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

Last Saturday, this long time rugby fan saw a game where all the stars aligned, for a first half of total domination little seen in Baywide rugby today.

The occasion was the premier encounter at Greerton Park between the home side and the blue and black brigade of Te Puna. Parking was at an absolute premium around Greerton Park, with three games between the two rivals senior reserve, development and premier teams.

A multitude of Te Puna supporters decked out in their team colours joined the large number of Greerton fans who always turn up at their club home games.

Even the most ardent Te Puna supporters were mostly unprepared for the nonstop first half action as the referee signaled Game On. A rampant Te Puna charge up the middle of the paddock, with the ball sent wide to the supporting players, which led to the first Te Puna try in the first minute of the encounter.

The visitors four-try bonus point came twelve minutes into the match, with Te Puna leading 53 nil at the halftime break in play, courtesy of nine Te Puna touchdowns. 

Seven minutes into the second spell Te Puna grabbed their tenth try of the match. Amazingly, there was no further scoring in the game with the match ending with Te Puna having posted 58 unanswered points.

The real delight of match was the Te Puna open running rugby with the ball spread wide at every opportunity and few interruptions from the referee. Greerton are a genuine premier side, but on the day had no answers to a rampant Te Puna side, who would have beaten any Baywide challenger last Saturday.

Te Puna are just one of the premier contenders who have responded to the format re-introduced by the Bay Union last season, where twelve premier sides chase the eight places up for grabs in the premier one championship in the second half of the season.

The twelve teams fighting for eight spots in June and July has created pressure from the opening games of the season. After four games, Te Puna, Paroa, Tauranga Sports, Rangataua and Arataki sit in a logjam at the top of the table, with just a solitary loss apiece.

The real surprise has been the emergence of Eastern Bay side Paroa who were one of the easy beats in the premier ranks last season.

Intelligent recruiting and a determination to succeed have propelled Paroa into the early season limelight. Club firepower needs to be spread throughout the region for Bay of Plenty rugby to be strong, with Paroa flying the premier flag of success in the Eastern Bay.

Locally, Arataki have continued their renaissance that saw them win promotion to the premier title race in 2015. They have fought their way back from local Western Bay rugby a decade ago, to look genuine top eight contenders this season.

The real strength of the current Baywide competitions, is that teams find their level playing similar strength opposition, by way of promotion/relegation. A second echelon side has the opportunity to play premier rugby by way of winning the division one title, if they are good enough.