Bay of Plenty's first-five dilemma may not have been completely solved but Dan Waenga has done his ITM Cup chances no harm at all.

Waenga helped the Steamers to an impressive 44-34 pre-season win over Hawke's Bay in Napier yesterday, after initially starting at second-five.

The 25-year-old moved in a spot when starting pivot Phil Burleigh broke his nose midway through the first half with the visitors 17-5 down and helped reorganise a shaky defence that had let through three quick tries.

In the end, Bay of Plenty crossed seven times. Fullback Toby Arnold and wing Lance MacDonald grabbed two each, on the back of a forward pack that dominated the last hour of the game.

Waenga admitted it was a sweet feeling beating his former province and is looking forward to repeating it for real in three weeks.

"Ever since I signed with the Bay, I've been looking forward to coming back here and playing," Waenga said. "I was supposed to play a lot of the game at 12 but I've been playing all my club rugby at 10 and I was comfortable slotting in there."

Yesterday's match was a step up from last week's 35-10 win over Manawatu and Waenga believes the quality of attack is no fluke.

"That surprised us last week in our first hit-out, just how we were able to finish off and how fluent we were.

It's probably an indication of how tight this team is, from the guys up top to the guys sweeping the floors."

Ironically, the bloke sweeping the floor yesterday - or at least picking up the jerseys after the game - was All Black pivot Mike Delany, who is on dirty-dirty duties while he recovers from shoulder surgery.

Back coach Steve Miln admits he and head coach Sean Horan are still no closer to deciding who fills Delany's massive boots when the Steamers start their ITM Cup campaign in two weeks against Waikato.

"Dan's the sort of guy who just gets out there and does the job and doesn't get overawed," Miln said. "We won't write his name in there straight away but he didn't do his chances any harm. It's still a bit up in the air but we'll get closer to where we want to be against Taranaki."

While Burleigh should recover quickly, fullback and potential first-five cover Nick McCashin added a twist when he was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured eye socket in the first half.

That allowed Arnold into the game, where he returned kicks brilliantly and chimed in perfectly for his two tries.

MacDonald was also dangerous and made some telling tackles in the first half, though Miln admits teaching attacking flair to his backline isn't the pressing issue.

"You just can't afford to let through that many tries - 34 is a lot of points to concede and we've got to look at that side first and foremost. Attack is easier to coach because defence is an attitude thing. You either want to tackle or you don't."

Grant McQuoid missed yesterday's match with a virus, leaving reserve hooker Simon Chisholm as the only veteran from the windy 2004 pre-season match where Hawke's Bay won 11-10.

The Magpies appeared to be heading for a similar drubbing to the 35-7 one they handed the Steamers in pre-season last year, when All Black wing Zac Guildford helped them to a 17-5 lead with a brief first-half cameo.

Guildford, released from the Tri-Nations camp in Wellington for the match, set up the home side's first try with a clever grubber.

His second-half try, when he eased around Colin Bourke and galloped 45m to score, was superb, but the Steamers had a couple of worthy contenders themselves.

Luke Andrews showed pace when the lock outsprinted the cover from 35m out just before the break, while Ben Smith finished a magic move in the second spell, started by replacement flanker Tanerau Latimer.

Bay of Plenty's next match - and the opening first-class game of the season - is against Taranaki in Whakatane next Friday.

Scores: Bay of Plenty 44 (Toby Arnold 2, Lance MacDonald 2, Ben Smith, Luke Andrews, Josh Hohneck tries; Dan Waenga 3con pen) Hawke's Bay 34 (Whetu Barber, Kahn Fotualii, Richard Buckman, Mark Jackman, Eugene Smith, Zac Guildford tries; Jackman con, Andrew Horrell con). HT: 15-17.