Rugby: Te Puna look to continue hot form run

Te Puke Sports and Mount Maunganui Sports will clash in the feature Baywide Premier match tomorrow.

Te Puna will look to add defending champions Tauranga Sports to their list of big scalps in round seven of the Baywide Premier competition tomorrow.

Last weekend Te Puna left Blake Park with the rare joy of a win over Mount Maunganui Sports, thanks to a last-second penalty kick.

Tomorrow's fixture at Maramataga Park between fourth-placed Te Puna and second-placed Tauranga has every prospect of being a high scoring try-fest, with two backlines of talented ball runners.

Tauranga will have worked out what went wrong in a rare home loss to Rotoiti last Saturday and will be desperate to stop unbeaten Whakatane Marist extending their lead further than the current six points.

Whakatane may not enjoy the scenic views of Lake Rotoiti too much as the home side has a good chance to become the first to topple them in 2016.

At Murray Salt Stadium home team Te Puke Sports lie just outside the top four and face third-placed Mount Maunganui.

Te Puke coach Craig Jeffries said they were still building through the qualifying stages.

"At the moment we are just trying to improve every week but probably slipped a bit last weekend against a fired-up Paroa side.

"Mount will be hurting after their narrow loss to Te Puna and will be looking to bounce back quickly. They have quality across the park and play with speed and width so we will have to be organised to stay with them."

Mount Maunganui coach Rodney Voullaire said it was always good to play against Te Puke, especially at their home ground.

"It is going to be a beauty especially with the crowd. With the way things are going, both of us have started okay. We are building nicely, despite a couple of hiccups on the way, but that is always expected.

"The boys are amping for it and they can't wait. It takes us back to a couple of years ago playing them when they lost the semifinal at home.

"The guys in and amongst those important positions definitely need to bring it this weekend otherwise we won't do very well if we are unable to get out of our half.

"It is okay for us to run from everywhere but there is a time and place to do so. This weekend playing a top team like Te Puke won't be a good idea to start running it from everywhere, so we will pick and choose our options."

In the other Premier/Development fixtures, Greerton Marist host Arataki at Greerton Park, Rangataua Sports take on Paroa at Te Ariki Park and Whakarewarewa face Opotiki at Puarenga Park.