Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

In the PC world that we live in, Sideline Sid could only laugh out loud at the news that junior rugby scores would be capped at 35 points to save the poor little darlings the humiliation of losing by a big score.

The will to win is born in us and manipulating scores to save the embarrassment of losing by a big number will take us back to the days of it's not about winning it's about enjoying the game. Hello – we live in the real world where winning is important.

Winning will take centre stage in Western Bay and Bay of Plenty Rugby in the next few weeks as a multitude of rugby championships are fought out.

Taking centre stage in local rugby are the Baywide competitions – with three senior divisions and a colts championship being fought out with Western Bay sides in contention all four grades.

It is a given that the Baywide finals will be held in Tauranga. With two rounds of the regular season still to play, three Western Bay sides have already booked berths in the post section series. However, there is a huge amount of interest in the two clubs that will have home games in the semi-final action.

Runaway premier competition leader Tauranga Sports, which is gunning for an incredible fifth straight Baywide crown has been brought back to earth with a thud having lost to Mount Maunganui and (ninth placed) Te Puna in the last two weeks.

Just when Mount Maunganui moved into second place they had a reality check last weekend. Te Puke Sports joined them on the points ladder after grabbing a 21-10 victory against the Mounties at Blake Park.

The real value of the two round, 18 game regular season, is that it is about building momentum as the season moves into the hard yards of June and July.

Both Te Puke and Mount Maunganui have come from sixth and seventh position respectively after the first five rounds.

The only interloper is long time Rotorua Baywide heavyweight Whakarewarewa, which has shrugged off a losing streak in June to roar back into contention.

The division one championship has become a five horse race with two Western Bay sides in the hunt for Baywide silverware.

Greerton Marist sits just two points off competition leader Te Teko and with the run in to the semi-finals against two lowly ranked teams, looks a certainty to grab a home semi-final.

One team that has made the div one contenders sit up and take notice this season has been Katikati. Last year's division two winners made their presence felt when they provided Te Teko with their first loss of the season.

Katikati is locked together in fourth equal with Ngongotaha with the draw indicating that there will be a real battle for the fourth post section position.

The colts championship appears to be a one-horse contest with Te Puke Sports chasing back-to-back age group titles.

Unbeaten for two years, the Te Puke side has never really been troubled by any of the other contenders all season.

Division two will see Matakana Island and Arataki battling for automatic promotion to div one if they can annex the division two playoffs, while defending champions Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Sports will represent the Western Bay in the Baywide reserve title race.

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