IT was two days of rugby to remember for the Eastern Bay of Plenty under-16 and under-18 teams competing in the Youth Development Cup at Whakatāne last week.

Both boys' teams took out their respective grades, with some cracking rugby taking place.

The tournament is in its third year and was again held at Rugby Park.

It was created to provide a bridge between school and representative rugby, but also gives players the chance to play at a higher level; something many of them wouldn’t get to achieve.

From the Youth Development Cup, opportunities now exist for athletes to continue their growth and development through the under-16 girls’ and boys’ and under-18 girls’ and boys’ programmes.

The Chiefs run an under-16s’ carnival in the term three school holidays where Bay of Plenty will send two boys’ teams and one girls’ team.

The Chiefs also select athletes from across the Chiefs provincial unions (Counties Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki) to attend an under-18s’ regional camp in the term three school holidays.

Doing well at these camps can lead to opportunities, such as the Bay of Plenty Toa, which is under-19 level.

The under-16 boys, coached by Mark Pouwhare, produced some cracking rugby on their way to the final.

Their first game was a challenging 19-14 win against a tough Central Bay outfit, with lock Harlem McCabe scoring the winning try.

Next up, they played the Western Bay and defeated them 22-10.

In the final, they overcame the Western Bay again and won 15-10 in a tough final.

EBOP fullback Ariki Roozendaal opened the scoring with a superb individual try midway through the first half.

It was 5-0 at halftime to EBOP and they started the second half strongly by forcing Western Bay to make an error.  

Eastern Bay made it 10-0 with a try to Israel Williams, before Western Bay replied immediately.

The EBOP’s third and winning try came on the back of a Raymond Pene line break, which saw Jock Broughton finish off.

Western Bay scored late in the contest, but it wasn’t enough.

Winger Rejan Williams showed some outstanding pace all weekend and had a knack of continually getting on the outside of his opposing winger, while Khan Henderson was another who was superb at first five.

Jose Rika made some good carries in the final and is another to watch for the future, while Kyan Edwards at openside flanker was another to watch.

Pouwhare said it was an honour to take out the tournament.

“The competition between the three sub unions was great.

“Me and Te Kauru Edwards, my other coach, were stoked that the boys managed to win the competition.”

Pouwhare said there was plenty of good hard rugby played, which was what a lot of the players needed.

“The boys were stoked because this was their chance to prove that EBOP has some good talent.

“It was a chance for our boys to prove that they can match it against the other two unions, and they certainly did that and it brings out the rivalry.

“Eastern Bay loves beating Western Bay and Central Bay. There’s kind of a love-hate relationship between the three unions.”

Pouwhare said while some boys were standouts, it took all 25 members of the squad to help get them across the line in the final.

“They were a great bunch of boys to coach and they were all there to play for each other.”

He is also thankful to his managers, who have been working hard in the background.

“It’s exciting to say we are the champs for the next 12 months.”

In the under-18s, the Eastern Bay started strongly with a good 45-0 win over Toiarikikura Taitama. In their second game, they fell to the Western Bay, 20-7, to wrap up day one.

On day two, the Don Te Maipi-coached side faced Central Bay of Plenty and were too strong, holding tough for a 14-10 win.

It was enough to put them through to the final, where they faced WBOP, who were unbeaten in pool play.

In the final, a superb chip and chase from Heke McGarvey deep in his own half saw him race away for a great individual try and it gave EBOP the perfect start, which Tiaki Hunia converted from out wide.

They dominated the first half and managed to hold onto a 7-0 lead.

Western Bay replied first in the second half to make it 7-5, but Eastern Bay hung tough and managed another outstanding individual try through replacement winger Ereatara Tahana to win 14-5.

Captain Fearghus Byers was outstanding, while Sione Pulu got through plenty of work at number eight.  

Hunia was impressive at first-five, while Milan Milsoevic, Manaia Herbert, Rihari Biddle, Ngatiki Wera-Cook and several others, were superb in the win, which makes it back-to-back under-18 crowns.

They also won the tournament in 2023, when they similarly defeated Western Bay.

The under-18 girls showed touches of class, but it wasn’t enough as they ended up finishing third.

Prayer Thompson was a standout at first-five, while Nivaloh Elliot and Herataimai Eruera formed a strong partnership in the midfield, and Shykauda Church played strongly at openside flanker.

They defeated East Coast 22-14, lost to Central Bay 34-12, came up short against Toiarikikura Taihine, falling to a 24-19 defeat.

Day two saw them lose to Western Bay 17-12 to finish fourth overall.

The under-16s won their third and fourth clash against Ngāti Porou East Coast 26-19.

They raced out to a 19-0 lead, before East Coast struck back with some cracking tries.

Number eight Hazel Gates-Paul was a standout all tournament for EBOP and scored two tries in the game.

Others to impress were Grace Turner, Mia McWatters, nailed some cracking conversions and Isla Tangira, Skye Chisholm, Shyla Warner-Melligan and Sincerely Hakopa all showed promise.

Manager Matt Turner said it was a great tournament to be part of.

“We had a lot of young ones who gave it heaps.

“We were stoked to get to play Ngāti Porou East East Coast as well.

“Western and Central have such big talent pools to pick from and we still held our own.”

He said it was great seeing the girls compete and the two boys’ teams come out victorious.

In their pool games, the EBOP under-16s lost 22-5 to Western Bay, best East Coast 14-12 and fell to an impressive Central Bay side 50-0.