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Sports correspondent & historian with |
The saying that teams make their own luck has become prophetic for Greerton Marist, who will host the BOPRU Baywide Premier season final, at Greerton Park on Saturday.
Wind back the clock to round six – Greerton had lost to Te Puna 47-35, and languished in fifth place (from seven teams), some 19 points from leaders Tauranga Sports.
From there, they embarked on an unbeaten run that took them to a home semi-final last Saturday.
The hosts were quickly into stride and scored first against Mount Maunganui to grab a hard-fought 15-6 lead at half-time.
From there on it was one-way traffic as the Marist side scored four tries for an emphatic 46-11 victory.
Te Puke Sports came from fourth place in the standings to topple No 1 seed Tauranga Sports at the Tauranga Domain, to book a place in the final against Greerton.
The visitors held a narrow 8-3 advantage at the break, before putting their foot to the pedal in the second spell, to win 27-10.
Victory was a significant moment for Te Puke Sports, who had played Tauranga Sports eight times before in Baywide semi-finals or finals entering Saturday’s meeting, losing every time.
Tauranga Sports Development side earned the right to defend their 2025 Baywide Crown, after they beat Greerton Marist 38-17, in the early action at the Domain.
Te Puna will face Tauranga Sports for the 2026 Baywide Development title after dispatching Mount Maunganui 38-26.
The Western Bay of Plenty Championship will be fought between Katikati and Rangataua, in the northern extremities of the Western Bay of Plenty region. Katikati posted 17 unanswered points against Arataki, before booking a home final, with a 31-5 victory.
Rangataua led Rangiuru by 17 points, before Rangiuru came back into the match, with Rangataua posting a 31-17 win.
The final qualifying round of the combined Colts/Under 85kg competition has resulted in a Battle of the Bridge final, with Mount Maunganui hosting Tauranga Sports.
BOPRU/WBOPRS Results
BOPRU Premier: Greerton Marist 46 Mount Maunganui 11, Te Puke Sports 27 Tauranga Sports 10
BOPRU Development: Tauranga Sports 38 Greerton Marist 17, Te Puna 28 Mount Maunganui 26
BOPU Colts/U85kg Week 15: Mount Maunganui 26 Te Puke Sports 0, Greerton Marist 33 Taupō 17
WBOPRS Championship: Rangataua 31 Rangiuru 17, Katikati 31 Arataki 5
Jordan Cup 2026 (WBOPRS Challenge Trophy)
2026 Holder – Greerton Marist
All draws & points tables can be found at www.boprugby.co.nz