Rugby: Big guns guide Rotoiti home

Rotoiti's Tute Malcolm, left, and Joe Royal celebrate a try against Mount Maunganui.

Rotoiti have recorded a precious 40-30 win over Mount Maunganui boosted by the return of their Bay of Plenty Steamers.

Bay of Plenty representatives Will Ripia and Joe Royal took the field for Rotoiti on Saturday for the first time this season.

Rotoiti dominated the match for the most part but were guilty of letting the Mount back into the contest during the second half at Emery Park.

Leading 30-13 with 30 minutes to go, Rotoiti conceded two quick tries and were fighting to keep the lead at 30-25.

Ripia, who is currently based in Dunedin and contracted to the Highlanders, was called upon to rescue the situation when his side earned a penalty about 45m out from the posts.

Ripia slotted the penalty, giving his side an eight-point lead with about 15 minutes to go.

Not long after the crucial kick, Ripia was involved again, linking up with his younger brother Tyson Ripia.

Tyson slipped a deft kick in behind the defence and older brother Will got on the end of it to score, which Tyson converted to make it 40-25.

Mount scored a consolation try but in the end it was a well-deserved, bonus-point victory for Rotoiti.

Ripia said it was good to be back playing on Emery Park after the Highlanders gave him the weekend off to play club rugby.

He said he had a quick word with his younger brother, while out on the field, to try the kick which led to his try.

"I said to him if there is space in behind I will be running that line. He did well to see that space and I'm not very fast, so the kick must have been nice."

Rotoiti scored a handful of quality tries on Saturday including a great solo effort from Tute Malcolm.

Malcolm was thrown a pass with nothing doing about 25m out from the Mount tryline.

He charged through the defensive line and, with plenty left to do, showed some good pace to brush past two defenders and score.

Other players to score for Rotoiti included Mathew Landers, Manasa Bole, and Joshua White.

Mount flanker Matt Axtens accomplished a rare feat on Saturday by scoring a hat-trick in the losing team.

Standouts in the forward pack for Rotoiti included Malcolm and big Jacob Masters.

Rotoiti coach Kevin Lee said he was relatively pleased with the match and they benefited from having Ripia and Royal back in the side.

"We are still building and by no means have played as good as we can play," he said.

Meanwhile, Whakarewarewa won their fourth game in a row on Saturday to stay top of the Baywide premier table.

Whaka defeated Opotiki 30-15 in a tough away fixture. The two Rotorua premier sides, Whaka and Rotoiti, both have double-headers this weekend.

Rotoiti 40 (Mathew Landers, Manasa Bole, Tute Malcolm, Joshua White, Will Ripia tries; Will Ripia 2 con, 3 pen, Tyson Ripia 1 con) defeated Mount Maunganui 30 (Matt Axtens 3, Sam Mayes tries; Cayden Matehaere 2 con, 2 pen)