While the media, life-long Dirty Scumbags and Bogans alike seethed at a perceived slight against their beloved Hamilton last week, no one seemed to spare a thought for the Bay of Plenty Steamers. If Hamilton is a boring city, then a trip to Invercargill could best be described as Catatonic.

Some back-country farmers from down south like to refer to the bright lights of Invercargill as "Inver-Vegas", which always pisses me off, being from Rotorua. It seems a little apt, however, in hindsight. The coaches this week chose to gamble with Waikato cast-off Mark Burman on the blindside flank; a move which was widely questioned on these boards in the days before the match. You would have to say that just like in Las Vegas, the house always wins. Burman was a weak link in our pack I thought, and showed a distinct lack of pace when Tuineau cantered past him for his try.

Righto, here we are again - yet another big game for the Bay. Seems like every game since Counties has been a big one, and now it is a showdown between the top 2 teams, level on points at the top. Southland have been cruising along quite nicely so far without hitting any great heights and they do have some tough games to come. They will really be targetting this game after dropping 2 points to Northland last week and they have their young starlet Robbie Robinson back in the 10 jersey which will at the very least improve their goalkicking.