Steamers v Wellington final

15 Trent Renata (Oriental-Rongotai)
14 Julian Savea (Oriental-Rongotai)
13 Wes Goosen (Old Boys University)
12 Thomas Umaga-Jensen (Wainuiomata)
11 Ben Lam (Tawa)
10 Jackson Garden-Bachop (Northern United)
9 Sheridan Rangihuna (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
8 Brad Shields (Petone) (c)
7 Mateaki Kafatolu (Petone)
6 James Blackwell (Petone)
5 Will Mangos (Old Boys University)
4 Sam Lousi (Marist St Pats)
3 Alex Fidow (Oriental-Rongotai)
2 Leni Apisai (Northern United)
1 Tolu Fahamokioa (Tawa)
Reserves: Sitiveni Paongo (Tawa), Vince Sakaria (Marist St Pats), Joe Apikotoa (Hutt Old Boys Marist), Galu Taufale (Poneke), Du'Plessis Kirifi (Loan), Kemara Hauiti-Parapara (Tawa), Regan Verney (Old Boys University), Malo Tuitama (Oriental-Rongotai).
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No Aumua, Fifita or To'omaga Allen like in the first game. This should be a walk in the park........

@snollygoster I wouldn't worry too much, it's a final and we always bottle it in the final....

If we ask Julian Savea nicely, maybe he'll leave for the Baabaa's game before Friday night

The Bay of Plenty Steamers is as follows:

1. Aidan Ross (22)
2. Liam Polwart (12)
3. Jeff Thwaites (19)
4. Keepa Mewett (33) – Captain
5. Tom Franklin (10)
6. Mitchell Karpik (4)
7. Hugh Blake (18)
8. Tyler Ardron (5)
9. Luke Campbell (15)
10. Mike Delany (70) – Vice Captain
11. Joe Webber (10)
12. Terrence Hepetema (17)
13. Lalakai Foketi (27)
14. Monty Ioane (21)
15. Chase Tiatia (24)

Reserves:
16. James O'Reilly (16)
17. Jordan Lay (7)
18. James Lay (8)
19. Troy Callander (21)
20. Jesse Parete (18)
21. Te Aihe Toma (34)
22. Matthew Garland (2)
23. Elijah Nicholas (16)

Again - reasonably happy with the squad. 10 - 15 the same (amazing how consistent these selections have been this year). Question mark over Ardron at 8, but he adds some height in the lineout with Franklin moving back to lock. I haven't been a Karpik fan, but based on his duet with Blake last week - that is a good loose forward tandem.

Parete probably unlucky to not get a run on position, but his ball carrying did lack his usual go forward in the last 2 weeks. Stowers probably unlucky not to get a bench position for the final. Spare a thought for Retallick - a real BOP soldier over the years and injured for this important game. Also Judd, who was very consistent until; 3 weeks ago, but held us together a lot in the early rounds.

It's very exciting - we have the team to cause a major upset if we can match them up front.

@snollygoster I was beginning to wonder if it was just me that thinks we have a chance. I know I'm pathetically biased but I still think this game is winnable.

The TAB gives us absolutely no chance in hell (Wellington is playing a whopping $1.15 for a win) and I suppose based on Wellingtons season they are justifiably favorites. However I feel we have improved from when we played them last and their team will be weakened without the All Blacks. Like you say Gagaboy, we need to win upfront but also, most importantly, eliminate errors.

I will have my fingers, toes and legs crossed and are searching for my rabbits foot and four leafed clover.....they will need all the luck they can get.

The reason I think we won't win is that we just concede too many points. We've generally been hopeless at holding out once a team gets a sniff of our line, Wellington is likely to get a few sniffs. However that Wellington team is definitely weakened and surely Savea needs to fly out now doesn't he?

And we have shown that we can create and score tries - Tiatia has really come into his own these past couple of weeks, beating men and throwing great passes once tackled. If Delany can control the game, then we could be a chance.

@kiwipie said in Steamers v Wellington final:

The reason I think we won't win is that we just concede too many points. We've generally been hopeless at holding out once a team gets a sniff of our line, Wellington is likely to get a few sniffs. However that Wellington team is definitely weakened and surely Savea needs to fly out now doesn't he?

And we have shown that we can create and score tries - Tiatia has really come into his own these past couple of weeks, beating men and throwing great passes once tackled. If Delany can control the game, then we could be a chance.

@kiwipie You are correct - we just concede too many points! Well done Wellington, well deserved.

Great season for the Bay. Tactically we just kicked too much ball away in the first half, then failed to defend the ruck and maul fringes. Bread and butter for a team like Wellington. Outstanding from our back 3, although tackling was optional at times. Parete was good when he came on, I still have no idea why the Chiefs signed Ardron... Our much vaunted lineout was a fail and we didn't dominate their scrum (and vice versa).

Well done Boys! Now the Union need to build on this and show that this year isn't just a one off.

Disagree on kicking, I thought the positional kicking was great all season. Ardron = mystery. Lets hope the majority of the team stick around beacuse there are some nice combinations showing

Hard to see what rationale the Chiefs selectors come up with to sign Mr. Ardron as he looked rather ordinary in the final and can't recall having seen anything of him before then. Didn't the BoP have a fairly good No 8 last season that had to go overseas after getting overlooked for a Super contract?

@barky1 said in Steamers v Wellington final:

Disagree on kicking, I thought the positional kicking was great all season. Ardron = mystery. Lets hope the majority of the team stick around beacuse there are some nice combinations showing

barky1 - I was not referring to the season, just the first half (particularly the second 20 of the first half when they cut us to shreds). We were chasing the game from there.

Higgins - we had Joe Tupe last year and he was outstanding, probably our best since Colin Bourke (some one may disagree). Tupe didn't pick up a super contract and went OS. The same thing will happen to the youngsters in this squad. They are playing for basic wage, taking a full 3-4 months out of their lives to be a part of a NPC squad and hoping they get picked up. Quite a few have families, kids and parallel careers. The determining factor in our future will be on how many super (possibly remain or will be injured) and OS contracts (gone!) are on hand unfortunately.

What a great contest - the Bay didn't lie down and we showed we had some game breakers as well. Pack was solid in the darkest times but now we have a really good back 5 behind a general in 10. Webber has been great all season, Tiatia really came on late in the season and his offloading has been spectacular.

We just couldn't defend aggressively enough to stop their offloads and once they start rolling, they are hard to stop.

Ardron - baffled too other than he looks like he should be a beast at 8. He's tall and broad etc. But he just doesn't seem to bend the line like Parete. Chiefs haven't made many bad signings in recent years though.

I fear that backline will be broken up before next season. Really hard to crack super rugby unless you get contracted young so we could lose a few of them overseas - especially after showing what they can do on a bigger stage.