Rugby: Juniors to battle for Mitchell supremacy

Tauranga West hope to pour on the pace today in a bid to halt Te Puke's march towards a hometown win in the Tai Mitchell primary schools rugby tournament.

Tauranga West downed neighbouring Tauranga East 24-10 in one championship semifinal yesterday while the Te Puke train rolled on at a sodden Murray Salt Stadium in the afternoon semifinal as they eliminated Rotorua Maroon from the tournament 37-7.

West and Te Puke have met four times in the Tai Mitchell decider in the past decade, most recently in 2009, with the city slickers winning every time.

West captain Quintin Kingi reckoned superior pace might give them an edge in the final at 12.15pm against a side who have been hot favourites for the win since their 72-12 demolition of Rotorua Gold on day one; they have won every game so far.

West pushed Te Puke close on Saturday, leading 7-0 at halftime before succumbing 10-7, and Kingi, a student at Te Wharekura O Mauao in Bethlehem, hinted they'd try to get the ball wide to Fijian flyer Peni Lasaga at every opportunity.

Lasaga scored twice in the first half for Tauranga West to give them a 10-5 lead at the break, with East hitting back via a disputed try.

A superb 75m intercept effort to East's Louis Grindrod early in the second half levelled the scores before rampaging No 8 Joshua de Koster barged over for two tries, both converted by Kata Brill, to give West breathing space.

Kingi said he was worried at 10-10. "We played them [East] pre-season and beat them but expected a tough one and they came out mean fighting."

Te Puke qualified top in round-robin after an unexpected 61-0 thrashing of Opotiki, including a 47-point haul in the second half, while West were second after a crushing 46-0 win over Whakatane.