It looks as if it is Ōpōtiki’s competition to lose.
The EBOP premier men’s team produced one of their best performances of the season to dismantle table-toppers Paroa 52-19 in their clash at Lawson Park on Saturday.
Ōpōtiki ran in eight tries in the victory and managed to convert six of them, with a strong base up front laying the platform for some impressive touch downs.

Ōpōtiki player-coach Tuterangi Te Moana, who has been behind a big culture shift at the club, was pleased with the performance.

“We’re stoked with the win … It was a really important game for us, not only for table position but for confirmation that we are making the necessary adjustments and improvements moving towards the back end of our season.”

He said it was pleasing to get victory against them after falling short in their first-round contest.

“It was nice gaining one back on Paroa after our first-round loss to them. I’d have to say we treated this game like game two of an origin series, so it was something that we just needed to get done and, as a bonus, it put us at the top of the ladder.

“We’re glad that we have the chance to recover with our upcoming bye, but we know we still have our work to do during the week and we’ll continue to improve our game where we can.”

Te Moana said an ability to play how they wanted, set them up for the win.

“Game plan and structure were key parts of our win, but I think ultimately our attitude got us through the 80 minutes.”

He was pleased with their set pieces, something Ōpōtiki always work hard on.

“Scrums and lineouts were very favourable for us, both on attack and defence, with us being able to disrupt and challenge each one of theirs.

“I think that’s a testament to the attitude of our forward pack. Our outside backs remained electric with ball in hand, and it was a great match-up out wide for both teams. It was a good day on the boot for us as well, being able to convert the majority of our tries.”

He said it was getting tough to pick standouts each week but that was a good problem to have.

“Our best were Creed Edwards, Tamarau Karepa and Braeden Elmiger in the backs. Arlen Newton and our flankers Te Awaitaia Rolls and Matthew Anstis in the forwards.”
This weekend they have a well-deserved bye before playing Rūātoki away, Te Teko at home and Whakatāne Marist at Rugby Park to finish the round robin – all matches they’ll be wanting to win.

Ōpōtiki are a team with numerous hard-working forwards, several leaders, some excellent game controllers, and some outstanding attacking flair, which makes them incredibly dangerous.
Stick it altogether like they have in recent weeks, and their style of rugby becomes hard for opposition sides to combat.

Elmiger continues to score tries for fun, while last weekend Kiwi Biddle managed four, showing they have plenty of firepower out wide and don't rely only on the fancy-footed Elmiger.
In their win over Paroa, Karepa helped himself to a double, while Luke Morris, Tangike Borell, Anstis, Rolls and Elmiger with a pair were the other try scorers in the win.

Ōpōtiki B had a tight tussle with Paroa B, but they failed to return home with a positive result going down 19-17.
The B side will be looking to bounce back this weekend when they face Edgecumbe in what should be a quality contest.