Battle of the Bridge goes down to final kick

Chiefs flanker Mitch Karpik in action for Rangataua Sports on Saturday. Photo / Andrew Warner

The width of the goalpost was all that stood between Mount Maunganui Sports beating Tauranga Sports at Tauranga Domain on Saturday.

The Baywide Premier clash between the local rivals came down to a 50m penalty kick for goal by Mount Maunganui's Pera Gibbs in injury time with Tauranga ahead 19-17.

Gibbs struck the kick sweetly with the wind behind him and it looked set to fly between the posts until a late gust of wind pushed the ball into the left upright and away to safety.

It brought to an end a forgettable game in ideal playing conditions with both teams guilty of making far too many unforced errors. This was highlighted by the amount of 50:50 balls forced in tackle situations that most often went to ground or the opposition.

Tauranga looked set to run away with it at one stage - with fullback Josh Honey again in scintillating running form at the back - but mistakes allowed the Mounties to keep within range.

Meanwhile, Whakarewarewa were on the end of a good old-fashioned shellacking at the hands of the defending Baywide Rugby champions, who scored 12 tries in the 71-10 win at Te Ariki Park.

There was no way back for the visitors with the score 31-10 at half time and, ominously for the rest of the competition, Rangataua stepped up a gear early in the second half to score arguably the try of the game.

Finished off by Josh Te Kani, the lead-up involved backs and forwards combining to breach the Whaka defence.

Whakarewarewa coach Joe Savage did not see Saturday's rout coming - but his Rangataua Sports counterpart John O'Loan did.

"Thought we had a good chance of winning that game based on camera footage from previous games, but unfortunately they haven't played like that [before]," said Savage.

O'Loan said Saturday was the game his side "clicked".

"The Te Puke game, we gave away far too many penalties and we just had to get rid of that. Today I don't think I saw one offside or one stupid penalty. We talked about that this week and we worked a lot on that this week. We talked and worked a lot on our lineout and I don't think we lost a lineout today and that makes a big difference."

The Rangataua side included Chiefs openside flanker Mitchell Karpik.

O'Loan said the introduction of Karpik helped take the load off No8 Matt Clutterbuck.

"Having Mitchell there helps the likes of Matt Clutterbuck play a different role - probably a role he's more suited to - that second breakdown. Where Mitchell can look after that first one, Matty can look after that second one.

"For me it was the boys who have been here, like Jules McLeod, he had a fantastic game and Akira Mako, both ex Whaka players. For me our second five-eighth, who needed to have a good game, Paranihi Lovett, had a standout for me. And Jesse Parete - he added a huge amount to our pack."

In other games, Te Puna had a fine 33-22 win over Paroa, Arataki were knocked over at home by Rotoiti 23-20, Te Puke Sports beat Poroporo 38-14 and Greerton were too good for Whakatane Marist winning 62-22 at Rugby Park.

Division One:
Te Teko 29 Judea 6, Waimana 36 Opotiki 29, Kahukura 26 Ruatoki 18, Marist St Michaels 90 Katikati 7, Waikite 43 Papamoa 7, Ngongotaha 90 Rangiuru 10.

Development:
Arataki 29 Rotoiti 20, Tauranga Sports 19 Mount Maunganui 12, Rangataua 29 Whakarewarewa 27, Te Puke Sports 93 Poroporo 7, Te Puna 41 Paroa 7, Greerton Marist 75 Whakatane Marist 7.