Whakarewarewa won their first Baywide rugby game of 2019 54-21 against Premier newcomers Te Teko.
Te Teko's rise to the Baywide Premier grade has brought those who live in the small Eastern Bay of Plenty town together and they turned out in force to support their side in round one on Saturday.
Despite going down 54-21 to a strong Whakarewarewa side a Puarenga Park in Rotorua, Te Teko coach Anthony Studer was proud of the resilience his players showed. They dominated the latter stages of the match, scoring twice in the last five minutes to reduce the deficit.
"We always knew it was going to be hard, Whaka are a māori club that's been setting the standards for Māori clubs over the last decade. Whaka really did a lot of work to promote the day, we had the JAB earlier and the netball.
"The good thing was the character the boys showed, to not give up. We showed a bit of character last year to get to where we are now and the big thing for me was to not drop our heads. We know it's going to be hard coming up, but you can't get angry or disappointed. It was good to see the boys maintain their high standards and finish strong."
He said the speed Whakarewarewa played with was the biggest difference between the sides.
Whakarewarewa centre Dennon Robinson-Bartlett looks to break out of a Te Teko tackle. Photo / Stephen Parker
"With it being the first prem team we've run out against for awhile, there was a bit of unknown for us as well. We definitely take a lot of learnings out of this and at the same time we know we've got a bit of work to do. We want to stay up in the top eight, we want to be that club in the Eastern bay flying the flag."
Te Teko's return to the highest tier of Baywide rugby had caused a buzz around town, Studer said.
"There's a bit of hype in the Te Teko community at the moment, that's what we're all about. We know when our club's doing well, our community's doing well."
Whakarewarewa coach Boxer Smith said the game was a good first hit out.
"I think you've got to be happy, apart from that last 10 minutes we fell off a bit. That was probably first game jitters, a bit of fitness we could work on and some of our bench players had to back-up from the development game.
"I thought our set piece was clinical and our focus was on winning the collision - the physicality side of things. I think we did that right from the start and if you can get front foot ball that's huge."
Whakarewarewa's Gareth Cossey dives in for the first of his two tries against Te Teko. Photo / Stephen Parker
The Whakarewarewa first five Ryubyn Vaipo scored 19 points with a try and kicking seven out of eight conversions. Smith said Vaipo had put the work in at training to produce those results.
"That's his bread and butter, he does his training for that week in, week out. He always puts his effort in. That will be valuable in the close games, especially now that there are no bonus points - getting the win is even more important."
Smith was pleased to see Te Teko playing up in the Premier grade.
"Full credit to them, they came over here and they'll learn it's a totally different league. Hopefully they can stay with it and try to push for the top eight, but it's a hard competition."
Whakarewarewa have made some handy additions to an already strong side this year, including Bay of Plenty Steamers lock and former Rotoiti captain Baden Wardlaw and Steamers prop Josh Davey.
Smith said the club had been working hard on being more whānau-oriented and it was nice to see players were keen to be a part of it.
"Baden's athleticism out there is huge, right from the start he's just a ball of energy. He's one of the fittest in the team, he runs sub-five minute broncos, which our backs don't even run. He puts a lot of effort in.
"We've made a shift in culture, this whole day was based around family and that's where we're trying to go - building a balance around family. The other players can see that and judge for themselves, that's the reason guys like Baden and Josh have come here."
This weekend Te Teko host Rotoiti and Whakarewarewa travel to Ōpōtiki.
Baywide rugby results - Saturday, March 23 Premier Ōpōtiki 7 v Mount Maunganui 53 Te Puna 15 v Te Puke 41 Arataki 27 v Tauranga Sports 30 Greerton Marist 22 v Rangiuru 22 Rotoiti 7 v Rangataua 42 Whakarewarewa 54 v Te Teko 21
Premier Development Ōpōtiki 26 v Mount Maunganui 22 Te Puna 30 v Te Puke 27 Arataki 13 v Tauranga Sports 36 Greerton Marist 21 v Rangiuru 43 Rotoiti v Rangataua (Rangataua win by default) Whakarewarewa 31 v Te Teko 7
Division 1 Poroporo 3 v Ruatoki 29 Whakatāne Marist 37 v Pāpāmoa 21 Judea 12 v Paroa 15 Kahukura 31 v Murupara 14 Waikite 34 v Reporoa 10 Marist St Michael's 8 v Ngongotahā 12
