IF THE real strength of a rugby team is reflected on their bench, Bay of Plenty should make a decent fist of their ITM Cup opener against Waikato on Saturday.

Steamers coaches Sean Horan and Steve Miln had the luxury of naming Chiefs squad members James McGougan, Phil Burleigh and Lelia Masaga in the reserves, along with New Zealand sevens player Soloman King.

Te Puna lock Aidan Kuka will also provide cover, winning the battle to stay with the squad ahead of Waikato import Luke Katene, who will play in Saturday's Baywide club rugby semifinals for Mount Maunganui.

"Luke will probably be involved somewhere along the line because we're only holding three locks until we get John Moore back in a couple of months," Horan said.

"We've gone with Aidan because he's a real good Bay man who has been around. He brings experience, strong culture and he's held in high regard by the boys. He's a great man to have with the squad."

The starting lineup features 11 players with Super 14 experience, plus sevens representatives Toby Arnold and Lance MacDonald.

With rising rookie Sam Cane suffering a head knock in training on Tuesday, the loose-forwards will feature All Black openside Tanerau Latimer, New Zealand Maori No 8 Colin Bourke and Luke Braid.

Braid will start at No 6 and is likely to play left and right roles with Latimer.

Auckland signing Taniela Moa will start at halfback after a robust cameo against Taranaki in Whakatane last week, with Chad Tuoro covering No 9 off the bench.

Dan Waenga has won the race to the first-five starting spot, while former Highlanders centre Brett Mather pairs with Grant McQuoid in midfield.

It will be McQuoid's first official Bay game since 2006, while Mather, Moa, lock Luke Andrews and Waenga will make their first class debuts for their new province.

"We've still got a lot of players who will play a big part in our campaign who aren't in the side this week - we are in a pretty good position when we can leave the likes of Ben Smith and Cory Aporo out of the 22," Horan said.

"It's part of our goal to get better quality and depth, plus we're still missing the likes of Mike Delany, John Moore, Nick McCashin and Dan Perrin who are all out injured."

Halfback Josh Hall is still recovering from a back injury and will play for Tauranga Sports on Saturday, while Aporo will join Katene at the Mount.

Steamers v Waikato: Toby Arnold, Lance MacDonald, Brett Mather, Grant McQuoid, Jason Hona, Dan Waenga, Taniela Moa, Colin Bourke (capt), Tanerau Latimer, Luke Braid, Culum Retallick, Luke Andrews, Josh Hohneck, John Pareanga, Joe Savage.

Reserves: Simon Chisholm, James McGougan/Tristan Moran, Aidan Kuka, Solomon King, Chad Tuoro, Phil Burleigh, Lelia Masaga.