Woman's Rugby: Waikite gear up to repeat

Ben Fraser

The Waikite women's team are one step closer to defending their Bay of Plenty title after earning a spot in the grand final.

Bay of Plenty champions Waikite beat Waimana 48-15 at Bellvue Rd on Sunday in their semifinal.

They will play Arataki this Sunday in the final, after Arataki demolished Rotoiti 48-0.

Waikite captain and manager Liza Stephens said her team were looking forward to the big match-up.

"We played them over there in the final last season, and beat them in the dying minutes," she said. "It is not going to be an easy task to go back over to Arataki [and win] on their home ground."

Stephens said they played good rugby on Sunday against Waimana and would look to prepare well this week. She said one tactic they would employ at practice would be a training run with the Waikite men's team.

Stephens said winning the competition last year gave them confidence they could do it again this season.

"Anything can happen, but it is good to have that little bit of a confidence-booster - to know that we have been there and done that," she said.

"Because we really did dig deep [last season] and the girls do have a lot of mongrel and a lot of heart."

Waikite and Arataki have only meet once this season. That match ended 19-19 back in May.