We were treated to two exciting matches with the nib Blues setting the stage as they ran over the Hurricanes Poua 50-10 to get their title defence underway.
We got stuck in early, bringing physicality in the collisions and driving into Hurricanes territory. Ruahei Demant spotted space on the edge of the ruck, picked her gap, and sliced through to open the scoring.
The pressure kept building. After a high tackle resulted in a yellow card for Angel Mulu, Demant slotted a penalty to extend the lead. With the Hurricanes on the back foot, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe turned on the magic slicing through defenders to spark the next try. Braxton Sorensen-McGee burst free from deep and when the ball found Woodman-Wickliffe on the edge, there was no stopping her.
The second half began just as strongly. Camped inside the Hurricanes 22, Demant spotted another gap and raced under the sticks to push the lead to 24-0. Moments later, slick hands spread the defence thin, with Sorensen-McGee showing her blistering pace to finish in the corner.
The Hurricanes would break the duck with their first try in the 61st minute, but from there, the floodgates opened for the nib Blues. Grace Gago got in on the action, finishing a slick move down the right-hand side. A dominant scrum in the 71st minute laid the platform for Syliva Brunt to crash over, and the girls finished things off as Gago grabbed her second from a powerful lineout drive, bringing up the big 50 on the scoreboard.
There were standout performances all over the park - Woodman-Wickliffe was electric, racking up 136 running metres and beating six defenders. Sorensen-McGee was sensational on debut, gaining 80 metres and leaving five defenders in her dust.
It was an impressive start to the competition for the defending champs and it sets the stage for an exciting grand final rematch this weekend against the Chiefs Manawa at Eden Park on Friday.