Rugby: Whaka seal final spot

It will be a repeat of last year's Geyser Land Challenge Shield and Banner final with Whakarewarewa playing Rotoiti after Whaka beat Waikite 36-7 in their semifinal clash.

On a rock-hard Puarenga Park, Whaka had too much class for a Waikite side who are going through a rebuilding stage.

Both teams have new coaches at the helm - Maurice Stone for Whaka and Charles Te Kowhai for Waikite - but it was Whaka's experienced players such as captain Dave Marinkovich, Doug Edwards and Liam Coleman who made all the difference in a classic battle between the two Rotorua sides.

Waikite were guilty of poor discipline at scrum and breakdown time, with the referee almost needing a third lung for the amount of time he spent whistling for infringements by the yellow and blacks.

It was the skill of Edwards' tackle-breaking runs and silky smooth offloads which led to Whaka's first two tries.

The centre has not lost any of his pace and will be a force to be reckoned with this season. His efforts set up left wing Chanse Perham and then first five Akira Marko to have the red and blacks up 12-0 with only 10 minutes on the clock.

Waikite pulled back the score with a seven-pointer after No 8 Tony Lawrence broke a couple of weak tackles but the first half belonged to Whaka who piled on two more tries through Pomare Pirini and Bauro Kairaoi.

Pirini was lethal off the back of the Whaka scrum and deadly with ball in hand. After returning from a stint of league in Aussie, the No 8 will be a man Steamers coach Kevin Schuler should be looking to add to his rank of class loose forwards for the upcoming ITM Cup.

Whaka led 26-7 at the break but Te Kowhai rallied his troops in the second half, keeping Whaka camped in their own half for almost 20 minutes. It took Edwards to break the scoring drought and although second-five John Wiringi was unable to convert, Perham would eventually cross the line for his second to seal the match.

The game became a scrappy affair for the last 10 minutes with Waikite's discipline again getting the better of them.

Whaka will meet Rotoiti in the final after the lakesiders won their match against Ngongotaha by default. The match will be a repeat of last year's final in which Rotoiti won 25-12.

The noticeable difference in this year's final will be the battle of the coaches, with Stone going up against Kevin Lee who has swapped camps and taken over from Wayne Ormond at Rotoiti.

Scorers: Whakarewarewa 36 (C Perham 2, A Mako, P Pirini,B Kairaoi, D Edwards tries; J Wiringi 3 cons) Waikite 7 (T Lawrence try; T Tahuri 1 con).