15 replies to this topic

[KiwiPie]

Team named for Friday's game. All the guns are included - Masaga and Moa on the bench.

Bay of Plenty Steamers v Hawkes Bay @ Rugby Park, Whakatane - 3pm Kick Off
1 Joe Savage 2 John Pareanga 3 Josh Hohneck 4 Luke Andrews 5 Culum Retallick 6 Luke Braid 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain) 8 Solomon King 9 Chad Tuoro 10 Dan Waenga 11 Jason Hona 12 Grant McQuoid 13 Ben Smith 14 Lance MacDonald 15 Toby Arnold.
Reserves: Simon Chisholm, James McGougan, Aiden Kuka, Colin Bourke, Taniela Moa, Cory Aporo, Lelia Masaga, Sam Cane.

[Baron Silas Greenback]

Nice strength on the bench!

[bayimports]

last pre-season game? Just hope no injuries, got a very tough start to the real campaign versus DSW and hawkes

[sportboy]

Teams as follows. Dreadful that it's not a first-class game, again. What's the fucking point?

Quote

Masaga desperate to show his best

He's endured three months of recuperation and a little bit more pent-up frustration.
Now Bay of Plenty's new star wing signing, one-test All Black Lelia Masaga, is finally about to take the field for his new province.
Masaga is starting from the bench against Taranaki in Whakatane tomorrow and he's promised supporters he'll do anything possible to live up to the hype.
"I just want to get out there and run, show supporters what I can do and really enjoy myself," Masaga said. "It's something that I really didn't do at the start of the Super 14 and by the time I was coming right, I got injured.
"It's been fairly frustrating, just sitting around eating good food. I'm probably going to pay the price for that now but I want to get into top shape as quickly as possible."
The 23-year-old flier injured his knee against the Stormers in Hamilton in April, the same game his new Bay of Plenty teammate Mike Delany wrecked his shoulder.
It came after a comparatively flat start to the season for the try-scoring menace, which he blamed on confidence.
Masaga's return is one of three intriguing selections for Bay of Plenty tomorrow, with Auckland halfback Taniela Moa picked to start off the bench despite only expecting to arrive today.
Moa and Masaga will be joined on the bench by prop James McGougan, who has also been battling a back injury for much of the last year. McGougan is the only Eastern Bay player in the squad, having switched back to Paroa this year.
Tomorrow's game won't be a first-class fixture. with the visiting Taranaki team desperate to give as many of their squad game-time as possible.
Bay of Plenty's main injury worries at this stage are with fullback Nick McCashin, who fractured his eye socket against Hawke's Bay last week.
McCashin is undergoing surgery today and is expected to be out for six weeks.
Former Tasman hooker Dan Perrin has bulging discs in his neck and needs rest, with his return date believed to be around three weeks.
Tanerau Latimer will captain the Steamers tomorrow.
Taranaki have also made a clutch of off-season signings, desperate to make the top-seven in the new ITM Cup which starts next week.
They're expected to be a dark horse in the competition and showed off their new purchases with a 28-17 win over Waikato in Hawera last week.
Former Manawatu fullback Andre Taylor scored twice, his former provincial team-mate Kurt Baker chimed in with a five-pointer, while there was also a good performance from Hurricanes lock James Broadhurst and a nice cameo from former Canterbury halfback Tyson Keats.
Hurricanes wing David Smith and Blues centre George Pisi also made some decent breaks, while Taranaki also boasts former Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper.
BAY OF PLENTY: Toby Arnold, Lance MacDonald, Ben Smith, Grant McQuoid, Jason Hona, Dan Waenga, Chad Tuoro, Solomon King, Tanerau Latimer (capt), Luke Braid, Culum Retallick, Luke Andrews, Josh Hohneck, John Pareanga, Joe Savage.
Reserves: Simon Chisholm, James McGougan, Aidan Kuka, Colin Bourke, Taniela Moa, Cory Aporo, Lelia Masaga, Sam Cane.
TARANAKI:
Kurt Baker, Andre Taylor, George Pisi, Jayden Hayward, David Smith, Willie Ripia, Tyson Keats, Jarrad Hoeata, Ben Souness, Samuela Vunisa, Craig Clarke (captain), James Broadhurst, Shane Cleaver, Laurence Corlett, Carl Carmichael. Reserves: Timo Tutavaha, Michael Bent, Kane Barrett, Leon Power, Chris Walker, Brett Goodin, Beauden Barrett, Isaia Tuifua, Scott Ireland.

[BOPRED]

Crikey... The Naki look strong..... Anyone know anything about their front row?

[Chubby13]

Their props are quite young, all 22-24. Have come through the naki age groups together. Bent and Cleaver have both been involved in Hurricanes Wider training groups over the last couple years. Bents a strong tighthead, but is still learning as he converted from loose head a couple years ago. Question marks over Cleavers and Carmichaels scrumming though. They are solid around the field. Might not dominate anybody this year, but should can pariety atleast in the scrums. If not, then regardless of how much fire power they have behind them, the naki will struggle.

