Tauranga West hope to pour on the pace today in a bid to halt Te Puke's march towards a hometown win in the Tai Mitchell primary schools tournament.
Tauranga West downed neighbouring Tauranga East 24-10 in one championship semifinal yesterday while the Te Puke train rolled on at a soddenMurray Salt Stadium in the afternoon semifinal, as they eliminated Rotorua Maroon 37-7.
West captain Quintin Kingi reckoned superior pace might give them an edge in the final at 12.15pm against a side who've looked hot favourites for the win since their 72-12 demolition of Rotorua Gold on day one.
West pushed Te Puke close on Saturday, leading 7-0 at halftime before succumbing 10-7, and Kingi, a student at Te Wharekura O Mauao in Bethlehem, hinted they'd try to get the ball wide to Fijian flyer Peni Lasaga at every opportunity.
"Peni's pretty mean, he's the wheels in our team, and with our speed that should mean we've got a bit more pace than Te Puke," the pint-sized hooker said.
Lasaga scored twice in the first half for Tauranga West to give them a 10-5 lead at the break.
A superb 75m intercept effort to East's Louis Grindrod early in the second half levelled the scores before rampaging No 8 Joshua de Koster barged over for two tries, both converted by Kata Brill, to give West breathing space.
Kingi said he was worried at 10-10 that they hadn't turned their possession advantage into enough points.
