Whaka book place in final after battling win (+video)

A sense of relief was etched all over the faces of Whakarewarewa players, coaches and supporters when the final whistle sounded around Puarenga Park on Saturday as the side sealed a place in the Premier 2 final.

In a hard fought win they beat a spirited Arataki side 25-8, in the game billed as the 'battle of the black and red,' to line up the silverware clash against Paroa next weekend, who beat Poroporo 33-3 at home.

Whakarewarewa secured victory with three tries, two conversions and two penalties.

Head coach Kopae Irihei was pleased to make it into the final but said his team made it difficult for themselves in the second half.

"We got the result we so desperately needed and now we are looking forward. We want to finish off the season properly," he said.

"Looking at the points it's not a bad result really but we did make it a little harder for ourselves then we should have done.

"We put ourselves under pressure. We kicked a lot but we didn't execute them as well as we should have.

"They brought the ball back to us really well and also we didn't commit too many to the breakdown because we didn't want to give away too many penalties."

Arataki took an early lead through a Reece MacDonold penalty in the first minute of the game.

But it was the home side who went in with a 14-3 advantage at half-time thanks to tries from Chris van der Vlugt and Maake Taulahi with two successful conversions from kicker Ryubyn Vaipo.

Whakarewarewa quickly extended their lead with two penalties from Vaipo in the first five minutes after the restart.

But Arataki rallied hard and dominated possession in a battling 20-minute spell with pressure finally paying off when hooker Sammi Veikoso crashed over after excellent forward work after 65 minutes.

The away side continued to press, but basic handling errors and quality in the final ball lacked for Arataki.

And Whakarewarewa took advantage in the final play of the game when Jesse Mason-Grant broke from his own half after a wayward Arataki ball and dived over, followed by noisy cheering from a delighted home support.

Despite defeat Arataki's captain Taite Smith said he wasn't too disheartened by the result.

"I'm very proud of our boys, Whaka were always going to be hard to beat, they are the team of the round," he said.

"We knew coming over here to Rotorua was a little brother versus a big brother and our boys never said die - we gave everything we had.

"There were moments where we were brilliant in attack but we pushed the pass or ran it out. We just didn't finish it off.

"Overall I'm happy about the season, it's been a tough one but to finish on a high like this you can't ask better than that."

Baywide rugby semifinal results:

Baywide Premier 1 Results:

Mount Maunganui Sports 62 v Rotoiti 7

Rangataua 24 v Tauranga Sports 16

Baywide Premier 2 Results:

Whakarewarewa 25 v Arataki 8

Paroa 33 v Poroporo 3

Baywide Development 1 Results:

Tauranga Sports 42 v Te Puna 37

Mount Maunganui 8 v Te Puke Sports 5

Baywide Development 2 Results:

Waikite 22 v Poroporo 20

Opotiki won by default

Baywide Division 1 Results:

Te Teko 22 v Rangiuru 20

Judea 37 v Kahukura 15

Baywide Division 2 Results:

Waimana 51 v Matata 5

Murupara 32 v Eastern Districts 15