Bay of Plenty Rugby Union has announced a Baywide Colts/Under 85 kgs competition will again be on the cards for school leavers and more mature, but smaller rugby players for the second season in a row.

Last year three teams; Greerton Marist Colts, Papamoa Colts and Kahukura Under 85 kgs played in a compact six-week Friday night under lights competition.

Kahukura went on to be the sole Bay of Plenty representative team that participated in the inaugural 2021 NZ Barbarians Under 85kg Club Cup.

Greerton Marist won the Baywide final against Papamoa.

'The final was a welcomed surprise in disguise,” says Greerton Marist Colts captain Bruno King.

'We were meant to play at home the following week but found out that day it was going to be Papamoa and an ‘away' final.

'We played Papamoa once before and that was a really close game. I can't deny I was quite nervous going out there for the final. I felt all the gurnards got ignited with a little extra something that night and it felt surreal winning the final how we did, I'll never forget it.”

Greerton Marist President Russell Smart says he is happy to see the programme running again in 2022.

'The reintroduction of Colts into the Bay in 2021 was a highly successful program for us as a club to enable these young men to return to Rugby and ensure a pathway in our sport for the future,” says Russell.

'Almost all of our players in our 2021 Championship Team are returning in 2022 for one of our teams which proves success in itself.

13031. competition format is similar to last year in that clubs will be able to enter either an under 21 team, or an under 85 kg team, or players with a mixture of both.

'A hybrid colts/U85 kgs grade of rugby is vitally important for our clubs,” explains BOP Community Rugby manager Pat Rae.

'It bridges the gap between secondary school rugby and senior rugby and provides a suitable playing option for any player that feels they're not ready to step from schoolboy rugby into a senior team.

'We know from asking our young men that weekend work now plays a significant part to play when deciding whether to play rugby at all.

'Played under lights on a Friday night, with teams choosing to only train once a week, this grade of rugby now provides our young men and smaller mature players with an opportunity to play that doesn't mean having to commit so much time to training and playing.

'We will be hoping for at least six teams to enter this year's competition, to make it bigger and better than last year.”

For more information on Colts rugby click here.