Magpies spoil the party for Steamers

It was meant to top off a perfect weekend for the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union's centenary ... but Steamers' fans and past legends were left with little to celebrate in Rotorua on Saturday after their team was smashed 32-13 by ITM Cup second-tier province Hawkes Bay.
The platform had been laid as players returned to Rotorua to celebrate 100 years of Bay rugby, with a centennial XV chosen from more than a 1000 players over the past century.
The only thing left to do was beat perennial rivals Hawkes Bay in near-perfect conditions at Rotorua International Stadium.
Instead, in front of 6000 spectators, Bay of Plenty were embarrassed for 80 minutes, slumping to their third consecutive defeat in the ITM Cup to fall from frontrunners to also-rans.
Hawkes Bay were in a spoiling mood, none more so than All Blacks Israel Dagg and last minute ring-in Zac Guildford. The pair put on a majestic performance, a sight that will please All Blacks coach Graham Henry but had Steamers' fans tearing their hair out.
Not all of the blame can be laid solely with the Hawkes Bay side. The Steamers can take a lot of the credit - too many dropped balls, trouble securing the pill from the kick, an inconsistent scrum and the inability to get the ball 10m at the kick off - issues that have continued through the season.
However, Bay has been able to counter this with an ability to turn over opposition ball, smash their opponents at ruck and maul and score almost at will.
On Saturday the team appeared weary and struggled where they normally excel. Injuries to key players Colin Bourke, Steve Kefu and Lelia Masaga didn't help. Steamers coach Sean Horan, in what is becoming a familiar tune, said they were understandably disappointed with the loss.
"We probably just didn't look after the ball enough and fundamental errors let them off the hook.
"We were applying pressure, especially in that first half when we held on to the ball at the right end of the park, but let them off with knock-ons and losing the ball at the contest, those sorts of things.
"In the second half we didn't have the right tactics (and) up front didn't lay a platform. Overall, pretty disappointing."
In the first half the Magpies scored twice, the first after just three minutes when Kahn Fotuali'i scooted from the breakdown to score under the posts and Dagg with the second.
After the break, with Bourke gone suffering from double vision, the Steamers' fortunes failed to improve. They were outmuscled at most of the breakdowns and set pieces.
Guildford showed class to score twice in the second half to give Hawkes Bay maximum points and relished a run before jetting off with Dagg with the All Blacks to South Africa.
"It was bloody good - any opportunity I get I take to play for the Magpies. It's an awesome team and we've got a good culture and to come away with the win is pretty pleasing."
Bay of Plenty managed a consolation converted try to loose forward Luke Braid. Although they seem on a downward spiral, Horan was confident they could turn the season around.
"It's something we can fix.
"It takes a lot of focus to do the simple things well and we're probably not doing that at the moment so it's just not ideal. It is a hard competition and I think everybody is realising this given the other opposition. For us it's about going back to what we do well.
"We haven't lost any character due to this. We know where we're going, we've got three games in front of us (against Auckland, Canterbury and Southland) and we're going to go back to what we did really well against those first four games - the simple things well, looking after the football and laying the proper foundation to play good rugby."