Baywide rugby: Crunch time for clubs to move into top four places

Josh Honey and the other Tauranga Sports backs need to spark against Te Puna on Saturday. Photo / File

Winning Baywide Premier championship titles is what Tauranga Sports has done better than any other club since the Baywide format began back in 1990.

They have won eight titles, including four straight between 2007 and 2010, but they have missed out the past two years which is something they want to put right in 2018.

Their hopes for title nine will be enhanced if they can knock over unbeaten Te Puna at Maramatanga Park tomorrow. Te Puna leads the Farmlands Co-operative Premier 1 competition after two rounds on 10 points ahead of Te Puke Sports (9), Whakarewarewa (8), Rotoiti (6), Tauranga Sports (5), Rangataua Sports, (1), Greerton Marist (1) and Mount Maunganui (0).

Tauranga Sports coach Euan Mackintosh knows a loss against Te Puna could damage their top-four aspirations.

"It is certainly a big game, and we all know in round two that there are only seven games to finish top four. There is a lot of pressure on every game being important to get as many points out of as you can," he says.

The emphasis at training this week has been on getting their systems right rather than focusing on Te Puna.

"We try not to look at whether a team is undefeated or not. Simply for me, realistically when it comes to round two everyone ups their game and any team on any day I reckon still can beat each other in the top eight.

"We know they are on a massive winning streak at the moment and they are doing well this year, so we are looking forward to the challenge. See what happens on Saturday."

Last week Tauranga Sports dispatched defending champions Mount Maunganui Sports 39-7 in probably their best 80 minutes of the season.

Mackintosh says it was one of those days when things just clicked for his team.

"We had been speaking about a lot of things we wanted to put in place, and things just hadn't been happening for us. That was a game we definitely played to our game plan and achieved a lot of the goals we had been working on in training, so that was extremely pleasing to see that actually happening on the park."

In other key games tomorrow, Te Puke host Whakarewarewa in what should be a tasty clash of two in-form teams. Greerton Marist and Rangataua Sports meet at Greerton Park in a game that will give the victor a significant top-four boost while Rotoiti are home on the shores of Lake Rotoiti against winless Mount Maunganui, who desperately need to win.

In Premier 2, Rangiuru are away to Marist St Michael's in Rotorua after being tipped up at Opotiki last weekend. Former All Black Liam Messam is turning out for Marist St Michael's, while Arataki are back home against Te Teko.

In Division 1, Judea are away to Paroa while Papamoa are home to Kahukura.

The Baywide women's competition is in action on Sunday. Rangiuru host Matata Women at Centennial Park, Rangataua are away to Waikite and Rotoiti and Whaka Women contest the Rotorua derby. Waimana have the bye.

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