Steamers versus Hawkes Bay Rugby Match

The Bay of Plenty Steamers XV had a hot start to their pre-season campaign beating rivals Hawke’s Bay 29-12 in Whakatane on Wednesday.

The Bay of Plenty side led 21-7 at halftime, despite not having the ball for the first five minutes of the game and went on to post the 29-12 victory.

Jack Wilson, Lance MacDonald and Dan Perrin scored tries in the first half with Simon Rolleston grabbing the side’s second half touchdown.

Chris Noakes slotted three conversions with Nick McCashin adding a penalty goal.

It took just a minute for MacDonald to exploit Hawke’s Bay’s right-side defence, offloading to fullback Kendrick Lynn and getting the ball back to skirt around the posts for his first try of the game.

On Friday, the Steamers will hit the road to interact with the Reporoa community on the Bay Union border.

A coaching session at Reporoa College with the College XV will be followed with a junior rugby fun time that features drills and fun and games, before joining the wider Reporoa community at a focal meeting point in the district.

“Last Friday we took the Steamers to Edgecumbe, with the squad travelling to Reporoa this Friday,” says coach Kevin Schuler.

“With both Sam Cane and Carl Axtens coming from Reporoa, we expect a big turnout on the Bay of Plenty border.”