Kele Lasaqa scores for Bay of Plenty against Tasman.
Photo: ActionPress
Bay of Plenty have triumphed 27-7 over Tasman in Tauranga today, ending the Mako’s season in the NPC quarterfinals.
The result came off the back of a big second half by the Steamers, that saw them score three tries and leave the visitors scoreless.
It also mirrored the first round match-up between the two, when the highly fancied Tasman side were given a 37-7 reality check at the same venue.
A tight first half saw Lucas Cashmore open the scoring for the Steamers, with a penalty after 25 minutes. Things seemed destined to increase in threes, but Tasman scored against the run of play, thanks to a couple of handy kicks, the second of which found its way into Kyren Tamouefolau’s hands for the winger to score.
Cashmore added another penalty on halftime, but after the break, the Steamers came out firing to score the try of the match. A setplay move from a scrum 40 metres out saw Cashmore throw a perfectly timed behind-the-back pass, which created space for wing Kele Lasaqa to streak over in the corner.
That shifted the momentum massively, with the home side dominating territory and possession from then on. Fehi Fineanganofo scored after an hour, then a big run by fellow All Blacks Sevens player Nikora Broughton gave Tasman fullback William Havili no option than to commit an obvious professional foul that saw him get sent to the bin.
His sacrifice was in vain, as the Steamers forward pack simply rolled over their opposites in the resulting scrum to force a penalty try.
That completed the scoring, although Bay of Plenty spent most of the rest of the game hot on attack. They face a tough semi-final match up against Otago next weekend.
The other quarterfinals see Hawke’s Bay take on Taranaki in Napier later Saturday, then Canterbury and Counties-Manukau fight it out on Sunday afternoon in Christchurch.
Read how the game unfolded here: