Tipuna was instrumental in their success, calmly marshalling his young side, while equally slight wing Matt Hodson grabbed two tries in the final with his outrageous pace.
“We certainly won’t be getting ahead of ourselves – a lot of the teams here were missing key players and we’ve got a lot of work to do before Queenstown,” Tipuna said.  “We’re delighted to win this tournament in front of our home fans but a lot of focus this week will be on keeping our feet on the ground and staying humble.”
New Zealand representative Toby Arnold was the side’s leading try-scorer with five, closely followed by Hodson’s four, while Jack Wilson, Scott Curry, Sekeli Voranasu and Zion Nordstrom all played big roles.
On current form, incumbents Arnold and Zar Lawrence, along with Tipuna and Hodson would push extremely hard for spots in Gordon Tietjens’ contracted squad of players he will name after the Queenstown tournament.
Tipuna could cap an eventful 12 months with a strong display this week.  He was on the verge of the New Zealand team this time last year when he injured his shoulder in the Blake Park tournament.
He subsequently missed a large chunk of club rugby and was left out of the Steamers squad, but was immediately picked up by Wellington and had a strong presence on the bench as the Lions reached the Air New Zealand Cup final.
Sources in Wellington suggest they’re very keen to snap up the gifted halfback again, though with doubt over the availability of incumbent Steamers No 9 Junior Poluleuligaga, Bay of Plenty may be chasing hard as well.
Bay were unbeaten through yesterday’s tournament, beating Horowhenua-Kapiti and Manawatu in pool play, edging Wellington 17-12 in the quarterfinal and defending superbly against surprise packages Northland in their 14-5 semifinal win.
They saved their best performance for last, against a dangerous Counties-Manukau side featuring size and the withering pace of New Zealand star Sherwin Stowers, who grabbed two tries.
Counties-Manukau were gracious in defeat, though privately they questioned the wisdom of not having a neutral referee for the final.  There were similar complaints through the day, which should prompt change for next year.
Woods, meanwhile, warned the likes of Manawatu, North Harbour and Otago will be huge obstacles in Queenstown, though he enjoyed his side’s home triumph.
“It’s the guys on the bench which are the key for me – that depth they’ve given us and the way they’re pushing the players ahead of them is great and I hope we can take that edge to Queenstown.”

Mount Maunganui, Jan 3 BOPT – Results from the annual Bay of Plenty provincial sevens tournament at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui today:
 
Pool play: Waikato 26 BOP Invitation 26, Bay of Plenty 31 Horowhenua-Kapiti 0, Northland 26 Taranaki 14, Hawke’s Bay 29 Niue 12, Auckland 24 BOP Invitation 5, Manawatu 19 Horowhenua-Kapiti 12, Northland 21 Wellington 12, Counties-Manukau 22 Niue 19, Wellington 28 Taranaki 12, Bay of Plenty 24 Manawatu 12, Waikato 26 Auckland 0, Counties-Manukau 19 Hawke’s Bay 12.
 
Quarterfinals: Northland 24 Manawatu 7, Bay of Plenty 17 Wellington 12, Hawke’s Bay 26 Waikato 22, Counties-Manukau 34 Auckland 14.
 
Semifinals:
Bay of Plenty 14 (Toby Arnold, Ruki Tipuna tries; Tipuna 2con) Northland 5 (Lachie Munroe try).  HT: 7-0.
Counties-Manukau 31 (Sherwin Stowers 2, Toni Pulu, Siale Piutau, Ritchie Ah Chong tries; Stowers 2con, Ah Chong con) Hawke’s Bay 5 (Gillies Kaka try). HT: 12-5.
 
Final: Bay of Plenty 38 (Matt Hodson 2, Scott Curry, Ruki Tipuna, Zion Nordstrom, Sam Cane tries; Tipuna 4con) Counties-Manukau 26 (Sherwin Stowers 2, Siale Piutau, Bundi Aki tries; Stowers 2con, Kaino Kaino con). HT: 14-19.