The Queens Birthday results are in and with two matches left in round one, the first five clubs have been sorted for round two of the Farmlands Baywide Premier Mens 1 competition due to kick off on Saturday 26^th June 2021.

Te Puna, Tauranga Sports, Te Puke Sports, Greerton Marist and Rangiuru are definitely through to the top eight for round 2.

Whakarewarewa and Mount Maunganui Sports sit in sixth equal but with two weeks left in round 1, both have some interesting match ups to secure at least one more win to guarantee a place in the top eight.

Whakarewarewa travel across town to tackle 8^th place Ngongotaha at Ngongotaha domain, who will be desperate for the win before rounding out the 1^st round with what could be crucial match when they host Mount Maunganui Sports at Puerenga Park.

The Marlins on the other hand have a tough road home.  They host cross town rivals Tauranga Sports next week before heading to Puerenga Park to take on Whakarewarewa.

Sitting on 8^th equal is two Central Bay clubs, Ngongotaha and Marist St Michaels.  With Marist St Michaels having a bye next week, their last round encounter against Ngongotaha looks to be an absolute cracker.

At the bottom of the table, Arataki look destined to head down to Premier Mens 2 having failed to secure a win so far and with a bye last round have no way of securing any more than 4 competition points.  Their bottom of the table clash next week with fellow cellar dwellers Rangataua at Ariki Park Maungatapu will be for pride and form heading into round 2.

In Farmlands Baywide Division One grade, the top five clubs looking to head up to join Arataki, Rangataua and either Marist St Michaels or Ngongotaha in the Premier Mens 2 round are Opotiki Sports, Rotoiti Sports, Kahukura, Judea and Waikite.  On paper, Te Teko have a mathematical chance as well, however, the best they could do is finish on equal 20 points with Waikite. 

However, Waikite’s comprehensive win over Te Teko way back in round 1, 36-8 means Waikite would go up on the “who beat who” rule.

In Senior Local news, the Eastern Bay competition will split into a top half and bottom half for their round 2 matches and the Western Bay competition looks like they will simply repeat round 1 with a reverse home and away split.

The newly formed Baywide Colts competition looks like the final for the Challenge Shield on Friday 18^th June will be contested between Greerton Marist U21 and Kahukura U85 kgs.  In it’s inaugural season since 2013, three teams participated in the revitalised colts competition, with the other being Papamoa. 

Greerton Marist President Russell Smart comments, “Our colts team has grown in both numbers and culture since the BOPRU announced the colts competition way back in December 2020.  It’s been fantastic for our club to get our colts team off the ground.  We’ve been able to blood new players in our development team during the first round.  In my opinion, this is the way forward for clubs in 2022 and beyond.  Colts provides a path for school leavers that aren’t yet ready to foot it with the big boys in senior rugby. U85kgs could be our next team.  For the smaller guys that want to stay on the grass but aren’t big enough to foot it with the bigger boys an U85 kgs team would be ideal.  How good would it be if Greerton Marist could field five senior teams in 2022, Premier, Premier Development, Senior Reserves, Colts and U85 kgs.  Add this to our twenty junior teams and we have the platform for a successful club moving into the future.”

Article added: Monday 07 June 2021