Tasman hosts the Steamers at Blenheim and is looking for a win to keep its playoff run going, while the Steamers would settle for a change of luck and any sort of win.
VENUE & TIME: Lansdowne Park, Blenheim, Saturday September 1, 14:35 NZT.
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 1 – Bay of Plenty 1, Tasman 0.
LAST TIME: September 2, 2006 (Blenheim) – Bay of Plenty 23-17 Tasman.
WALKING WOUNDED: Dennis Brown has juggled his backline a bit and moved Blair Cook to fullback, allowing Afeleki Pelenise back onto the wing after he recovered from a slight injury. All other changes were optional. Bay of Plenty can name an almost unchanged team for this week – a rarity in 2007 – but there are still ten players missing for one reason or another. The only involuntary change this week sees Rena Schuster go onto to the wing instead of Jason Hona.
FORM: Tasman has a couple of wins and is just on the bottom end of the top eight, while Bay of Plenty moved off the bottom of the ladder with a consolation point last week. Obviously neither team is tearing the competition up but Tasman is fashioning a nice record at home – in direct contrast to its awful road form that has seen every away match lost in the last two years. Bay of Plenty is getting closer but still has an awful lot to tidy up before winning becomes a reality, including the competition's poorest lineout and the worst team goal-kicking stats.
WHO'S HOT: Few players in either team are hot, but several are performing at a reasonable level. The match may be decided by the two first-fives; both Tim Taylor and Mike Delany have played well in patches this season and those glimpses of top form are enough to excite high hopes. Tasman has some useful strike power in the back three and a hard-working pack that should win enough ball for the backs to do their thing. Bay of Plenty shored up the scrum with Ben Castle's return and the loose forwards are just the types who will prey on any Tasman errors – which can kill the Makos in short order if they're having a bad day. Charles Baxter made some threatening runs last week and scored a good try, so the Bay will want to get him into the match as often as possible.
WE THINK: This should be a close match and it will probably turn on which team makes the fewer errors. Since neither has really treasured possession this season, the call is a tough one to make but we'll go for Tasman by a couple of points, simply because of having tasted that winning feeling this year and its home support and record is good.
TEAMS:
Tasman: 1 – Tristan Moran, 2 – Mark Stewart, 3 – Ben May, 4 – Chris Bentley, 5 – Rees Logan, 6 - Alex Ainley (captain), 7 – Jonathon Poff, 8 – Peter Nixon, 9 – Kahn Fotuali’i, 10 – Tim Taylor, 11 – Kade Poki, 12 – Joel Iggo, 13 – Caleb Ralph, 14 – Afeleki Pelenise, 15 - Blair Cook.
Reserves: 16 – Daniel Perrin, 17 – Sac Taulofa, 18 – Mark Bright, 19 – Kahu Marfell, 20 – Lualua Vailoaloa, 21 – James Foote, 22 –