Whakarewarewa 24 Rotoiti 5
Three Rotorua derbies done and dusted, three thumping victories secured - the pre-season Central Bay of Plenty competition has gone all Whakarewarewa's way.
In what appeared to be a punishing final draw against fierce rivals Rotoiti, was in reality a roll-over for Whaka on Saturday who beat the elements to retain the Tai Mitchell Shield and the Rotorua Banner.
In a brief window from the unrelenting rain, Whaka comfortably saw off their fellow premier side 24-5 to win the local club rugby bragging rights in front of a big crowd.
Joe Savage's men dominated a third straight opposition, having thumped both Marist St Michael's and Ngongotaha in the local round. Saturday afternoon at Purenga Park Whaka shut down a Rotoiti side who had opened their pre-season campaign with hefty wins over Kahukura and Waikite.
Rotoiti are renowned for a strong forward pack, but costly errors and a lack of sharpness led to their downfall. There was a level of ill-discipline from both teams that saw two players sent to the sin bin. But Whaka weathered the storm and kept composure at key times.
Whaka's head coach Savage, in his first season at the helm, said it was a "relief" to hear the final whistle, adding he was "satisfied" with his side's performance.
"When you've held them [Tai Mitchell Shield and Rotorua Banner] for so long it gets harder and harder every year and there is instant relief when the final whistle goes and you're up on the points board so I'm happy about that," he said.
"I'm satisfied that we got the win first and foremost, there were some good bits coming out of the game. The resilience of the guys was great. In the first 20 minutes I think Rotoiti took it to us and after that we slowly started to get in the ascendancy and finished it off with a couple of tries."
Rotoiti started the stronger of the two sides, and Whaka found themselves a man down after flanker Steve Henry was sin binned for a mistimed slip tackle after 20 minutes.
But errors began to rack up for the away side too, keeping Tauranga referee Jax Reuben busy. Whaka took first advantage five minutes later through the boot of Ryubyn Vaipo, converting a penalty from close range.
Rotoiti forward Abe Tito joined Henry in the sin bin for another slip tackle two minutes later. Vaipo then extended the lead making it two from two shortly after.
Whaka continued to press and after patient build up, took a 13-0 lead into the break when scrum-half Chris Miller crashed over from close range for a converted try.
The home side then controlled the game from the restart and Bay of Plenty Steamers and Italian international Kelly Haimona should have extended their lead five minutes in but knocked on just in front of the try line.
Haimona did make the score board though on 58 minutes, taking over penalty kicking duty.
Whaka added a try shortly after when former Hawke's Bay Mitre 10 Cup player Matt Garland intercepted the ball just inside the Rotoiti half and sprinted over in the left corner for his side's second try of the game.
Rotoiti restored some pride late on when Eric Fidow bulldozed over but Haimona nailed a final penalty into the away side's coffin to complete the rout.
"We feel a little deflated, we thought we could compete against Whaka better but this is only our third game of preseason so we've got a week to work and hopefully come out a bit better," Rotoiti head coach William Royal said.
"We played the wrong game, the forwards played well but we've just got a bit more work to do on our backs. Also I don't think we had a kicking game to get down into Whaka's half and put some pressure on and try and get points from there."
Whaka and Rotoiti are the only Rotorua clubs in the Baywide premier competition, with the format the same as last year, but all local teams have the chance to move up after round one of the championship if they finish in the top four.
Both Whaka and Rotoiti coaches said they still needed to iron out some "fundamentals" of the game before the season opener next weekend.
"Our ruck work wasn't good enough, we were taking the easy options rather than getting rid of bodies which is something we stress a lot during training," explained Savage. "And I think our discipline - our penalty discipline from a defensive point of few was probably a bit average but it's something we can rectify in the week."
Royal added: "It is a young side, everybody is still trying to gel together. We also had a couple of league players out there and we are just trying to get them used to playing union but I'm sure another week or two we'll be better for it."
The Tai Mitchell Shield has been contested since 1914 while the Rotorua Banner was introduced in 1938.
Whakarewarewa 24 (C. Miller, M. Garland tries; R. Vaipo 1 con, 2 pens, K. Haimona 2 pens)
Rotoiti 5 (E. Fidow)
Halftime: 13-0