Francis said that, despite Saturday's game being his side's third in eight days, he was always confident of a strong second half showing.
"We knew our bench was going to do the job - the strength of our bench was the thing that saw us home.
"The [starting] boys, they just got out and emptied the tank and we had the reserves to come on - that's how we had to do it.
As well as Siggy Fisiihoi, Te Ra Whata also came on early in the second half.
"We had some real quality [reserve] players. Not taking anything away from the starting team who did the job in the first half to weather the storm, but we always knew the second half was going to be our strong point."
When the two sides met in the Central Bay of Plenty pre-season competition, it was Whakarewarewa who won comfortably to hang on to the coveted Tai Mitchell Shield.
Bringing the shield to Rotoiti lakeside was a huge motivation for Saturday's home side.
"We talked a lot about the shield and that korero was important. He's from Ngati Pikiao, he's from Rotoiti, and we talked about bringing him home and how he deserves to be in our club and now he's home. That's what the shield should do and what the shield does for Rotorua rugby.
Francis singled out his skipper as one of the players worth of special praise.
"Bayden [Wardlaw] was everywhere. He scored that try and gassed the winger from 50m out. The other one who stood out for me was our open side Josh White - he worked himself to a standstill."
He said the nature of the win would stand his side in good stead for the next phase of the competition.
"Now they know, they believe they can pull it out of the bag if they are behind at half time."
Whaka coach Joe Savage said Rotoiti simply wanted the win more than his side, who made errors and dropped their concentration at crucial times in the second half.
"We were our own worst enemies. They applied pressure where they needed to and in the first half we had the team to get over that, but it was just the lapses of concentration and unforced errors. That's not something you need in a game like this."
He said that while fullback Kelly Haimona had a strong game, he wasn't immune from making the odd mistake.
"The Lay boys [props and brothers Jordan and Jay] played particularly well and did their job around the paddock and did things where they counted.
He said he was very disappointed to have lost the Tai Mitchell Shield.
The visitors opened the scoring with two Haimona penalties, before Rotoiti captain Wardlaw brushed off would be tacklers to score in the left corner to make it 6-5.
Whaka extended the lead when, after pulling the Rotoiti defence to the right, first-five Ryubyn Vaipo took the ball left, and put through a kick that was collected by winger Shaquille Stone. A third Haimona penalty right on the whistle made the half time score 14-5.
A characteristic run from Wardlaw set up the position from which number 8 Jesse Acton went over and moments later Whata skipped over to turn the tide and put Rotoiti into a 17-14 lead.
Strong forward play with a series of pick and goes allowed blindside Loni Fisiihoi reach out to score to extend the margin
Rotoiti thwarted Whaka's attempts at a comeback and sealed the win with a late penalty to Whakataki Cunningham.
Results:
Baywide Premier: Whakatane Marist 20 v Poroporo 13, Te Puke Sports 25 v Te Puna 17, Rotoiti 27 v Whakarewarewa 14, Tauranga Sports 22 v Paroa 10, Rangataua 23 v Greerton Marist 15, Mount Maunganui 20 v Arataki 8.
Baywide Development: Whakatane Marist 53 v Poroporo 7, Te Puke Sports 22 v Te Puna 15, Rotoiti 19 v Whakarewarewa 17, Tauranga Sports 67 v Paroa 5, Greerton Marist 22 v Rangataua 3, Mount Maunganui 13 v Arataki 5.
Baywide Division 1: Ruatoki 31 v Waimana 25, Papamoa 55 v Katikati 7, Marist St Michael's 20 v Kahukura 8, Opotiki 54 v Rangiuru 7, Waikite 53 v Te Teko 0, Ngongotaha 35 v Judea 14.
