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Sports correspondent & historian with |
The Blue and Gold fans are refreshed after their off-season break, and are ready to answer the call of support when the Tasman RU representatives visit the Tauranga Domain this Sunday afternoon.
Tasman are the Bay of Plenty Steamers’ first opponents in the 2025 Bunnings NPC, which will occupy the attention of the nation’s rugby fans for the next 13 weeks.
Hurt lasted for a long time last year after the Bay of Plenty Steamers were denied victory in a marathon NPC final against the Wellington Lions, at the Sky Stadium in the country’s capital city.
The hosts struck first with two tries to All Black Julian Savea and the Steamers were trailing 15-7 after the first 40 minutes.
The Steamers started to play their traditional style of spinning the ball wide in the second spell, with Emoni Narawa grabbing his side’s second touchdown.
Steamers kicker Kaleb Trask was in good touch with the boot, converting both the Adin Ross and Narawa tries and adding two penalty goals.
A third home team try late in regular time locked the game up locked at 20 points apiece, with the title decider sent into 20 minutes of extra play.
Despite a relentless assault by the Steamers, they were unable to break the deadlock in the first extra 10 minutes.
Finally, three minutes into the second spell of extra time, the Wellington kicker slotted a penalty goal to earn his side the 2024 National Provincial Rugby Championship.
Bay of Plenty reached the big dance against Wellington by way of finishing fourth in the round-robin competition, sneaking past Hawke’s Bay 19-17 in the quarter-finals then beating Canterbury 32-20 in the semifinal.
Earlier this season Steamers head coach Richard Watt said, “We are really looking forward to building on the success of the last season. I’m sure the players will use the disappointment of losing the final last year to fuel their hunger to reach that game again this year. This will give them every opportunity to create some history for the province in 2025.”
After they play Tasman this weekend, the Steamers fans will have just a two-week wait before their heroes are back in Tauranga City, when they square off with NPC heavyweights, Canterbury.
The Canterbury encounter is a double-value match for Steamers fans, with the Bay of Plenty Volcanic women’s side meeting Manawatū in an 11.35am curtain-raiser.
On Thursday, August 21, the Steamers play their sole home match at the Rotorua International Stadium when Southland make the long trip north from the Deep South.
Another double-header takes centre stage on Saturday, September 13, with Bay of Plenty taking on long-time rivals Hawkes Bay in both the Steamers and Volcanic match-ups.
The Steamers round out their home-ground appearances with another Sunday encounter on September 28 in a “Battle of the Kaimais” against near neighbours Waikato.
Bay of Plenty Steamers 2025 Bunnings NPC Home Games
August 3 (Sunday) v Tasman at Tauranga Domain, 2.05pm
August 16 (Saturday) v Canterbury at Tauranga Domain, 2.05pm (double-header with Volcanix playing Manawatū at 11.35am)
August 21 (Thursday) v Southland at Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua, 7.05pm.
September 13 (Saturday) v Hawke’s Bay at Tauranga Domain, 2.05pm (double-header with Volcanix playing Hawke’s Bay at 11.35am)
September 28 (Sunday) v Waikato at Tauranga Domain, Tauranga, 2.05pm.
