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

With the Cricket World Cup in full swing, rugby has slipped under the radar, with the first games of the 2015 Bay of Plenty club season kicking of this Saturday.

Another change of format on the roller coaster ride of Bay of Plenty club rugby has seen the re-introduction of a Western Bay round of premier rugby, before the six local teams go to Baywide competition at the start of May.

While the new Baywide format has been driven by Eastern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua regions, the new format has brought back a Western Bay first round competition. The May 3, Baywide start has necessitated the six Western Bay Premier teams kicking off the local round this weekend.

Rangataua, Mount Maunganui, Te Puna, Greerton, Te Puke Sports and Tauranga Sports will embark on a six-week race to the 2015 Western Bay First Round title.

One real advantage that the six clubs are sure to relish is that there will be no bus travel involved until the teams move to the Baywide competition.

One of the real costs of Western Bay clubs that play in the Baywide competitions is that of hiring a bus to travel to matches in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua.

A real link with the past is provided by the Jordan Cup, which is the Western Bay Challenge trophy in the Baywide Premier competition. The Jordan Cup is a magnificent piece of silverware, first presented in 1924, to recognise the contribution of Mr Jordan as Chairman of the Tauranga Rugby Union.

Sideline Sid is a real history buff and one of his real delights was to catch up with an early minute book of the Tauranga Rugby Union. The minute book contained a full set of the 1915 minutes of the Tauranga Rugby Union, before a break until 1919, when Tauranga rugby resumed after WW1.

Just four teams in Rangataua, Tauranga, Matakana Island and Whaka appeared to fight out the 1915 senior competition. While Whaka is likely to have been a side from rural Whakamarama, there is no mention of Judea, who were established in 1910.

Another Western Bay club not featuring in the 1915 Tauranga Union minutes was the Katikati Rugby Club, which was formed in 1880.

It is likely that Katikati was then playing in Thames Valley competition. They hold the unique distinction of being a founder club in both the Bay of Plenty and Thames Valley Unions and still wear the colours of both Unions on their playing shirts.

The minutes from 1920 reveal that Te Puna, Matapihi and Motiti Island had joined the Tauranga Union. In 1920 Te Puna registered their colours as two blues, which are very similar to the blue and black strip that they will wear in the 2015 title race.

While it is early days and too soon to pick the 2015 titleholders, Sideline Sid is certain that the Baywide Premier prize will return to the Western Bay where is has made its home over the last decade, with Whakarewarewa, the last Eastern Bay or Rotorua team to win the big prize.