Baywide Rugby: Te Puke to host Greerton Marist in showcase final

Skipper Joe Johnston was Te Puke Sports’ player of the day in the semifinal win over Whakarewarewa and will lead his side out against Greerton in Saturday’s Baywide Rugby final at Murray Salt Stadium. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

The 2024 rugby season will end as it started for Te Puke Sports and Greerton Marist.

The two teams battled out the season opener in April and on Saturday will face off again – only this time, the stakes are much higher.

Te Puke and Greerton finished first and second in the Baywide Premiership after the first and second rounds. They each won their semifinals last Saturday, against Whakarewarewa and Tauranga Sports respectively, to get to the final, to be hosted in Te Puke.

But the wins came in contrasting styles.

The Pirates booked their place in Saturday’s final with a come-from-behind win at Murray Salt Stadium.

The home side took an early lead with a try to hooker Matty Stewart, converted by Fletcher Carpenter, before Whaka hit their straps with a converted try of their own. Three penalties to the visitors saw them go out to a 16-7 lead before Te Puke retook the lead with tries by Joe Johnston and Carpenter, both converted by Carpenter.

The halftime score was 21-16.

The visitors closed the gap again with a successful penalty, the first score of the second half.

From then on, the half belonged to Te Puke, who added 19 further points for a 40-19 win.

Carpenter’s two tries in the game gave him a club premier record of 19 touchdowns from 12 of Te Puke’s 15 games so far this season.

Stewart got his second try of the game, with Leonard Finau also getting a second-half five-pointer.

It was much tighter at Greerton Park with Greerton Marist pipping Tauranga Sports by a solitary point to make their first Baywide Premier final.

Co-captain Junior Matautia put his side ahead 16-15 with 10 minutes to go and the hosts managed to hang on to win the game.

Saturday’s final kicks off at 2.45pm.

Mount Maunganui earned a home-ground playoff in the Colts/Under 85kg title decider after beating Pāpāmoa 60-16. Pāpāmoa were right in the fight in the first spell, trailing by 13 at the break.

The Mount Maunganui age-group side put their foot to the pedal in the second 40 minutes to add another 31 points and keep their opponents scoreless.

Te Puna will travel to Blake Park to square off with Mount Maunganui after they got past Greerton Marist by five points. Greerton led by eight unanswered points at halftime before Te Puna fought back to take out the encounter 13-8. The championship-deciding contest is a replay of last season’s final, taken out by Mount Maunganui.

Greerton Marist and Mount Maunganui will decide the Western Bay of Plenty Championship after progressing from the top four playoffs. Greerton dispatched Tauranga Sports 16-10, while Mount Maunganui beat defending titleholders Te Puna 15-0.

BOPRU AR Plus Club Rugby Results

BOPRU Premiership Semifinals

Te Puke Sports 40 Whakarewarewa 19, Greerton Marist 16 Tauranga Sports 15

BOPRU Colts/U85kg Semi-Finals

Mount Maunganui 60 Pāpāmoa 16, Te Puna 13 Greerton Marist 8

WBOPRSU Championship Semifinals

Greerton Marist 16 Tauranga Sports 10, Mount Maunganui 15 Te Puna 0.