Rugby: Rotorua Boys' High prove prowess

Rotorua Boys' defeated Tauranga Boys' 43-21 in the final of the Chiefs Cup yesterday.

Rotorua Boys' High School have put their hand up as the best rugby school in the Bay of Plenty this year, after thrashing Tauranga Boys' College in Rotorua.

Rotorua Boys' defeated Tauranga Boys' 43-21 in the final of the Chiefs Cup yesterday at Rotorua International Stadium.

It was the second year running Rotorua made the final of the Chiefs Cup after losing last year to Hamilton Boys' High School.

The big win will give Rotorua plenty of confidence heading into the Super Eight competition, which begins this weekend with a rematch against Tauranga.

It was a typical first XV final yesterday as both teams played at 100km/h, putting their bodies on the line.

Both teams injected some big frames on to the field during the match, as the crowd enjoyed the intense rivalry.

The first try went to Tauranga forward Mitch Holton, who finished off a nice play down the right edge. Tauranga deserved the first points after dominating the first 10 minutes of play.

After a slow start, Rotorua started to find their feet. In fact, they did more than that - they took over. Rotorua went up the other end to produce their first try, following a few phases from the Rotorua big men.

Lewis Kaine found a bit of space about 15m out and blew past a tackle to get his school on the scoreboard.

It was exactly what Rotorua needed. They grew in confidence and posted the next two tries.

Both went to impressive blindside flanker Jade Honeycombe.

His first came when he latched on to a great pass before putting his head down and scoring in the corner.

His next was straight down route one. The Rotorua forwards worked their way into enemy territory before Honeycombe went for another barnstorming run to score next to the posts, leaving a few defenders in his path.

A big moment in the match saw Tauranga captain Connor Fifita sent to the bin which helped Rotorua take a 17-7 lead into the half.

Rotorua's brilliant fullback Ngarohi McGarvey-Black was first to score in the second half. He got on the end of a great kick and used his pace to do the rest.

Rotorua blew out the margin to almost 20 points when Kaine Lewis went in for his second.

He blew past a tackle close to the line as the Tauranga defence tired.

Jone Lasaganibau also got his name on the scoresheet for Rotorua moments later.

To add some respectability to the score, Christian Kelly muscled his way over for Tauranga as the game entered the last quarter.

Sami Veikoso also crossed for Tauranga to pull the score back even closer. Rotorua would have the last laugh though, as Tarei Nerehana scooted over the line from the back of the ruck.

Rotorua Boys' High School 43 (Lewis Kaine 2, Jade Honeycombe 2, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Jone Lasaganibau, Nerehana Tarei tries; Ma'ake Taulahi 4 con) defeated Tauranga Boys' College 21 (Mitch Holton, Christian Kelly, Sami Veikoso tries; Sam Takai 3 con).