Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Sport

Rugby: Attacking talent shines in Pro 4 series

David Beck
By David Beck
Multimedia sports journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
19 Aug, 2017 09:20 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
EYES UP: Whakataki Cunningham produced a superb piece of play for Te Waiariki's first try against Western Bay of Plenty on Saturday. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

EYES UP: Whakataki Cunningham produced a superb piece of play for Te Waiariki's first try against Western Bay of Plenty on Saturday. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Western Bay of Plenty halfback Te Aihe Toma and winger Luke Masirewa have proven they know their way to the try line.

The pair scored a hat-trick of tries each in Western Bay of Plenty's 37-15 win over Te Waiariki Maori in the first round of the Baywide Pro 4 series.

There was plenty of attacking talent on display in the game at Matata on Saturday, including a handful of Bay of Plenty Steamers wider squad members looking to make a case for future selection.

Toma's first try came in the first five minutes after Western made a break down the right - he was rewarded for some great support play when he received the ball in field and raced in for the first try of the game.

They extended their lead after 20 minutes when flanker Josh Tye crashed over in the left-hand corner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Te Waiariki had their own opportunities and after 25 minutes managed to score an opportunistic try. Western had the ball in their own 22 when Te Waiariki first five Whakataki Cunningham stripped the ball from an opposition player before putting his halfback Akira Mako in to score.

Te Waiariki took the lead for the first time on the back of a scrum just outside the Western 22. Jesse Parete broke off the back of the scrum, charged up the middle and offloaded to second five Tute Grant who scored under the posts.

Western came out firing in the second half and Masiwera, who looked dangerous every time he touched the ball, scored after starting the move with a scintillating run up the middle of the field. They had retaken the lead 17-15.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
X-FACTOR: Western Bay of Plenty winger Luke Masirewa had a standout game against Te Waiariki. PHOTO/BEN FRASER
X-FACTOR: Western Bay of Plenty winger Luke Masirewa had a standout game against Te Waiariki. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

With 20 minutes left to play Toma scored his second after a period of pressure inside the Te Waiariki 22.

Masiwera had his second when he skipped out of a tackle just outside the 22 and blitzed his way to the try line, before adding a third thanks to a pinpoint cross-field kick from first five Reece Macdonald.

Masiwera also had a hand in Toma's hat-trick try when he put a chip over the defensive line, regathered the ball and offloaded to Toma, who sold a dummy and scored to make it 37-15.

Western coach Kyle McLean said he knew Te Waiariki would front up physically and play with a lot of pride.

"We moved the ball around, we've got guys with a good skill set and we played pretty direct. We had three injuries in our warm up and had to re-shuffle a bit but it went well," said McLean.

In the other game Bay of Plenty Samoa beat Eastern Bay of Plenty 29-23.

Meanwhile, in the Stan Meads Cup, Central Bay of Plenty are still chasing their first win after an 81-5 hammering at the hands of Te Awamutu.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Bay of Plenty Times

'Pretty cool': 10yo golfer beats 77yo club president to take cup win

Bay of Plenty Times

Chiefs confirm successor to Clayton McMillan as coach

Bay of Plenty Times

'Go one better': Bay of Plenty Steamers fired up for NPC season


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

'Pretty cool': 10yo golfer beats 77yo club president to take cup win
Bay of Plenty Times

'Pretty cool': 10yo golfer beats 77yo club president to take cup win

The handicap match play tournament ran over six weeks.

21 Jul 02:03 AM
Chiefs confirm successor to Clayton McMillan as coach
Bay of Plenty Times

Chiefs confirm successor to Clayton McMillan as coach

20 Jul 08:00 PM
'Go one better': Bay of Plenty Steamers fired up for NPC season
Bay of Plenty Times

'Go one better': Bay of Plenty Steamers fired up for NPC season

19 Jul 06:09 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP