Two wins from two for the mighty Bay. We are now placed at the top of the ladder and we should all enjoy that pleasant feeling for the rest of the week. 2009 is looking very similar to 2008 as we dispose of the lesser unions. Last year we were badly shown up by Wellington, Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay and the Fan has been looking for signs that we will be competitive against the big guns in this campaign, starting with Wellington in Rotorua on Saturday night.

Firstly the forward pack is doing the basics well this season, the line outs and restarts have been very impressive and the scrum is holding its own even without captain Savage. The whole pack is tearing into every breakdown and they made it very difficult for Counties to string phases together as the Bay pressure resulted in turnovers or mistakes. The fitness levels look good, last week I doubted that Bay prop Josh Hohneck was an 80 minute player but he proved me wrong on Sunday.

I was unsure of the wisdom of playing both Latimer and Braid given their similar styles but more than happy with the end result. Lats has been kicking his heels in the All Blacks squad without a second of play in the Tri Nations and this may actually work to our benefit as he will be at full throttle when he turns out for the Bay. Luke Braid’s turbo is permanently engaged, if he keeps up this standard for the whole season there must be a Chiefs place for the young man.
 
The backline is working quite nicely but on Sunday there were some wild passes and poor kicks from our own half. Counties looked dangerous when Masaga started running free and we had to scramble well in defence. Wellington will not be so easy to contain, their backline has more dangerous runners and they are ruthless given time and space.

Aporo and Hunt are playing well in the midfield. They are similar players, both strong, direct runners with rock-solid defence. It was an interesting contrast when Burleigh came on for Aporo, he looks to be a good acquisition as an all-round player with pace and a decent boot.

The Bay wing positions have been a problem since Tahana and Stewart were in the golden Bay side of 2004. Ben Smith is looking very solid out on the right wing, his ability to take the ball in the air is vitally important when there are so many bombs to the wingers. Jason Hona showed his increasing maturity as he dotted down twice and looked much more assured at this level.