| And the way the Bay competed for long periods of the game augurs well for next Saturday when they meet Canterbury in their opening Air NZ Cup game.
Physicality was an area the Bay focused on a lot this week and captain Ben Castle believes there was huge improvement.
"The intensity was there _ things were hanging in the balance all the time," Castle said.
"The game was about tonight taking a step up. That's the thing for us this season, really being physical and bringing a bit of that back into the Bay.
"Bay's been renowned for a bit of that stuff in the past. We've probably gone away from it and getting a bit of it back isn't a bad thing. We're just having the attitude [this season] that we're not going to be bullied."
The stand-and-deliver deal wasn't quite signed in blood but it looked fair dinkum inside the first 10 minutes when Bay hooker Ngarimu Simpkins took on four Waikato players in a grappling move which wouldn't make Dancing with the Stars.
That skirmish ended with lock Aaron Rameka adding his five cents' worth and the players' blood and a crowd in excess of 2500, were boiling.
Simpkins was in the thick of it all night _ physically and vocally baiting his opponents and generally continuing impressive pre-season form from the Whakarewarewa hooker.
In keeping with the theme it was a physical affair up front and the backline collisions were similar.
Murray Williams looked sharp at first-five while the centre pairing of Rena Schuster and Cory Aporo showed their ability to create clean line breaks.
Williams, who kicked three penalties and a conversion, and Aporo scored tries while winger Anthony Tahana finished a picture-perfect play from a lineout.
The off-the-top ball saw both winger Lance MacDonald and fullback Mike Delany in the line which created the overlap for Tahana.
The Bay forwards' intensity to compete and protect the ball was on a different planet from seven days ago in Hawke's Bay.
They didn't get dominance last night but they didn't give it to Waikato either _ every possession was hard earned.
The key for the Bay now is to make last night's intensity the benchmark for the season.
Intensity aside, there were some inaccuracies which demand attention.
The scrum, minus Simms Davison, wasn't at its best and the Bay still conceded too many penalties, losing replacement forward Mike Ormsby to the sin bin as referee Matt Standish lost patience.
The Bay conceded a try from their own scrum when the ball bobbled out and Waikato went wide, while twice they conceded back-to-back penalties which their clinical opposition turned into points.
Whether the Bay are actual contenders for the national title is still unknown but, last night at least, they certainly showed more potential and game than the $50 odds they've been assessed at by the TAB.
Scorers:
Waikato 43 (Toby Lynn, Steven Setephano, James Kamana, Roimata Hansell-Pune, Liam Messam tries; Donald 5 con, 1 pen) Bay of Plenty Steamers 26 (Murray Williams, Anthony Tahana, Cory Aporo tries; Williams 3 pen, con) Ht 19-14 Waikato.
|
News and Opinion 
