Rugby: Bonus point sees Rotoiti up to third

Whakarewarewa's Te Rangi Fraser is the top try scorer in the Bayfair Baywide Premier competition with 15. Photo / File

Five big wins and an arm wrestle at Maramatanga Park headlined the action in round seven of the Baywide Premier title race on Saturday.

Rotorua sub-union titleholders Rotoiti played their get out of jail card against Te Puna at Maramatanga Park to cement their place in the top four. The visitors led 17-10 at half-time, before Te Puna roared back in the second spell to lead by a solitary point with five minutes remaining in the match. Willie Ripia calmly stepped up and slotted a penalty goal as the clock ticked down to give his team a narrow 27-25 victory.

Chanse Perham grabbed three tries, with Ripia also scoring, which gave Rotoiti an additional bonus point to put them into third place in the competition. Daniel Schuster, Keagan Long and Greg Stephenson scored the Te Puna tries with Te Aihe Toma kicking two penalties and two conversions.

Tauranga Sports picked up their seventh bonus point for four tries or better when they beat Rangataua Sports 62-19 at Te Ariki Park.

Four tries in quick succession saw Tauranga Sports lead 29-7 at the break and five more in the second half saw them run out easy winners.

Curtis Deane led the way with four tries for Te Puke Sports as they cruised to a 65-12 win against Paroa in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Te Puke Sports took a relatively narrow 15-5 advantage into the break in play, before cutting loose in the second spell.

Whakarewarewa got their Baywide campaign back on track with the round's biggest win, over Opotiki, 90-26 in Rotorua.

Te Rangi Fraser scored a hat-trick of tries to take his 2015 Baywide tally to 15 with Hayden Baird and Wade Pereira both scoring twice. Opotiki took home a bonus point after tries to Netana Kurei, Sean Martin, Mike Stevens and Rewai Tai.

Greerton Marist banked their fourth successive victory with a 43-30 away win over Whakatane Marist while Mount Maunganui Sports ran over Waikite 80-8 in Rotorua.

-Bayfair Baywide Premier:

Mount Maunganui 80 (Mason Walker 4, Zar Lawrence 3, Adam McGarvey 2, Pera Gibbs 2, Doug Law, Chris Elvin, Ben Tyler tries; McGarvey 4 con, Gibbs con) Waikite 8. HT 48-0.

Tauranga Sports 62 (Jeff Thwaites, Afai Esera, Nick Evemy, Jesse Dodunski, Jason Harvey, Daniel Crowther, Paula Narawa, Hamish Gosling, Josh Hall, Jacob Proctor tries; John Dodd 3 con, Nick Evemy 3 con) Rangataua 19 (Matt Clutterbuck, Brad Flutey, Alex Thrupp tries; John Ririnui 2 con). HT 29-7.

Rotoiti 27 (Chanse Perham 3, Willy Ripia tries; Ripia 2 con, pen) Te Puna 25 (Daniel Schuster, Keagan Long, Greg Stephenson tries; Te Aihe Toma 2 pen, 2 con). HT 17-10.

Whakarewarewa 90 (Te Rangi Fraser 3, Hayden Baird 2, Wade Pereira 2, Whaimotu Craft-Chemis, Tim vant Leven, Chris Fox, Trent Sweeney, Reuben Edwards, Bauro Kairaoi, David Marinkovich tries; Ryubyn Vaipo 10 con) Opotiki 26 (Netana Kurei, Sean Martin, Mike Stevens, Rewai Tai tries; Ben Hawera 3 con). HT 47-14.

Te Puke Sports 65 (Curtis Deane 4, Eru Smith-Wano 2, Matt Wallis, Dan Goodwin, Sipa Moimoi, Jono Kitto tries; Matt Cole 6 con, pen) Paroa 12 (Jamie Porter, Kurt Savage tries; Taurian Pomare con). HT 15-5.

Greerton Marist 43 (Marcus Hughes, Cody McGovern, Taylor Jones, Joe Key, Leroy van Dam, Troy Callander tries; Tim O'Malley 5 con, pen) Whakatane Marist 30 (Tristan Healy, Johnny Lagibola, Jona Sawailau, Steve Mapu tries; Hayden Potiger 2 pen, con, Mana Williams con). HT 33-11.

Points:

Tga Sports 35 Te Puke Sports 32, Rotoiti 26, Mt Maunganui 25, Greerton Marist 21, Whaka 20, Rangataua 16, Te Puna 15, Wtane Marist 13, Paroa 5, Opotiki 5, Waikite 0.

Baywide Div One:

Rangiuru 44 Marist St Michaels 7, Te Teko 39 Katikati 5, Arataki 33 Ruatoki 26, Judea 41 Galatea 20, Kahukura 57 Reporoa 7, Poroporo won by default.

Baywide Dev:

Mt Maunganui 75 Waikite 5, Opotiki 31 Whaka 29, Te Puna 31 Rotoiti 5, Tauranga Sports 105 Rangataua 0, Greerton Marist 32 Whakatane Marist 31, Te Puke Sports 81 Paroa 0.