Rugby: Young guns put on a showcase at BOP finals

Te Puna's Te Hiringa Hunt runs into a tackle in the under-13 final against Greerton Chargers. Photo / Andrew Warner

Te Puna put on an impressive display against Greerton Chargers in the under-13 final at the Western Bay of Plenty JMC finals day played at Blake Park on Saturday.

Played before a large crowd, Te Puna made a good start to lead 17-5 at the half way stage of the game. While Greerton came back with 12 points in the second spell, Te Puna continued their assault on the Greerton line, to take out an impressive 45-17 victory.

The Te Puna victory was built upon a solid forward pack that distributed the ball to their backline that had plenty of pace out wide.

A game of attrition took place in the under-12 final between Katikati and Greerton Marist. Without a point being registered in the first spell, the scene was set for a second-half thriller. The final stanza alternated between attack and defence from both sides, before Katikati ran in the deciding touchdown to clinch a hard fought 14-10 championship title.

In the second match on Super Saturday, Te Puna grabbed their first title of the day when they beat Papamoa Blue 36-7 in the under-11 final. Te Puna used a dominance of possession to good effect against Papamoa, who were unable to repeat their giant-killing performance in the previous weekend's semifinal when they defeated the top qualifiers.

The first match of the day was the ten aside under-10 final, which saw the teams separated by just a solitary point when the referee blew full-time.

Rangataua led for much of the match, before Mount Maunganui came back in the last quarter with two tries. While Rangataua held on for a 25-24 win, the Mount side played well with the clock ending a spirited comeback.

Reports from Super Saturday suggested all four matches were played in good spirit, with the spine-tingling Te Puna haka after their under-13 victory capping a day of junior rugby at its best.

Western BOP JMC, Finals results

Under-10: Rangataua 25 Mount Maunganui 24

Under-11: Te Puna 36 Papamoa Blue 7

Under-12: Katikati 14 Greerton Marist 10

Under-13: Te Puna 45 Greerton Chargers 17.