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Bay backline has the goods |
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Written by Craig Tiriana
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Monday, 09 July 2007 |
Don't panic - practice can make perfect.
And in the case of the Bay of Plenty Steamers' first official pre-season hitout against the Manawatu Turbos, there are plenty of areas to focus on as they head toward New Zealand rugby's 2007 Air New Zealand Cup.
There were enough positives in yesterday's 27-18 win for Bay head coach Kevin Schuler to be pleased and, more importantly, there is now a bona fide level of performance to mark and improve on.
The game was the final part of this week's week-long training camp in the Eastern Bay of Plenty for the Steamers.
"It's been a hard week at work _ I think we'll take that [win]," Schuler said.
"There were a few times there where we tried to play a bit of dry-weather rugby in the wet but we've got to try and encourage them because there was some good stuff. We saw what wewanted."
The Steamers ran in four tries to three and generally performed better than the visitors, who need to address their woeful defence or face a flogging come competition time.
Before the persistent rain turned the playing surface to a greasy challenge, the Steamers midfielders of Mike Delany and Cory Aporo found room and provided the early edge. Delany, a regular at first-five, made a real go of the opportunity to play one out. A flashing 50m surge stretched the defence to bring Murray Williams the Bay's first try of the day.
A short Delany pass in the second half saw prop Simms Davison across after a 20m rumble by the marauding prop. Aporo provided some light to a dreary Whakatane day when he ran some 95m, fending off Manawatu tacklers and driving his legs all the way to the tryline.
Apart from a few misdirected passes and a couple of decisions to keep the ball in hand when an attacking kick may have been a sounder option, the Bay's backline looks full of promise.
The experiment of playingloose forward Jason Hona on the wing is set to continue, with Schuler saying he was impressed with his positional play and contribution from the small amount of ball that found him.
The forwards had trouble in the set pieces and Schuler acknowledged those were areas that needed greater focus.
"The thing is, this is our first game _ we've got a bit of an idea, some of the things we were trying are working and a couple of areas we've got to work on."
Generally the Bay forwards were buried in the general fight to keep or steal possession and, as it should be on a wet day, were seldom sighted imitating backs.
With prospective hookers John Pareanga (hamstring) and Marcel Cummings-Toone (concussion) unavailable, Ngarimu Simpkins had an opportunity to press his claims.
In general play, the Whakarewarewa rake was busy. He found Solomon King regularly in the lineout but didn't have as much success when throwing to toiling locks Aaron Rameka and Culum Retallick.
One quick throw to Retallick led to the simplest of tries as Manawatu went to sleep in their own quarter.
King had another impressive game and is making a genuine case to be the starting No8. The former New Zealand colt went to the blindside during the second half when incumbent No 8 Colin Bourke came on.
The Steamers' next pre-season outing is next Friday in Napier against Hawkes Bay.
Scorers: Bay of Plenty Steamers 27 (Murray Williams, Cory Aporo, Simms Davison, Culum Retallick tries; Williams 2con, 1pen) Manawatu Turbos 18 (Lisiate Fa'aoso, Andre Taylor, Matty James tries; Graham Smith pen) HT 15-8.
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