What a difference a week makes.
The Baywide club rugby competition, meandering along with listless indifference seven days ago, suddenly burst into life on Saturday after a couple of big upsets.
Previously unbeaten Tauranga Sports crashed at home to Rotoiti 30-12, dropping the reigning champions to fourth on the table, while Whakatane Marist also won away from home with a gutsy 32-22 win over Mount Maunganui.
It has changed the complexion of the competition completely, with the relegation-threatened bottom four not so clearly defined and the top sides suddenly seeing chinks in Tauranga's seemingly impervious armour.
Rotoiti picked up their first bonus point in the unlikely win, but more importantly the young side gained a major shot of confidence.
"We were pretty dominant and we expected Tauranga to come out a lot stronger than they did," Rotoiti captain Glen Martin admitted.
"I don't know if they took us lightly or if we lifted dramatically but it's definitely the best performance we've put in all year."
Martin's pack _ led by rapidly improving prop Haimona Brown _ were the measure of the home side and Rena Schuster's welcome return from injury helped sooth the youthful backline nerves.
Over the bridge at Blake Park, Whakatane Marist came back from a big deficit against a Mount Maunganui side ravaged by absences.
Replacement forward Pete Love crashed over from a tap penalty with 10mins to go to give the visitors a 29-22 lead, then first-five Craig Edwards sealed the win over his old club with a handy penalty. It was a massive turnaround for the Eastern Bay side, hammered 83-10 by Tauranga a week earlier.
"We worked really hard on defence after Tauranga showed us up so much," coach Craig Sinkinson said.
"We understood they were struggling up front and that's where we planned to attack them but it took a lot to come back from three tries to one down. I'm really happy with that."
Mount wing Zane Butler managed to keep his outstanding season record going _ he's scored in every game on his way to nine tries from just five matches, easily leading the competition from Tauranga flanker Bruce Olsen.
Whakarewarewa's Kelly Haimona, collected a 27-point haul against Te Teko.
The 2007 Steamers pivot looked sharp in scoring two tries, converting seven of Whakarewarewa's eight tries and adding a penalty in their 57-22 win.
It took him to 65 points for the season, with his uncle Eruera Haimona on 69 and Te Puke's Brett McLeod on 67 after collecting 22 points in the identical 57-22 win over Opotiki on Friday. Wing Alan Jarvis-Cook crossed three times in the win, which lifted Te Puke into second equal with Whakarewarewa on the table.
Rangataua moved clear of the danger zone with a 33-5 win over struggling Waikite, while Kahukura ground out a 17-6 win over Te Puna.
Upsets spark club rugby
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