Tuesday, 07 September 2010
THE Bay of Plenty Steamers’ ITM Cup campaign took a hit on Friday after a tumultuous weekend in Christchurch.
The team went down 28-9 at AMI Stadium and then, like everyone else, were woken by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 4.30am on Saturday morning.
But the sixth-round loss was the Steamers’ fourth of the season and has them wandering in ninth place on the points table.
Their troubles were compounded by disrupted travel plans which meant they didn’t arrive back in the Bay until Sunday afternoon.
It was not the ideal buildup as the Steamers face a short turnaround to play Manawatu on Thursday night.
All Black Mike Delany, in just his second game back from injury, opened the scoring for the Steamers with a penalty and then doubled the lead with another soon after.
Canterbury first-five Stephen Brett added a penalty of his own before the home team scored their first try through Nasi Manu. Delany kicked his third penalty before halftime and Canterbury took a 10-9 lead into the break.
The much-anticipated ITM Cup debut of league-convert superstar Sonny Bill Williams, had the big centre show signs of his adaptation to top-level rugby.
Williams made a telling tackle in the corner to deny the Bay and showed some distributions skills as well.
Canterbury were able to sustain periods of pressure in the second half and two further tries had them seal the result. The Steamers also came close to scoring twice, but evidence from the third match official denied them scoring.
The home team’s win was built on the back of a forward effort which had the Bay pack under some pressure.
The Steamers also struggled to get any rhythm with the ball and were far from solid on defence.
The match against 13th-placed Manawatu will be a challenge for the Steamers as the Turbos are coming off a huge win over big-brothers Wellington on Saturday. It begins a three-week stretch at home, which the Steamers must make the most of.
After Manawatu, the Steamers play Tana Umaga’s Counties-Manukau and then Otago the following week.
Winning two of those games would be a minimum requirement to stay in playoff contention. In the last four years, the top four sides have not lost more than four games at the end of round robin play. The Steamers run to the playoffs also includes second and third-placed sides Southland and Wellington.