The stage is now set for the finals of the Eastern Bay of Plenty men’s rugby competition.

Ōpōtiki and Paroa enter the premier men’s final on the back of contrasting victories.

Ōpōtiki hammered Rūātoki, 62-13, thanks to a hat-trick of tries to Te Awaitaia Rolls and doubles to try scoring machine Braeden Elmiger and speedy outside back Tamarau Karepa.

They scored 10 tries all up in what was an impressive performance.

It was Ōpōtiki’s 10th successive win in a season they have dominated.

Although Rūātoki toiled hard for the entire 80 minutes, they were unable to stop a powerful allround Ōpōtiki team, who used their big forwards to get good go-forward, kicked for possession well and then gave their speedy backs the ball with plenty of space.

Paroa, their opponent in Saturday’s upcoming final, had a much more difficult semifinal, defeating Whakatāne Marist 20-19 in what was a thrilling contest.

Very little separated the teams and thanks to a big scrum on their own line, Paroa forced Whakatāne Marist into an error, which was enough to earn them a spot in the final.

In their previous clashes against Marist, the first-round contest was a draw, while the green-and-blacks defaulted their second match.

Paroa produced a committed team effort which featured some staunch defence late in the contest.

Captain Kurt Baker said they were stoked to pick up the victory.

“It was good to get one over Marist. It was a scrappy game and could’ve gone either way, just glad our boys held on till the very end.”

Fittingly, their development team will also be in the final and they’re playing Ōpōtiki, too.

Baker said win or lose; this season had been a good one for the club.

It’s also been a couple of seasons since they were last in the final.

Marist welcomed a couple of key figures back for the contest and one of them was halfback Cole Scott, who had a strong game.

Liva Sili and Rhys Keighley powered through plenty of work up front and Ryshawn Vercoe showed touches of brilliance at first five eighth. The best for Paroa were Baker, halfback Jack Clark and hooker Joe Duffy, who shines each week.

In the senior reserve competition, a penalty to Matatā sealed the deal right on fulltime as they picked up a tense 23-19 win over neighbours Edgecumbe.

It was tit-for-tat throughout, but fittingly, Matatā won through to the final where they will face Waimana.

Matatā coach George Playle said it was a great game against their neighbours.

“Even though I was confident we could get the win, we always know playing Edgecumbe was going to be a tough game, and it could have gone either way.

“Kicking the penalty at full time to take the win shows how close it was.”

Ōpōtiki development made it into their final with a 43-41 win over Rūātoki thanks to two tries each to Hasley Howe and Shaun Gebert, while Paroa B managed a 51-16 win over Te Teko B thanks to a double to winger Trey Hahipene. All up, they scored seven tries in the impressive win.

Waimana qualified top in their section so automatically went through to the final.