Auckland and Counties Manukau top seeds for National Sevens

The Auckland men’s side and the Counties Manukau Women’s teams will go into the 2016 National Sevens in Rotorua as the top seeded teams in their respective sections.

Auckland and Counties Manukau won the third and final regional tournament at Cambridge on Sunday. Auckland defeated Counties Manukau 26-12 in the final of the men’s Northern Region tournament and Counties Manukau defeated Auckland 33-22 in the deciding encounter of the women’s Northern region tournament.

All six men’s teams competing in Cambridge qualified for Nationals, with sixth placed Bay of Plenty qualifying by virtue that they are hosting the tournament. The Bay of Plenty women’s team missed out, with Waikato and North harbour joining finalists Counties Manukau and Auckland at the Rotorua Nationals on 16-17 January.

Sixteen men’s and 10 women’s teams will be at Nationals.

The winners of the three regional qualifying tournaments were:

Northern: Auckland (men’s), Counties Manukau (women’s)
Central: Hawke’s Bay (men’s), Manawatu (women’s)
Southern: Otago (men’s), Canterbury (women’s)

The seedings for the Nationals are:

Men’s

1. Auckland
2. Hawke’s Bay
3. Counties Manukau
4. Waikato
5. Manawatu
6. North Harbour
7. Otago
8. Northland
9. Bay of Plenty
10. Wellington
11. Wanganui
12. Tasman
13. Canterbury
14. Mid Canterbury
15. Taranaki
16. South Canterbury

Women’s

1. Counties Manukau
2. Manawatu
3. Auckland
4. Waikato
5. Wellington
6. Wairarapa-Bush
7. Canterbury
8. North Harbour
9. Otago
10. Tasman