A strong and experienced Bay of Plenty Steamers side will face the Counties Manukau Steelers at ECOLight Stadium in Pukekohe this afternoon.

Head Coach Clayton McMillan has made a number of changes to the starting fifteen for their round two match of the Mitre 10 Cup following last weekend's loss to Taranaki at the Tauranga Domain.

The Bay of Plenty Steamers' second round Mitre 10 Cup match against the Counties Manukau Steelers kicks off in Pukekohe at 4.35pm today. Photo: Chris Callinan.

Exeprienced campaigners Seigfried Fisi'ihoi and Pingi Tala'apitaga will pack down the front of the scrum with hooker Liam Polwart. While Keepa Mewett will start this week alongside Culum Retallick to complete the tight five.

Jesse Parete will start this week following last week's performance off the bench, with Hugh Blake and Joe Tupe again starting at seven and eight.

The Steamers backline remains largely unchanged with the exception of Kelly Haimona starting at first five and Te Rangi Fraser at fullback as Dan Hollinshead and Chase Tiatia have been ruled out due to injuries sustained during last week's match against Taranaki (Hollinshead with a head injury and Tiatia with a broken tibia).

New Zealand Sevens player Regan Ware and Bay of Plenty Sevens representative Matty Axtens will be looking to make their debut for the Steamers off the bench this weekend.

The team is as follows:

1. Siegfried Fisi'ihoi
2. Liam Polwart
3. Pingi Tala'apitaga
4. Culum Retallick
5. Keepa Mewett
6. Jesse Parete
7. Hugh Blake
8. Joe Tupe
9. Te Aihe Toma
10. Kelly Haimona
11. Isaac Te Aute
12. Terrence Hepetema
13. Lalakai Foketi
14. Monty Ioane
15. Te Rangi Fraser

Reserves:
16. James O'Reilly
17. Aidan Ross
18. Jeff Thwaites
19. Troy Callander
20. Matty Axtens*
21. Henry Stowers
22. Ruki Tipuna
23. Regan Ware*

*Denotes Steamers debut

The Bay of Plenty Steamers take on the Counties Manukau Steelers at Pukekohe's ECOLight Stadium. Kick off at 4.35pm. For more information visit the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union website at: www.boprugby.co.nz