The sun shone on Rotorua's rugby fields as both Whakarewarewa and Rotoiti secured opening wins in the Baywide Premier on Saturday.
Whaka clung on to a narrow 24-20 victory over a tough Te Puna side at Puarenga Park while Rotoiti thumped newly promoted Poroporo 51-7 at Emery Park.
Whaka showed dogged determination after having two players sinbinned in quick succession in the last 10 minutes of the match.
The home side were clinical at crucial stages and slid over for three converted tries from players Ma'ake Taulahi, Reuben Edwards and Kelly Haimona - who also kicked three conversions and a penalty.
Whaka head coach Joe Savage said he was happy with his side's performance "in patches".
"A win above all is the first thing we needed to get," Savage said. "The first game of the round is so important. I needed players to push for that ascendancy from the start and we did that in patches throughout the game," he said.
"We had good attacking phases throughout the first 20 minutes and scored some really good constructed tries.
"I also think we showed a lot of character in terms of defence - we were chopping legs but when we got a bit tired we came up a bit and that really could have cost us."
The visitors started the stronger of the two teams, turning over ball and forcing Whaka into errors. After missing his first penalty Te Puna's Anaru Bidois was given a second chance when Whaka were penalised for being offside in the ruck. Bidois found the target, giving his side the edge after 10 minutes.
But Whaka battled back and after patient buildup play Taulahi dived over from close range which Haimona easily converted after 16 minutes.
Both sides were evenly matched for the next 25 minutes but no one could find a breakthrough until Te Puna were penalised for not releasing the ball inside their half. Haimona gladly converted.
Sensing urgency, the visitors responded with quick phases of play and winger Hunter Mokomoko dived over in the right corner after a neat offload from Pomare Pearson. Bidois missed the conversion giving Whaka a 10-8 advantage into the break.
The men in red and black dominated from the restart and after a powerful run and skilful draw play from Mathew Garland, Edwards broke through Te Puna's defence to touch down for his side's second converted try.
Te Puna fought back and Pearson turned from provider to try scorer, converted by Bidois, closing the gap to 17-15 after 55 minutes.
But when the away side's Terrence Hepetema was sinbinned shortly after for a high tackle Whaka took full advantage. Stand out Haimona weaved through the defence after a clever offload from Sio Alofi, and then dusted himself off to convert.
Once again Te Puna fought back, this time through a try from a dreadlocked Gene Darvill. Whaka coaches and fans alike then had a nervous final 10 minutes after both Chauncy Edwardson and Stevie-Tu Henry were sinbinned in quick succession. Edwardson for repeated offsides and Henry for a high tackle.
"Discipline is something we are definitely going to have to address," Savage said.
"When the guys were getting tired the tackles started coming upwards and we have to look at keeping them clean no matter what."
But on the positive side, Savage said Haimona's kicking game and performance, an important feature of Whaka's game strategy, was a standout.
"It's always good to have him [Haimona] as an option there because he does have a good boot and is pretty clinical with it," Savage said. "Going forward that is something we will look to continue to put our forwards in good stead."
Te Puna head coach Aidan Kuka was disappointed his team made too many "silly errors" but found some positives from the set piece and individual performances.
"We are disappointed but credit to Whaka they were the better team. They took their chances when they had them and we've got to learn from that," Kuka said.
"We've been looking forward to this game for a while now and I think the excitement was too hard to contain. I noticed it in the warm up. We were making some dumb silly errors and that was because of the excitement levels were just too high.
"I was happy with our set piece today it's been something that hasn't been going to well for us in the preseason but it was really solid and I was happy with a few individuals - some of them had their first competition game for us."
Meanwhile Rotoiti crashed over for eight tries in their hefty opening win over Poroporo largely thanks to a hat-trick from stand out Loni Fisi'ihoi.
Captain Bayden Wardlaw, Shilo Cullen, Petelo Kelemete, Abe Tito and Willy Royal also slid over while Whakataki Cunningham converted four and scored a penalty.
The home side dominated right from the first whistle and took a 29-0 lead in at half-time.
Head coach William Royal said he was delighted with his side's performance and highlighted Fisi'hoi's allround game.
"I'm very pleased to get off to a good start. We didn't know what to expect from Poroporo," he said. "Our forwards played a good game and we were very strong in the rucks and mauls.
"Loni [Fisi'hoi] had a standout game at centre. He was very strong with his running and his tries came because of excellent support play.
"This week we need to drill our systems a bit more and just keep going forward."
Whakarewarewa 24 (Ma'ake Tualahi, Reuben Edwards, Kelly Haimona tries; K Haimona 3 con 1 pen)
Te Puna 20 (Hunter Mokomoko, Pomare Pearson, Gene Darvill tries; Anaru Bidois 1 con 1 pen)
HT: 10-8
Baywide Club rugby results
Saturday 18 March
Baywide Premier results:
Whakarewarewa 24 Te Puna 20
Rotoiti 51 Poroporo 7
Tauranga Sports 28 Arataki 16
Rangataua 11 Mount Maunganui 3
Paroa 37 Whakatane Marist 18
Te Puke Sports 54 Greerton Marist 12
Baywide Development Results:
Whakarewarewa 17 Te Puna 50
Rotoiti 38 Poroporo 10
Tauranga Sports 49 Arataki 10
Rangataua 13 Mount Maunganui 12
Paroa 17 Whakatane Marist 12
Te Puke Sports 40 Greerton Marist 10
Baywide Premier Points:
Paroa 5
Rotoiti 5
Te Puke Sports 5
Rangataua 4
Tauranga Sports 4
Whakarewarewa 4
Te Puna 1
Arataki 0
Greerton Marist 0
Mount Maunganui Sports 0
Poroporo 0
Whakatane Marist 0
Baywide Development Points:
Rotoiti 5
Tauranga Sports 5
Te Puke Sports 5
Whakarewarewa 5
Rangataua 4
Paroa 4
Arataki 0
Greerton Marist 0
Mount Maunganui Sports 1
Whakatane Marist 1
Poroporo 0
Te Puna 0