Waitete U13 were crowned back-to-back King Country champions in Te Kūiti on Saturday.
The Waitete U13 team have done the double after demolishing Taupō Sports Vikings 74-19 to win the Jim Gibb Shield and the final in Te Kūiti on Saturday.
The young blues have been a step above the other seven teams in the King Country U13 Championship all year – in fact the last two years – and Saturday provided an emphatic send-off for this formidable team.
Any chance Taupō had was killed off with an early Waitete four-try onslaught that buried the visitors from the outset and included a fantastic long-range try from Noah Tipene-Kale Wehi.
Stands outs included number eight Cooper Boddie who made plenty of metres up the park, not to mention another hat-trick to centre Demyriuz PuTamainu Taitoko-Dewes, who has arguably been Waitete’s best all year.
Taupō Sports pegged back a bit of ground through the middle part of the game, mainly thanks to their towering number eight, and son of former Chiefs player Fritz Lee, Elijah Lee, who bagged two of his own tries after proving hard to contain from broken play.
Long-serving referee and rugby man Jim Gibb was on-hand to present Waitete the shield named after him and winners’ medals, commending both teams on a great season.
“Waitete, you turned out to be a well-coached, well-drilled team and made great use of the ball,” Gibb said.
He acknowledged the manage-ment of both teams and the parents.
“It’s a big commitment playing in a King Country-wide competition and for you to keep these kids on the field is a great effort, thank you,” he said.
The result was effectively a repeat of the 2025 final where Waitete beat Taupō Sports 40-21 in Te Kūiti. Te team has now gone unbeaten since losing the final to Tongariro in 2024 – a span of 19 wins on the trot.
In senior men’s footy, Taupō Marist has claimed the Ron Bryers Trophy, for topping the King Country premier club ladder at the end of the regular season. It was a third consecutive win.
They remained unbeaten throughout but only just, as Taumarunui Districts put a slight dint in their armour in a 27-27 draw in Taumarunui on Saturday.
The draw also secured the second seeding for Districts heading into the semi-finals this Saturday, when they will host Taupō Sports, who pumped the yellow-and-blacks 40-12 at the Taumarunui Domain on June 13.
Waitete locked up fourth spot with a 40-15 victory in a do-or-die clash against Taumarunui Eels at Cherry Grove, and will now face Taupō Marist at Owen Delany Park in the other semi.
Having already lost to Taupō Marist twice this season – 43-7 in Taupō and 24-0 in Te Kūiti – it will be a tough ask for Waitete to stop Marist making their third consecutive final, but in knock-out rugby anything can happen.
It’s been a long time between drinks for Waitete, who made their last final in 2019 against Taupō Sports and won their last King Country championship in 2013, also against Taupō Sports 21-17.
The division one final for fifth-place is a repeat of last year’s match between Eels and Piopio, but with Eels hosting this time at Cherry Grove in Taumarunui.
King Country premier men’s club rugby final standings: Taupō Marist 60, Taumarunui Districts 47, Taupō Sports 44, Waitete 38, Taumarunui Eels 33, Piopio 21, Waitomo 6 (all teams received five points for a default win against Tongariro United in the first round).
Waitete U13 were crowned back-to-back King Country champions in Te Kūiti on Saturday.
