The Otago women's sevens team made a successful debut over the weekend, winning the South Island regional tournament in Christchurch.
The Otago team lined up with three teams from Canterbury, a Tasman team and a combined side, featuring players from Tasman and Otago.
The teams played a round-robin format before a final.
The Otago team had just one loss in the round robin. It was beaten 14-7 by the top Canterbury side.
Otago went into the final as the underdog against the same team but managed to reverse the previous result, winning 10-7.
Halie Hurring scored two tries to secure the win for her side.
She had a fine tournament and was part of a sound effort from the Otago side.
Also impressive were Arna McLeod and Rebecca Todd.
Some of the players in the Otago team were relatively new to the sport.
The Otago side also beat the other two Canterbury teams 42-0, and 22-0, Tasman 34-7 and the combined Tasman-Otago team 26-5.
The New Zealand Rugby Union began a women's development programme this year to find athletes suited to the sevens game.
This led to some Otago players training together and the formation of a team.
The team was coached over the weekend by Mike Moeahu jun.
