Luke Braid has just had a sublime season at No 7 for the Blues but dropping to a number lower for Bay of Plenty still couldn’t slow the outstanding flanker.

Braid was one of the stars for the Steamers as they over-ran North Harbour 38-17 in Mount Maunganui last night, keeping their unbeaten start to the ITM Cup season.

Bay’s ridiculous riches in the loose forwards were there for all to see. With Braid at blindside and New Zealand under-20 star Sam Cane at openside, skipper Colin Bourke was able to range wider on attack.

Coach Sean Horan was even able to sub on Cane’s under-20s teammate Carl Axtens at No 8 for his provincial debut late in the match, while All Black fetcher Tanerau Latimer was left cooling his heels in the stands.

"It's great in this competition that we’ve got the luxury of having myself, Sam, Lats, Bourkey and Ax in the loose - we can rotate that through the season," Braid explained.

"Realistically, you just can't start every match because you're playing every three days. If you've got guys like we've got who can play at the same intensity, it makes sense to rotate everyone around."

Although North Harbour openside Scott Uren had some nice touches and No 8 Matt Luamanu grabbed a try and made several bullocking runs, the visiting loosies were well and truly shaded by the home trio.

"Everyone wanted to carry for North Harbour tonight and no-one wanted to clean," Braid said. "But they would've been really tired having already played this week and it's just the nature of the competition - some of the championship teams don’t have the luxury of being able to rotate a lot of people through."

Both Braid and Cane made try-saving turnovers deep inside their 22, while Cane dragged two tacklers over with him in scoring his first try for the province just three minutes into the match.

Wing Lelia Masaga, with two tries, and first-five Chris Noakes – who kicked 18 points and only missed one shot – were other stars for the Steamers, with fullback Toby Arnold a constant danger when counter-attacking.

Bay led 20-3 at halftime, with Harbour's weight of possession only gaining reward with a penalty from first-five Ben Botica after 38mins.

Luamanu and replacement back Cody Rei both crossed for Harbour in the second spell but their industry was too little, too late.

Ben Smith capped a sharp game on the Bay's left wing by nabbing the bonus point try in the final act of the game.

With two wins against championship teams – Counties-Manukau and Harbour – Steamers coach Horan is likely to start both Braid and Latimer in Tuesday's crucial match with Chiefs arch-rivals Waikato in Rotorua. That suits Braid perfectly.

"We're going to have to pick things things up but the coaches have come up with a solid plan of how to beat Waikato. It's going to come down to the boys getting their bodies right and doing the recovery properly and maybe learning our patterns a bit better."