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The Bay of Plenty Steamers kept their final hopes alive against an ill-disciplined Southland Stags, winning at 26-10 at Bay Park Stadium on Wednesday night.

Despite some early jitters soon after kick off, the Bay settled into the match faster than the Stags thanks to the return of All Blacks flanker Sam Cane, who managed a classic Richie McCaw-like turnover, to gain the home side an early advantage at the breakdown.
The Bay of Plenty Steamers on the attack against the Southland Stags. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

His skills lifted the side, which worked as a unit to disrupt any attack Southland tried to put together.

This set the standard for the first half with the Bay dominating possession and territory. The skills shown by the Bay should have had them ahead by more points. But a poor kicking performance by first-five Nick Evemy saw him miss three kickable penalties.

The first points of the match came in the fourth minute, from a penalty kick after the Stags' forwards were penalised for their ill-discipline at the breakdown. The Bay would convert two more penalties for the same violation to be up 9-0 at the 25 minute mark.

Neither side looked likely of scoring a try in the first half. The Bay showed glimpses of brilliance in their handling of the ball but it would eventually breakdown.

The Stags' first points came from a penalty, when the Bay were deemed to be offside 10m in front of their goal. Southland first-five Ash Moeke made easy work of the kick to bring the score to 9-3.

The points seemed to lift Southland, they started to get some set play and in the 33rd minute they got momentum and confidence. But it clouded their judgement and instead of taking an easy penalty kick 25m from the Bay line they opted for a scrum.

At first the set move looked to have paid off, when it appeared a hole had open in the Bay's mid-field for the Stags to score.

But it was soon slammed shut by a flying Sam Cane who obliterated the scoring opportunity. His side got the turn over when the Stags were penalised for holding onto the ball.

Cane says he was impressed with the way the team had performed.

'If you look at the amount of guys with Super Rugby experience it's very minimal compared to some of the other ITM Cup sides.”

Southland were given a second chance a few minutes later when they were given another penalty near the Steamers' line. This time they opted for the kick only to see the ball swing away from the posts leaving the halftime score 9-3 to the home side.

Although Evemy looked good with the ball in hand. His kicking average was only 50 per cent. So it was no surprise to the small crowd attending the match, Steamers coach Clayton McMillan had replace him with Dan Hollinshead at the break.

The change had the desired affect with the replacement first-five landing a 22m penalty kick, after a Stags' player wrestled Cane illegally away from a ruck. Just 5 minutes into the second half.

It was clear the Bay were using the strong wind at their backs, to gain an advantage. But the Stags were the next team to score, when flying winger Tauasosi Tuimavave made a beautiful break down the left hand side.

He opened space for his No.8 Bill Fukofuka to score in the opposite corner. The try was converted to take the score to 12-10.

The Bay were back on the scoreboard a few minutes later, when fullback Te Rangi Fraser was rewarded for his quick thinking – the Stags were on attack 10m inside the Bay's half and decided to chip through the line, only for the ball to find the arms of Fraser.

The cat-like fullback kicked then chased the ball for about 50m to score which Hollinshead converted to make it 19-10.

The Stags had a chance 3 minutes later to add to their score, with a penalty kick 30m out. But Ash struggled to time it and the ball wobbled low and to the right of the posts.

The Bay were back on the scoreboard soon after, when winger Chase Tiatia scampered 55m to score from a Southland handling error. The try was converted by Hollinshead to take the score to 26-10.

It was the Bays All Blacks; Cane and Nathan Harris who would dampen out any flames of attack from the Stags, with precision work at the breakdown. It appeared they knew when it was time to attack the ball to get the turn over.

In the last 10 minutes, the Steamers replacement players lifted their defensive efforts and despite phase after phase, the Stags couldn't find a way through the Bay's defence.

The only concern for McMillan would have to be the front row struggled at scrum time. Especially late in the second half, with the replacement players often being penalised for collapsing the scrum.

However, Bay of Plenty Captain Culum Retallick says overall he was pleased with his teams efforts. But they would need to work on a few things before their next match against Waikato on Sunday.