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Sports correspondent & historian with |
The Baywide men’s club rugby competition is within touching distance of the playoffs, with just four rounds of preliminary competition remaining before the four teams that will decide the 2026 Premier, Development and Colts titles are confirmed.
The biggest prize at stake is the Premier competition. With four weeks remaining in the regular season, two likely outcomes are that Tauranga Sports and Mount Maunganui will host home semi-finals, and the defending titleholders will not defend their Baywide crown.
This Saturday brings the biggest clash of the season so far, when the “Battle of the Bridge” between Tauranga Sports and Mount Maunganui takes place at Tauranga Domain.
Their first encounter at Blake Park produced a pitched battle. The Tauranga visitors returned home with an unbeaten record, handing the swordfish-logoed Mount side their only defeat of the season.
With the score locked at 10 points apiece at halftime, Tauranga Sports sneaked home by a solitary point in their 18-17 victory.
Rotorua defending champions Whakarewarewa are clearly going through a rebuilding phase after the euphoria of last season’s Baywide Premier title win.
The long-established Rotorua rugby club broke a 19-year drought as they claimed their fourth Baywide title by beating Tauranga Sports 29-26 in the July 2025 decider.
Last weekend, Ōpōtiki edged Whakarewarewa 24-21 to leave the 2025 Baywide Premier champions in the wooden spoon position on the points ladder.
Mention must be made of Ōpōtiki, who returned to Baywide Premier rugby after an absence of several years. A number of local rugby critics wrote the Eastern Bay side off as being out of their depth after only playing sub-union rugby in recent times.
From the opening day of the season, when they provided Tauranga Sports with a strong challenge, the Eastern Bay representatives have been competitive and have posted two wins on the competition ladder.
This leaves the other three Western Bay of Plenty sides to fight for the remaining two Premier playoff spots. Greerton Marist currently sit in third place on 23 points, with Te Puke Sports lurking two points behind.
Te Puna will likely need to win at least two of their remaining preliminary matches to make the playoffs.
The top of the Baywide Development and Colts/Under-85kg division mirrors the Premier standings, with Tauranga Sports holding top spot and Mount Maunganui close behind.
Once again, the Development playoffs see three further Western Bay sides chasing two playoff berths. Te Puna and Greerton Marist are locked together on 26 points apiece, with Te Puke Sports four points back.
The age-group and weight-restricted grade is almost cut and dried. Tauranga Sports, Mount Maunganui, Te Puke Sports and Greerton Marist appear to have shut out fifth-placed Taupō from the title race.
Finals-day venues are decided by the top remaining qualifier earning home-ground advantage.
Informal betting odds would suggest Tauranga Domain could host all three finals – or the championship matches could be split between the Tauranga CBD ground and Blake Park.