ITM Cup: Cane hot as Bay bank bonus

As Sam Cane was led away by the forearm for a post-game television interview, Bay of Plenty skipper Colin Bourke stood by and shook his head in amazement at the Reporoa tearaway who is quickly becoming every inch the "freak" he's been labelled.
Solomon King was shaking his head as well, with the Bay export given fresh evidence at why he signed for North Harbour this season, having been unable to command a regular spot in the Steamers' loose forward mix.
The word freak may not even be doing Cane justice - and that's taking nothing away from the contribution of Bourke, Luke Braid or plenty of others for that matter - as the Steamers banked their second win from as many starts with a bonus-point 38-17 victory over North Harbour in their crossover (premier v championship) ITM Cup clash at Mt Maunganui's Baypark on Saturday.
Cane and Braid - in his first game back after a torrid Super 15 campaign for the  Blues that nudged him close to an All Blacks call-up - were outstanding, commandeering the breakdown and giving No8 Bourke free license to roam as Bay slotted four tries in a polished display that was several notches above the opening win over Counties. It's a pity not more than 5500 were there to see it.
The tandem opensides turned over possession in the tackle at crucial moments but it was Cane - just 19 and in the hunt for world under-20 player of the year - who scored the opening try with the game  four minutes old, dragging three tacklers over with him for his first try for the province. It won't be his last, Bourke says.
"Sammy's been around for a couple of years now and it's sometimes hard to find the right words to describe him. Freak's probably best - he's got another year in under-20s and is mature beyond his years - but let's not forget Braidy as well. We're well-endowed with loose forwards and having a couple of opensides like tonight's, with Lats firing to get back on the park, is a huge part of how we play."
King, too, was impressed, with any excitement he felt at banging into his old teammates evaporating under the blowtorch of Bay's attack. "These are Super 15 quality loosies and I hadn't played against Sam before. It's pretty obvious he's an up-and-coming talent."
Electric fullback Toby Arnold had a big part in Bay's second try as he counterattacked from deep, with halfback Taniela Moa throwing the cutout pass for Bourke to weight a well-placed grubber deep into Harbour's 22 that took a cruel bounce, eluding David Raikuna's despairing grasp, much to Masaga's delight.
"It was a typical Bourkey special," said the enigmatic wing, "and he said at the beginning of the game he would get out and play in the backs if the situation allowed. Instinctively I knew he'd kick it and concentrated on a strong chase, but that wicked bounce, that made me look good."
Influential first-five Chris Noakes slotted two conversions and added two penalties for a 20-3 lead that underlined Bay's dominance everywhere but the scrum.
Bay cracked into the second half in similar fashion, centre Phil Burleigh and Ben Smith combining in a nice wrap-around to create space for Masaga's second, with the right wing beating Chris Smylie and Botica in his 30m burst to the tryline.
Harbour fought back but were thwarted by their own poor option-taking, desperate Bay defence and possibly tiredness in their third game in a week, although they were rewarded with tries to No8 Mat Luamanu and Cody Rei to give themselves a sniff as fullback Willie Walker's conversion made it 28-17.
But Bay continued to push,  Noakes' third penalty giving them breathing room before they launched a blitz on the line,  Carl Axtens held up over it,  Pingi Talaapitaga losing the ball and Smith nailed for holding on in the tackle, before the left wing crossed in the last minute -  Bourke  calling it "just rewards for creating opportunities".
"We made the chances to get over the tryline four times and had a couple disallowed as well, and the good thing is we played at the right end of the field, with the forwards putting in the effort and the boys out wide making the space for guys like Masaga to do his thing."