Papamoa Tavern Bay of Plenty reached the semifinals of the men's Cup competition of the Bay of Plenty Provincial Sevens tournament held at Blake Park on Saturday before running into a Northland kauri tree.
Wins over Poverty Bay, Wanganui and a loss to Waikato saw the Bay through to a showdown with the impressive Northland outfit led by outstanding Fijian Waisea Lawebuka. Northland jumped out to a 17-0 lead as the tiring Bay players fell off tackles and they cruised through to the final with Taranaki by 29-14.
For Bay coach Peter Woods there were positives from the day's play but also much to work on ahead of this weekend's Bayleys National Sevens in Rotorua.
![Bay of Plenty player Isaac Te Aute makes a run for it. Photo/Andrew Warner](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/PGHHTNUGCNCKFKKRHAFGJLZ4CA.jpg?auth=0ee8a7a8386188b35cfebab9e395aae3580d74f7ef3ac5e275c45554231c8502&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
"This is where you learn. The mistakes like missed tackles, not rolling away at the ruck, 50/50 passes, holding on to the ball and keeping that possession are things these boys need to learn. You don't need to score from first or second phase; it could be by fourth or fifth phase so it is about keeping that composure," Woods said.