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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Local senior club rugby roared into action two Saturdays ago when three BOPRU Baywide competitions, with the Western Bay of Plenty Sub‑Union title race, kicked off.
Much has changed since I began a 20‑year stint as the Western Bay results coordinator in 1999.
With the new millennium on the immediate horizon, Baywide rugby competition was still finding its feet in the seasons following Waikite’s inaugural Baywide Premier crown in 1990.
Eastern and Western Bay of Plenty, with their Rotorua counterparts, would battle for regional honours in the first half of the season. The top sides from each region would then advance to the Baywide title‑deciding competitions.
Colts rugby was strong across all three regional sub‑unions, providing a clear pathway to the premier ranks.
Regional sub-union rivalry led to continual tinkering and compromise with the Baywide format.
The last decade saw season-long Baywide Premier and Development competitions, while Colts rugby almost fell out of sight, with only sporadic competition.
Covid proved to be the game-changer, with all senior rugby returning to regional sub-union competition in a shortened programme in 2020.
Players and administrators subsequently developed an appetite for what we have today – a sequential pathway.
Seven teams – Tauranga Sports, Mount Maunganui, Te Puna, Greerton Marist and Te Puke Sports, with Eastern Bays’ Ōpōtiki and Whakarewarewa from the Sulphur City – are contesting the Baywide Premier and Development competitions.
The competition is structured so that clubs’ development sides play as curtain‑raisers to their premier team encounters.
Colts rugby has returned, albeit with a five‑team competition.
Running parallel to the Baywide encounters are the Eastern, Western, and Central (Rotorua) Sub‑Union Championships, which once again are producing strong local rivalries.
This structure provides emerging secondary school players seeking senior opportunities with a range of options. The most talented from first‑fifteen school rugby will be selected by premier teams, while the majority will progress through the Colts, Sub‑Union Championship, and Development pathways.
The opening two weeks have seen Tauranga Sports and Mount Maunganui firmly lay their championship credentials on the table. Mount Maunganui’s 68‑nil win over defending champions Whakarewarewa, and Tauranga Sports’ 60‑0 defeat of Te Puna, will have the other contenders sitting up and taking notice.
You can be sure that both Whakarewarewa and Te Puna will bounce back and remain in contention for a top-four finish and a place in finals rugby.
A revitalised Western Bay of Plenty Championship has produced hard-fought results, signalling a tough road to the playoffs in July for all six contenders. Katikati sit atop the standings with two straight victories.
Last Saturday, Eastern Districts defeated former Baywide Premier contender Rangiuru 25-5 in a Te Puke regional rivalry that stretches back decades.
Pāpāmoa also enjoyed their day in the sun with a hard-fought 27-24 win over Arataki.
After two weeks of Western Bay rugby, the scene is set for upsets, jubilation, and hard-fought contests as teams battle for a place in finals rugby in July.