Baywide rugby season opener a replay of epic final

Baywide Rugby final. Rangataua victorious over Mount Maunganui. Photo/Andrew Warner.

Last August Mount Maunganui Sports and Rangataua Sports played out the most pulsating Baywide club rugby final in living memory.

At the end of that epic encounter at Blake Park it was Rangataua who prevailed to win their first Baywide title, before the teams and supporters honoured each other with a virulent haka that will long be remembered.

Now the same two combatants have been drawn together to open the 2017 Baywide Premier round one on Saturday.

Picturesque Te Ariki Park on the end of the Maungatapu Peninsula is the venue for home team Rangataua to have another crack at Mount Maunganui. It is a dream start to the second season of the revised competition format where the 12 Premier and 12 Division One teams from round one are then split into three groups of eight with automatic promotion/relegation.

Making the top eight in the first round of matches is now the priority for every side involved.

Bay of Plenty Rugby's operations manager Neil Alton says club feedback after last year was "really positive about the new competition format".

"It provides a meaningful competition in the first round for 12 teams but because there are only eight places in the second round it becomes a dog fight to play for the premiership title," he said.

"The structure also provides clubs who are having leaner years to find their feet again and play against appropriate competition."

Rangataua have a new coach in John O'Loan who says their main focus has been retaining the players from last year while adding in positions that require depth.

"With retaining most of last year's squad, the focus has been picking up where we left off last year. Keep things simple and make the Premier second round top eight."

It is a different story for the Mounties with head coach Rodney Voullaire losing an entire backline over the summer.

"We have a similar pack to last year, with the inclusion of a couple of new guys joining us in the forwards, but it is our backline that has had the biggest change, losing seven from last year's backline for various reasons, which has left us with some big shoes to fill," he said.

"Our depth is okay at the moment but it will be interesting to see if the new guys step up."

Saturday is also the first use of the blue card referees will use to deal with players suffering from suspected head injuries or concussion.

Players given a blue card must leave the field immediately and will not be permitted to play for 21 days (age 19 and over) or 23 days (under 19). They will need to produce a medical certificate and pass a Graduated Return To Play process.

Any team breaching these rules will be docked 10 points.

In other Premier and Premier Development games tomorrow, multiple Baywide champs Tauranga Sports take on Arataki at Arataki Park, Te Puke Sports host Greerton Marist, Te Puna travel to Rotorua to play Whakarewarewa, Rotoiti hosts Poroporo and the battle of the Eastern Bay sees Paroa and Whakatane Marist do battle at Lawson Park.

Premier games kick-off at 2.45pm with Premier Development at 1pm.