellington fought back, Inoke Rasabale scoring twice and Tomasi Alosio scoring the match winning try.

Defending men’s champions Taranaki and women’s champions Manawatu both safely qualified for the quarterfinals as well.

In the men’s draw in Pool A, All Blacks Sevens veteran Tomasi Cama having his first taste of sevens coaching, took his Manawatu side through to the quarterfinals, as top qualifier with two wins and a draw. Otago tipped over recent Central zone qualifier winners Hawke’s Bay 29-12 at the end of the day to qualify second.

Defending men’s champions Taranaki, won Pool C with three straight wins with Southern Region qualifying champions Canterbury also qualifying for tomorrow’s quarter finals.

Northland headed Pool D and home side Bay of Plenty also qualified. Counties Manukau defeated Bay of Plenty 21-17 in the final pool match but failed to improve their points differential above their opponents and they were unlucky to miss out on the top eight.

On the women's side of the draw, Auckland were the only undefeated team, winning four from four. They headed Pool B followed by Waikato, Otago and Wellington. In Pool A, Counties Manukau edged Manawatu on points differential to be top qualifier with three wins from four. Bay of Plenty and Taranaki also qualified.Day one results:

Pool winners:

Men’s
Pool A: Manawatu
Pool B: Wellington
Pool C: Taranaki
Pool D: Northland

Women’s
Pool A: Counties Manukau
Pool B: Auckland

Pool winners:

Men’s
Pool A: Manawatu (Otago second)
Pool B: Wellington (Auckland second)
Pool C: Taranaki (Canterbury second)
Pool D: Northland (Bay of Plenty second)

Women’s
Pool A: Counties Manukau (Manawatu second)
Pool B: Auckland (Waikato second)

Day 1 Pool results:
Waikato Women 28 - Otago Women 7
Counties Manuakau Women 22 - Taranaki Women 7
Wellington 28 - Poverty Bay 7
Canterbury Women 19 - Bay of Plenty Women 19
Auckland Women 32 - Southland Women 0
Bay of Plenty 14 - Tasman 12
Auckland 38 - Southland 14
Northland 29 - Counties Manukau 15
Taranaki 12 - Canterbury 10
Manawatu Women 17 - Taranaki Women 12
Waikato Women 27 - Wellington Women 7
Otago 20 - Waikato 17
Otago Women 24 - Southland Women 7
Counties Manukau Women 17 - Canterbury Women 12
North Harbour 31 - Mid Canterbury 19
Hawke’s Bay 19 - Manawatu 19
Bay of Plenty 17 - Northland 12
Manawatu Women 43 - Bay of Plenty Women 0
Auckland Women 24 - Wellington Women 7
Wellington 17 - Auckland 14
Taranaki Women 33 - Canterbury Women 14
Waikato Women 52 - Southland 0
Counties Manukau Women 12 - Manawatu Women 12
Southland 31 - Poverty Bay 12
Hawke’s Bay 33 - Waikato 5
Auckland Women 43 - Otago Women 5
Bay of Plenty Women 19 - Taranaki Women 14
Wellington Women 15 v Southland Women 12
Manawatu 19 - Otago 10
Taranaki 24 - Mid Canterbury 14
Counties Manukau 19 - Tasman 12
Canterbury 22 - North Harbour 12
Auckland 33 - Poverty Bay 5
Waikato Women 39 - Wellington Women 0
Manawatu Women 17 - Canterbury Women 15
Auckland Women 29 - Waikato Women 7
Manawatu 24 - Waikato 5
Wellington 31 - Southland 7
Taranaki 29 -North Harbour 14
Northland 26 - Tasman 19
Canterbury 24 - Mid Canterbury 7
Counties Manukau Women 36 - Bay of Plenty Women 0
Otago 29 - Hawke’s Bay 12
Counties Manukau 21- Bay of Plenty 17

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