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

To the naysayers that try to tell us that club rugby draws little interest, with the professional game taking all the attention – they weren't trying to get car parking within a reasonable walking distance of Blake Park or the Tauranga Domain last Saturday.

Club rugby is alive and well in the Western Bay of Plenty, with the BOPRU Club Finals played out last weekend, drawing very big crowds to Blake Park and the Tauranga Domain.

For the first time in three years, club rugby completed a season without any Covid 19 interruptions,

A crowd in their thousands thronged to Blake Park on the weekend, to watch Mount Maunganui square off with Te Puna, in the Baywide Premier and Western Bay of Plenty Championship title deciders.

The road to Blake Park for both Mount Maunganui and Te Puna, encompassed 11 rounds of qualifying play and semi-final success, with the Mount awarded hosting rights as top qualifier in both divisions.

A one-point thriller took centre stage on the Sir Gordon Tietjens field with Mount Maunganui squeezing home from Te Puna, 27-26, in the 2022 Baywide Premier Final.

The hosts clearly won the first forty minutes, in running in three tries, to be in front 21-12 at half time.

The Blue and Black brigade stormed back in the third quarter, courtesy of touchdowns awarded to James Brown and mercurial halfback Te Aihi Toma, both converted by Brayden Dew, to lead 26-24.

The moment then belonged to Mount sharp-shooter, Carlos Price, who calmly slotted his second penalty of the finale, for Mount Maunganui to lead by a solitary point, with 15 minutes remaining in the encounter.

Stern Mount defence countered desperate Te Puna attacks on the line, as the clock ticked down. Mount Maunganui survived the intense pressure, to secure their fifth Baywide crown, to go with their 1993, 2005, 2014 and 2017 title success's.

Te Puna laid down the gauntlet to Mount Maunganui earlier in the day, with their Development team taking out the Western Bay of Plenty Rugby Sub-Union Championship, in the curtain raiser at Blake Park.

Te Puna reversed an early season nine point loss, to lift the Combined Cup aloft in triumph after their 48-24 win, in the entrée at Blake Park.

Another big crowd turned out at the Tauranga Domain to watch defending Baywide Colts/Under 85kg champions, Greerton Marist, win back to back titles. Tauranga Sports and Greerton Marist, finished on equal points in the championship qualifying competition, with Sports earning a home venue courtesy of a superior points differential.

Greerton led 10-7 at the half way stage of the encounter before adding another try in the second spell, to squeeze home 15-14.

There was sure to have been plenty of joy and celebration in the Katikati Rugby clubrooms on Saturday night, after their team booked a return to Baywide rugby next season. The side from the Western Bay extremities squared off with Rotorua side, Marist St Michaels, in the Baywide promotion eliminator on the number two field at Blake Park.

In the third one-point thriller of the weekend, Katikati got past Marist St Michaels 13-12, after leading 10-5 at halftime. Katikati, will replace fellow Western Bay of Plenty side Arataki who have been relegated to sub-union rugby competition next year.