CLUBMATES: Cortez-Lee Ratima and Haereiti Hetet before the Bunnings NPC quarterfinal between Waikato and Bay of Plenty, which the latter won. PHOTO SUPPLIED
ŌTOROHANGA prop Haereiti Hetet was sporting the biggest smile on Sunday. He came up against Ōtorohanga club mate Cortez-Lee Ratima in the Bunnings NPC quarterfinal between Waikato and Bay of Plenty in Hamilton which was won by the latter 34-27. Both players came off the bench and provided plenty of impact for their teams in what was an entertaining clash. Overall, Ratima took the honours 2-1 as Waikato won last weekend 35-34 and then the Chiefs defeated the Fijian Drua earlier in the super rugby season, but Hetet can claim he won the contest which mattered most. Both players had awesome seasons and Ratima has narrowly missed out on touring with the New Zealand XV for two games in the Northern Hemisphere, while Hetet must be close to a call up with Fiji for the Northern Hemisphere tour. Following the loss Ratima’s season is now completed and he deserves a break having had standout campaigns for Waikato and the Chiefs, while Hetet will hope to be part of the Bay of Plenty side to tackle competition favourites Canterbury in semi-final in Christchurch this Saturday night. Hetet played eight games for Waikato across two seasons including being part of their championship winning side in 2018 before joining Bay of Plenty in 2020, where he has spent the past three seasons. The barnstorming prop has also played two tests for Fiji but funnily enough made his international debut for the New Zealand Māori against the Flying Fijians. Hetet’s dad is former Fijian prop Joeli Veitayaki. Fellow Ōtorohanga team-mate Mosese Dawai wasn’t selected in the Waikato 23 for the contest.
