Rugby: Two top women's sides eye final slots

Waikite and Arataki will go into the semifinals as favourites after finishing second and first on the table. Photo / Thinkstock

Waikite and Rotoiti - Rotorua's two best women's rugby clubs - have a chance of meeting in the Bay of Plenty grand final.

Both have qualified for the semifinals of the Bay of Plenty women's competition on Sunday. Defending champions Waikite will host Waimana at Bellvue Rd while Rotoiti will hit the road to play Arataki.

Waikite coach Eliza Stephens said her team had one goal. "With winning the comp in it's first year [last year], we're looking to be the BOP champs back to back."

She said they played Waimana in the last round, a match they won 54-27, and were looking forward to the semifinal clash.

"We're pretty excited about being in the semifinals. [However], we haven't prepared as well as we wanted to. It's just that with the way the draw has fallen it has meant we've had a lot of byes, so the consistency of game time hasn't been there.

"With us playing every fortnight, it has meant that sometimes it'd be a month without game time. We've had to go out and look for other teams to play to keep the girls focused. We've dwindled from 25 players to about 17 now. We just try as a team to help each other and all pitch in."

Waikite and Arataki will go into the semifinals as favourites after finishing second and first on the table.

Arataki coach Mark Latimer said they were confident they would meet Waikite in the final.

"We're really focused on our game next week, the final against Waikite. We drew with them during the competition this year, and there's really been no other competition to speak of with our team winning 50 points or more every game pretty much ... We're hopeful this year that we've got the goods to take it away."