As the Western Bay does a half-hearted jump for joy that we're getting the Bay of Plenty Steamers to play a rugby game at Tauranga Domain, another region is high-fiving their success at securing an international and historical sporting event.

Come June 2017 Whangarei will host the first game in the British and Irish Lions 10-match tour of the country – and is expecting several thousand Lions fans to follow the
team and bring an economic windfall to Northland.

Meanwhile, down here in the Bay, we've been caught napping once again – with our top priority trying to drag 5000-6000 people along to the televised ITM clash next month after seven-year rugby hiatus at the domain.

Big whoop! Do you think we've set our goals a little too low Tauranga?

The BOP Rugby Union is going with the line that moving the clash to the domain is in response to supporters' feedback that ASB Baypark doesn't provide the atmosphere and intimacy they expect from an 'edge-of-your-seat” experience.

I'd hardly call watching the BOP Steamers with 5000 others at the domain titillating.

The Whangarei District Council is investing $250,000 into their Lions game, but we haven't even got a decent stadium to get out of traps when vying to get these big gigs.

So it begs the question, what is the BOPRU, the city council, Priority One and other city-promotion vehicles doing to get the big gigs here?

Yes, the AIMS Games are annual success but we need more events – and events people want to go to. The last city jam-up I can recall is Grey Power trying to get to the Irish Rovers. Again, big whoop!

D Smith, Tauranga City