The Bay has a team in the inaugural Mount Beach 5s tournament this afternoon, with bodies and sand about to fly as Tauranga Sports take on Taranaki Coastal to claim the fast-paced, first title.

Co-organiser Sam Fowler says it's 'very awesome” to have some local representation in the grand finale, kicking off at 3.45pm.

'It's certainly great for the first time we've run the tournament here,” says Sam, who describes Beach 5s, as the name suggests, as teams of five playing a modified form of rugby with five minutes each way in lung-busting efforts on the sand – known in global circles as 'scrag on the beach”.

Sam says more than 1000 people – between 10 to 200 at any given time – have turned out to watch the fast-paced games underway from 10am this morning, with teams attending from around the nation including the Hawke's Bay Scorpions, Hinuera Hustlers and Dunedin Scarfies.

'It's looked like it's going to run any moment today, but the crowd has been great, getting behind teams they normally wouldn't support.”

Sam says the game's more fast-paced than Sevens, proving very exciting to watch.

'Even though the game is very short you can see 18-19 tries scored – it's quite crazy.”

'And [there's a] lot of sand flying everywhere. We've had a few injuries but nothing serious – a possible broken arm and a few head clashes, but the Kiwi boys certainly aren't holding back.

'They're playing in true New Zealand style really.”

SunLive photographer Tracy Hardy went capture some the action earlier, next to the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service.