Rugby: Bay of Plenty Steamers take on Manawatu

Bay of Plenty Steamers player Chase Tiatia in action against Wellington. Photo/Stephen Parker

There is nothing like losing two of your opening three matches to pile the pressure on.

That is the situation the Bay of Plenty Steamers are in ahead of Friday night's showdown against the Manawatu Turbos in Palmerston North.

The Steamers have just one victory over Hawke's Bay to go with losses to Northland and Wellington in what is a frustrating start to the campaign.

There is plenty of rugby to be played before the championship semifinals are sorted but a win on Friday against the Turbos now looks essential for the Steamers to reach their play-off target.

Manawatu Turbos are coached by former Bay of Plenty player and coach Jeremy Cotter.

This week, Steamers head coach Clayton McMillan has been working hard with his forward pack on their set piece processes that cracked under pressure from a dominant, physical Wellington pack in last Thursday's 31-10 loss.

"We are not quite at the high standards that we set ourselves last year around our scrums and our lineouts for that matter, so we have been putting a lot of work into that," McMillan said.

"It is certainly not a personnel thing. We are really confident with the people we have got. There have been some subtle variations from how the referees are refereeing the scrum in particular that we probably have been a little bit slow to adjust to.

"But we have certainly learnt and are looking for a good performance in that area on Friday night."

McMillan sees the loss as a chance wasted to get a rare win over the Lions.

"It was bloody tough conditions and Wellington are a big side and plenty of experience in the right places. They put us under some pressure there.

"But that is not what disappoints me most. I really think we had a lost opportunity there. They were pretty strong but I don't think they were anywhere near their best. We stuck in the game and got ourselves back to 17-10, and we had an opportunity to put the blow torch on them and see how tough they were on our home patch and we didn't take it.

"Those are the things we need to really nail if we want to mix it with the best."

The match-up with the Turbos is all about getting the processes right, McMillan added.

"They are two fairly evenly matched teams I think. It is a bit clichéd but the team that is disciplined, gets their set-piece right and makes the least errors will get the lollies."

McMillan has made a few changes to his forward pack after losing loosies Mitch Karpik and Jesse Parete to head knocks in the opening 10 minutes against the Lions.

Canada international Tyler Ardon starts at No 8, Hugh Blake at openside flanker and lock Tom Franklin moves to blindside flanker to give the Steamers added size.

"Neither of them (Karpik and Parete) will be involved. It's a pretty topical subject isn't it so we don't want to take any risks with them, particularly given that we have our storm week coming up with Taranaki, Southland and Counties Manukau in pretty quick succession."

Mitre 10 Cup
Bay of Plenty v Manawatu
Palmerston North, Friday, 7.45pm