Rugby: Teams get serious as playoffs loom

Mount Maunganui Sports winger Owen Karati breaks a tackle against a Te Puna player in last weekend's Premier match. Photo / Andrew Warner

It is time for teams to take a serious run at making the playoffs in the Bayfair Baywide competitions.

Round six kicks off tomorrow with all the Western Bay Premier teams in action locally, apart from Te Puna travelling to Opotiki. The women's Premier grade resumes Sunday after a week off.

At Blake Park, Mount Maunganui Sports host Rotorua's Whakarewarewa with both last year's finalists sitting outside the top four. The top two teams in Tauranga Sports and Te Puke Sports will have one-sided romps over the bottom two clubs leaving much interest in the clash at Greerton Park between seventh-equal Greerton Marist and fourth-placed Rangataua Sports.

Greerton Marist coach Kevin Lee says everyone is starting to smile after a couple of wins.

"We will hope for a bit of luck like we did when we played them the first time around, and hope everything comes out alright for us," he said. "But we know Rangataua are going to be hard. They are now sitting in the top four. As for us we have to focus game-by-game now."

Rangataua are looking for their fourth straight win after a poor start to the campaign.

Coach Murray Ririnui says they have plenty of respect for Greerton. "We will need to finish off our planned plays, do our basics right and continue to play our game," he said.

In Division 1, two of the main contenders in Arataki and Rangiuru clash at Arataki Park.

"We are looking to put another good performance together this weekend against a quality Rangiuru side," said Arataki coach Marty Bourke. "We were lucky to come away with a victory over them in the first round but are expecting an even harder battle this time, as results are showing us they have the best for and against record in the competition."

Rangiuru coach Hika Reid says they will be wanting to win tomorrow. "To do so the boys will need to muscle up and stick to their structures to achieve this," Reid said. "We lost to Arataki in the first round and have come a long way since that match. Despite having a number of injuries we will be hoping the team we put out on Saturday will pull through for the win."

Baywide draws
Premier/Development, tomorrow: Mount Maunganui v Whakarewarewa at Blake Park; Greerton Marist v Rangataua at Greerton Park; Opotiki v Te Puna at Princess Street Reserve; Rotoiti v Whakatane Marist at Emery Park; Tauranga Sports v Paroa at Tauranga Domain; Te Puke Sports v Waikite at Murray Salt Stadium (Premier, 2.45pm; Development 1pm).

Points: Tauranga Sports 25, Te Puke Sports 22, Rotoiti 16, Rangataua 16, Mount Maunganui 15, Whakarewarewa 15, Whakatane Marist 11, Greerton Marist 11, Te Puna 9, Paroa 5, Opotiki 4, Waikite 0.

Division 1, tomorrow, 2.45pm: Arataki v Rangiuru at Arataki Park; Judea v Poroporo at Maharaia Winiata Park; Katikati v Galatea at Moore Park; Marist St Michael's v Kahukura at Marist Park; Ngongotaha v Ruatoki at Ngongotaha Domain.

Women's Premier, Sunday, 1pm: Te Whanau Apanui v Rotoiti at Te Kaha; Arataki v Waikite at Arataki Park; Tokoroa v Tauranga Sports at Tokoroa; Ngongotaha v Waimana at Ngongotaha Domain.