They started off with a roar but Bay of Plenty’s ITM Cup season is in danger of ending to the sound of a monumentally deflating hiss.

Unbeaten leaders after the first four rounds, the Steamers have now slumped with four consecutive losses.  Their last, a tired 25-16 defeat by Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday, consigned them to fifth on the Premiership table, with their penultimate match against leaders Canterbury to come on Tuesday night at Mount Maunganui’s Baypark Stadium

Their side was named on Monday with few changes; indeed, the squad has had a dream run with injuries throughout the season, although that could yet count for nothing.

The worst-case scenario for the Steamers goes something like this – if they lose to Canterbury, Wellington beat Waikato and Southland beat Taranaki on Wednesday, Bay of Plenty will drop to last on the table and will be in serious danger of relegation.

Not much needs to change for the best-case option, however.  If Wellington and Southland win, while Bay of Plenty beats Canterbury with a bonus point, they’ll be back on top of the competition, with a Ranfurly Shield challenge as an added bonus this weekend.

As captain Colin Bourke told local media, there’s still plenty to play for.

“We’re definitely good enough to win the last two games if we put our minds to it and nail those little things,” Bourke said.  “By no means are we going to throw the towel in yet.

“We are definitely making it hard on ourselves though, in certain aspects of the game, the set piece being a huge one.  Without that, we’ve been playing on the back foot straight away.”

Bay of Plenty’s last win was the 32-0 thumping of Wellington at the end of July and coach Sean Horan may yet regret fielding a below-strength team against Northland, which began their slide.

Horan has made a couple of changes to the side which lost to Auckland, bringing wing Ben Smith in, with Jason Hona dropping to the bench, and opting for young tyro Sam Cane at openside flanker.

Cane gets the nod for one of the most important matches of the season ahead of Luke Braid, who was touted as an outside chance of making the All Black World Cup squad, also named on Tuesday.
 
Bay of Plenty: Toby Arnold, Lelia Masaga, Phil Burleigh, Steve Kefu, Ben Smith, Chris Noakes, Jamie Nutbrown, Colin Bourke (capt), Sam Cane, Tanerau Latimer, Culum Retallick, Leon Power, Josh Hohneck, Dan Perrin, Bronson Murray.
Reserves: John Pareanga, Tristan Moran/Greg Plesants Tate, Luke Andrews, Luke Braid, Josh Hall, Nick McCashin, Jason Hona, Pingi Talaapitaga.