Tauranga West started well against Te Puke, who knocked out the favoured Rotorua Maroon side in the Tai Mitchell semifinal. Barnstorming No8 Neitana Tapiata-Smith opened the scoring with a burst around a ruck and left winger Jack Broadley-Ryan made it 10-0 when he finished well in the left corner.
Te Puke relaxed and put their game plan into operation in the final 15 minutes of the first half. They were rewarded with a try finished off by Chad Roberts after another midfield break by Tamikoha Te Aute. No8 Wipori Tuanau slotted the conversion to close to 10-7 before Tauranga halfback Louis Grinrod slid over for a 15-7 lead at the break.
Tauranga had a stiff westerly behind them in the final stanza and first five Izahn le Comte used it well to get field position. A break from flanker Kobe Roger set up a try for Kees Pohatu and a 20-7 lead.
But Te Puke fought back and put pressure on the Tauranga defence, which finally broke allowing lock Tiawhitawa Tamihana to score in the corner. From the kick-off Tauranga surged back on attack and the 13-point margin was restored when Zavaan Hepi scored.
To Te Puke's credit, they finished strongly camped on Tauranga's line and deserved to be the final scorers through a well-taken try to flanker Te Kurairiwhare Biel-Mair, after some hot stepping by centre Sidaris Rauhihi. Both coaches were proud of their teams after playing six consecutive days.
Tauranga's Geoff Booth said the commitment from his team was outstanding.
"Today we spoke about 'explode with urgency' and you could not question that. They were urgent on defence and that is what got them through, especially in that second half," Booth said.
"We built pressure really well and finished well. I love seeing rugby where wingers score tries and today we had three tries out on the wings which were whole team tries."
Te Puke coach Rameka Pohipi says his team worked so hard to secure a final's place.
"That win over Rotorua was probably the highlight, just to see the change in them and to see them step up to the mark and finally think they can do it," Pohipi said.
"But I think they were a little bit overawed by the occasion today and they were not there in the first half. They came to the party in the second half but it was a bit too late then."
Tauranga West 25 (Neitana Tapiata-Smith, Jack Broadley-Ryan, Louis Grinrod, Kees Pohatu, Zavaan Hepi tries) Te Puke 17 (Chad Roberts, Tiawhitawa Tamihana, Te Kurairiwhare Biel-Mair tries; Wipori Tuanau con).
Rotorua Maroon 24 (Wirihana Williams-Olsen 2, Wirimu Te Rangi, Chaedyn McRoy-Tekowhai tries; Bailey Gordon 2 cons) Tauranga East 17 (Dom Ellis, Taituha Woller, Logan Smith tries; Ben Pomare con).
Tauranga West