Groundhog day as Te Puke teams face same opponents two weeks on the trot

Te Puke Sports fullback Cole Forbes shows his strength to break through for one of his three tries.

Next Saturday will seem like Groundhog Day for Te Puke Sports and Rangiuru premier sides.

Both will line up against the same teams they played last weekend - although this time the stakes will be a little higher.

Te Puke and Rangiuru finished in second and fourth place in the Western Bay Senior Rugby competition at the end of the qualifying competition after Te Puke beat Te Puna at Maramatanga Park and Rangiuru lost narrowly to Tauranga Sports.

Rangiuru will now return to Tauranga Domain for a second crack at the so far unbeaten Tauranga while Te Puke will this time play host to Te Puna in the competition semifinals.

The semifinal draw has thrown up the possibility of an all-Te Puke competition final.

After conceding early, Te Puke full back Cole Forbes crossed for the first of his three tries with Declan Barnett benefiting from an Ollie Brosnahan break and Forbes scoring his second to give Te Puke a 24-10 lead at the break.

A four-try burst in the opening spell of the second half saw Te Puke run away with the game. Barnett again supported a Brosnahan break to score his second with Forbes adding his third by outpacing the home defence. Luther Hirini scored from an intercept while Dan Hollinshead touched down after winning the race to a kick through. Hollinshead scored 20 of his side's points after also kicking a penalty and six conversions.

At 50-14 down a landslide looked possible, but Te Puna rallied with two tries to bring the final score to 50-26.

Te Puke Sports second-five Brosnahan had a outstanding match both on attack and defence and was a unanimous choice as his side's player of the day.

Rangiuru nearly caused an boil over at Tauranga Domain, going down by just two points to competition front runners Tauranga Sports.

Rangiuru dominated the early action to take a early lead courtesy of the first of Wiremu Heyblom's two tries converted by Sasu Wihapi, before Tauranga Sports levelled the score. The game went down to the wire with Tauranga Sports holding on to take out a narrow 17-15 victory.

Both Te Puke Sports and Rangiuru bowed out of the Development top-four playoffs, with both sides tasting defeat in round seven. Te Puke Sports went down to Te Puna 38-21, with Rangiuru conceding 91 unanswered points in the early action at the Tauranga Domain.

Gordon Spratt Reserve hosted some celebrations, with Pāpāmoa posting their first victory of the Western Bay Senior competition, after dispatching Te Puna 17-14 in a hard fought battle.

Eastern Districts remain at the top of the Western Bay Senior standings, in spite of being beaten by Tauranga Sports, 27-13. With mid-season injuries taking their toll, the side from Paengaroa struggled in the first half, being down 22-3 at the break.

A much improved performance in the second 40 minutes saw ED claw their way back into the match before going down 27-13. ED player of the day was number 8 Dean Tamatea who never stopped chasing the ball all game.