[Baron Silas Greenback]

Bloody Masaga injured again?

[Oldsport]

Perhaps its still too cold

[Chubby13]

Anybody know the score for the game?

[sportboy]

Bay of Plenty 27 (John Pareanga, Chad Tuoro, Lance MacDonald, Grant McQuoid, Dan Waenga tries; Waenga con) Taranaki 24 (David Smith 2, Andre Taylor tries; Willie Ripia 2con pen, Beauden Barrett con). HT: 27-17.

[sportboy]

Not a bad game, beaut day in Whaka-chang-chang of course!
Bay's tackling was dreadful again and they were soon behind 14-0 thanks to tries by David Smith and Andre Taylor. Like last week, they got their shit together quickly though, and scored five slick tries in the first half. Forward pack went great guns and the backs did the job converting into points... although Waenga missed several easy shots.
Shit-fight in the second half, with the only points coming from Smith's 75m intercept off a Bourke pass.
Quality performance from the Steamers though... plenty of talent to come back still.

[sportboy]

From the BOP Times

Quote

Moa flies in to make mark with Steamers

TANIELA Moa knows he's got fitness issues to address but he's just glad to be back on the rugby field.
The 25-year-old halfback made his Bay of Plenty debut in yesterday's pre-season game against Taranaki in Whakatane, coming on in the last half hour as the home side grabbed an impressive 27-24 win.
Wheezing and sore, the Auckland discard was grateful for getting a lifeline with the Steamers this season and is determined to repay his new province. "They've really given me a fresh opportunity in my career," Moa said. "I was in no man's land when I got the call and I jumped at the chance.
"My goal is just to play good for the Steamers, that's it. I'll do some fitness work in the next few weeks because the lungs are blowing pretty hard but I really liked the style we played today, with free-flowing rugby."
It was a little too free-flowing for the Steamers in the first 10 minutes, their sloppy tackling gifting Taranaki two quick tries.
For the second successive match, Bay found themselves 17-5 down, but the team regrouped, refused to panic and came back with vigour. A rampant forward pack paved the way for tries by Josh Hohneck, Lance MacDonald, Chad Tuoro and Grant McQuoid. Only four missed conversions by Dan Waenga kept the halftime score in check, 27-17 ahead.
Taranaki wing David Smith poached his second try - a 75-metre intercept with 13 minutes left - in the only points of a disjointed second half, although the visitors were effectively strangled out of the match long before then.
The most valuable aspect of the second spell was seeing Moa - who only arrived on Thursday - get on the field, along with prop James McGougan after his drawn-out back injury saga.
"I'm buggered but it was awesome," McGougan said. "That was the best 20 minutes of my life. I said to a few people before today that it was either going to be my comeback game or my retirement game. Either way, it was nice to do it on the ground where it all started for me."
It may all start again for Moa on the same ground too.
Since he was called into the All Blacks as cover two years ago - though he didn't play - the chunky Tongan-born No9's career has been in a tailspin, unwanted by the Blues and then by his home province.
Although starting halfback Tuoro has been a decent fill-in with Josh Hall injured, Moa dripped class when he came on, throwing his 102-kilo frame into tackles and firing bullet passes off both hands.
He's also got more than enough motivation to succeed with the Steamers, in the form of 18-month-old son Kava jnr and new arrival Benjamin, now a month old. "It was quite hard when I first became a dad, juggling family life and rugby. There are a few sacrifices and my rugby probably suffered. It's my first time moving out of home. I've got my family moving down with me and now I'm not playing for myself but for my family."
Bay of Plenty start their ITM Cup campaign in a week against arch-rivals Waikato in Hamilton, having completed a clean-sweep of pre-season wins.
There were no more major injury scares out of yesterday's game, although All Black wing Lelia Masaga needed thumb surgery yesterday and is likely to miss the start of the competition.
Scores:
Bay of Plenty 27 (John Pareanga, Chad Tuoro, Lance MacDonald, Grant McQuoid, Dan Waenga tries; Waenga con) Taranaki 24 (David Smith 2, Andre Taylor tries; Willie Ripia 2 con, pen, Beauden Barrett con). HT: 27-17.

[KiwiPie]

I'm worrying about the goal-kicking already - has been a stength in the past 2 seasons with Delany.

[Baron Silas Greenback]

I am vainly hoping that with the new rule interpretations tries will be easier to come by...

[BOPRED]

KiwiPie said:

I'm worrying about the goal-kicking already - has been a stength in the past 2 seasons with Delany.

I agree. That was the first thing I noted in every game. Good to seew e are winning them and often after giving a head start but we have to kick the goals too.

[Snollygoster]

Yep, we have been spoilt for kickers in the past. What made the statistics worse from the Naki game was that three of the missed conversions were from virtually right in front !! Waenga may have just been nervous given the esteemed company he was with on the field.....Delany ran out with the kicking tee and Sir Glen Jackson was the touchie.