The Ōpōtiki women's rugby team have booked their ticket in the top four of the Baywide women's championship.

Ōpōtiki finished the regular season in second place after losing just once, to a strong Whakarewarewa outfit.

While Sunday's clash against Kahu Pirates was a scrappy encounter, Ōpōtiki, with multiple changes, did enough to score a fantastic 49-20 victory.

The second round of the championship starts this weekend, and they face a difficult assignment with a clash against Whakarewarewa first up at Princess Street Reserve.

For finishing second, Ōpōtiki get two homes, a massive achievement and something that could be crucial when it comes to the crunch.

Player-coach Helena Coughlan, who was back at halfback this week following recent stints at first five eighth, said it was a good plucky win by her side.

“For not having training for two weeks, our ladies did well. We made it harder for ourselves for not going to the game plan and setting our pods, but overall, our ladies did well to adjust and get the win.

“It's awesome to get another win, but also celebrating the little wins in each player and how they perform is a win for me.”

Coughlan said from where they were at the start of the season to now, was a massive win for women’s rugby.

“Now we are in the top four, we play Whakarewarewa at home, Te Puna away and Kahu Pirates at home; an awesome advantage having two home games.”

Coughlan said the victory over Kahu Pirates was enjoyable because they were always a tough side to face.

“It’s always a team effort for how well our players play each week but a standout was Leilah Amai, one of our youngest players, who went from the backs to open side flanker and made several strong runs onto the ball, plenty of chop tackles and broke the opposition line on numerous occasions.

“It’s been amazing watching her confidence grow in herself and as a player at every game, especially with her coming back from surgery on her shoulder, to doing what she is in games.

“Wency-Ree [Rewi] has been a big asset to us this year and deservedly dotted down for a hat trick in the game, but also many other tries in the previous games. Our forwards have been doing the real mahi though, Arlyce Paora, Tarmera Katene and Kohitu Mokomoko have made big impact for our team, gaining yards and continually making strong carries into contact and tackling hard.”

Jocelyn Franklyn usually plays in the loose forwards, but with Ōpōtiki short on personnel at the weekend, shifted out to the backs and played well.

“I’m proud of my ladies, growing the culture within our team but also building safe environments for our young players and our tamariki to be proud of.”

Coughlan expects a good tough game against Whakarewarewa this Sunday and hopes for a big bunch of home fans to help spur them to victory.