Bay of Plenty rugby: Te Puna win season title against Mount Marlins

Te Puna perform a victory haka after the match. Photo / Brown Dog Media

A rugby match on home soil played a “massive part” in Te Puna’s victory win at Maramatanga Park yesterday.

Te Puna came out on top in the Baywide Premier division final, winning 23-14 against the Mount Marlins, stealing the Mount Maunganui rugby team’s chances of a back-to-back win.

Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times after the match, Te Puna Premier co-captain Te Aihe Toma said the final game of the season was “a bit of a challenge” with the teams battling it out in rough weather conditions.

However, Toma said the team was “pretty lucky” to have been conditioned to playing in wet weather conditions throughout this year’s season and he was happy to have secured a win in front of a home crowd.

“Obviously being at home and having the crowd was a massive part of why we got the win,” Toma said.

A video posted to social media of the Te Puna rugby Premier team performing a victory haka has been seen by more than 7000 people.

After beating Te Puna in last year’s final by one point, Mount Marlins Premier men’s captain Carlos Price said the score was “obviously not the result we hoped for”.

Despite the loss, Price said he was “super proud of the team”.

“It came down to who stepped up and wanted it more on the day. I think [Mount Marlins] did that.”

Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.