McAlister shines on her return

With Sean Horan due to name his contracted player squad for 2015 later this week, the standards of the tournament were incredibly high throughout the weekend.

The final was the ultimate grudge match and a repeat of last year, with Auckland and Manawatu facing off having fended off semifinal challenges from Bay of Plenty and Waikato respectively.Auckland came out steaming against the defending women’s champions Manawatu, making their intentions clear when they crossed four times in the first half having spent all but the first minute in Manawatu’s half.A shellshocked Manawatu went to the break, down 24-0 but they bit back in the second half, working hard to finish for a couple of scoring opportunities that went begging.Try scoring machine and women’s player of the tournament Kayla McAlister notched up the only second half try for Auckland and despite two late tries to Manawatu, the damage had been done, and Auckland claimed the title honours winning 29-14.New Zealand Women’s Head Coach Sean Horan said he was delighted with the improved calibre of rugby from the women's teams.“If you look at the areas of growth, it’s in the skill component, and the way they are playing the game - they are getting fitter and faster.  We’re starting to see different brands of the way the game is played, particularly in the contact area, defence systems, competitiveness and the overall fitness.“We are seeing some real improvements from those Unions investing in this form of the game, and that’s probably told in today’s results.  But the other unions are definitely showing signs of improvement and it won’t take much for them to catch up.”Horan noted that McAlister in particularl, was in electrifying form in her first tournament after being out since mid-2014 with injury.  The weekend's tournament was her first competitive sevens rugby on her return, and despite being streaks ahead of anyoe else with pace, Horan said hew as excited that McAlister was still yet to reach her internatioal match fitness potential.Horan is due to name his 2015 contracted squad this week, he said he now had some tough choices to make, after watching some great talent on display.