Bay of Plenty first-five Mike Delany and openside flanker Tanerau Latimer have done all they can to be named in the All Blacks touring squad tomorrow.

Both were strong performers as the Steamers ended their three-game losing trot with a nailbiting 28-27 win over Manawatu in Palmerston North last night.

Delany would be in the bolter category but he did continue his enterprising form of 2009 which has had some mentioning his name as a possible All Blacks tourist. Not that he appears to hold too much hope that he'll be packing his bags for the UK.

"That would be nice, we'll just have to wait and see," Delany said of his selection prospects following the Steamers' second away win of the season.

Delany kicked three penalties and two conversions in a 13-point contribution and while he made a couple of errors - kicking out on the full once and knocking on a ball - he ran strongly and put in some stout defence.

Not only has Delany been a big contributor to the Steamers play, the 27-year-old has also played every minute of their competition games so far, scoring 149 points to be the leading pointscorer.

Latimer had a busy game at openside and pulled off a couple of crucial turnovers when Manawatu were making a late rally for the Air New Zealand Cup points, although if you listen to the jungle drums then he'll miss out on the end-of-season All Blacks tour, with Karl Lowe and George Whitelock mentioned as possible backups to skipper Richie McCaw.

Whitelock's impressive form for Canterbury this season may see him shade Latimer as the second specialist No7.

Latimer has had the backup job for much of the season without being able to make much headway on the field.

As a specialist openside, Latimer played the early season tests against France and Italy and was kept in the Tri-Nations squad without ever getting on the paddock at all.

Whitelock was brought in to replace Latimer after 50 minutes against Italy for his only test appearance of the year before being sent back to Canterbury.

Steamers captain Colin Bourke was another to shine last night. His kicking options in the second spell were a big part of the Bay's territorial dominance once they had the wind behind them.

"That was a bit close towards the end," said Bourke. "It seemed a bit easier to play into the wind than we thought."

 The Steamers are still a mathematical chance to make the top four but will need a bonus point win - something they haven't achieved all season - against Taranaki next weekend at Baypark and other results to fall their way. Last night's win moved them up to seventh spot on 30 points.

 Scrambling defence was a feature of the Steamers' play once again. The likes of Delany, Bourke, Phil Burleigh, Junior Poluleuligaga and fullback Tony Arnold often made desperate saves.

Bay started strongly despite the home side having the benefit of a strong wind.
 Blindside flanker Luke Braid celebrated his return from suspension by scoring the Bay's opening try as he handled three times and wriggled his way through the final tacklers.