Sevens: Time to build combinations

Bay of Plenty's Josh Honey, wearing Auckland kit after the Bay's jerseys failed to make the trip, tears off down field against Taranaki in a warm-up Sevens tournament in Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker

The Bay of Plenty men's sevens team have had a final hit-out in Rotorua ahead of their regional qualifiers in Hamilton.

The Bay sevens team have automatic entry into the Bayleys National Sevens competition in Rotorua in January, as the host province, but they still have plenty to play for at the upcoming regional qualifiers.

The regional qualifiers will be held in Hamilton on Sunday for all the northern region provinces.

Bay coach Peter Woods said they would need to play well to gain a good seeding for the nationals.

"It is no good coming at the bottom of the regionals then, come nationals, you could be in [a pool] with two top teams from the other regions," he said. "Our goal is to perform so we can get into a good pool."

The Bay had a good build-up on Saturday during a mini-tournament at Puarenga Park in Rotorua.

Taranaki, Auckland and Thames all visited Rotorua to play in the mini-tournament, and, while Auckland looked the most impressive of the sides, Woods said it was mainly about his players getting more time together to build combinations.

"It just gave all our boys a run and minutes on the field against quality opposition," Woods said. "It was not about the scores - it was about what the players were doing with the ball and without the ball."

Woods said it was good to see where his players were at in terms of speed, fitness and decision-making and said he knew they had some things to work on.

"We are making some errors in terms of defence and our support play is a bit slow."

The Bay were sporting Auckland jerseys on Saturday due to a mix-up with the playing kit.

Woods said they had a squad of about 27, but would take only 12 players to the regionals in Hamilton.

Bay of Plenty Steamer Joe Tupe will come back into the Bay squad this weekend after spending time with the New Zealand sevens squad.

Woods last coached the Bay sevens team four years ago. He has most recently been coaching Rangiuru in the Baywide premier rugby competition.