Te Puke favourites to take the title

IN FLIGHT: Waisake Salabiau running away to score a try for Te Puke. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

The four teams to fight it out in Saturday's semifinals of the Tai Mitchell Shield tournament have been found after three tough games in difficult conditions.

Tauranga West (2) take on Tauranga East (3) at 9.30am with Te Puke (1) facing Opotiki (4) at 11am at Grenada Park, Arataki.

The teams all had two games at Blake Park on Friday with the feature game between Te Puke and Tauranga East.

The early exchanges were as passionate and intense as the two pre-match haka with Tauranga starting particularly well.

After the opening 30 minutes it was Te Puke ahead 19-12 and in the second half their ability to switch play and spread the ball wide proved too much for East.

Te Puke piled on the points in the opening 20 minutes of the spell to take complete control of the match and win 45-17 with Fijian flyer Waisake Salabiau finishing off the most spectacular try of the match.

Head coach Phil O'Reilly says the team came up with their own game plan for yesterday's games.

"We had a debrief [Thursday] night and wanted to figure out what was and wasn't working well. It is about having the players decide what worked well and what didn't. They came up with you can't win a game by having a lolly scramble and throwing the ball around off that first phase.

"It is just that composure. It might take three or four phases to figure put where the gaps are so be happy with your zones and hold on to the ball and don't throw the miracle balls. I thought they did that really well."

O'Reilly says East really challenged his side in the opening stages.

"The first 10 or 15 minutes compared to Thursday's game they really challenged us and controlled the game. It was always going to be a tough half but our systems worked well for us."

Tauranga East coach Troy Jennings says Te Puke's ability to hold on to possession and not turn it over was the difference.

"If you can't get the ball off them you are going to lose pretty much. We hoped we would get a bonus point with a fourth try but that's rugby.

"Our first-up defence was pretty bad and just little things really. They branched out and we didn't number up on them, so that's what it came down to."

Sunday's finals will be held at Blake Park beginning at 9.30am and finishing with the main Tai Mitchell Shield final at 12.15pm.

Results Day 2, Friday

Tai Mitchell Shield
Te Puke 45 v Tauranga East 17
Opotiki 45 v Tauranga North 7
Tauranga West 36 v Whakatane 24
Te Puke 55 v Opotiki 12
Whakatane 24 v Tauranga North 19
Tauranga East 24 v Tauranga West 12

Bill Murray Trophy
Rangitaiki 47 v Galatea 5
Rotorua Maroon 41 v Rotorua Gold 0
Rotorua Maroon 84 v Galatea 5
Rotorua Gold 24 v Rangitaiki 21

Semifinals at Grenada Park, Arataki, Saturday

Tai Mitchell Shield
9.30am: Tauranga West (2) v Tauranga East (3)
11.00am: Te Puke (1) v Opotiki (4)
Whakatane (5) v Tauranga North (6) to be played Sunday

Bill Murray Trophy:
9.45am: Rotorua Maroon (2) v Galatea (3)
11.15am: Rotorua Gold (1) v Rangitaiki (4)