Hawke's Bay impressed against Otago a fortnight ago but folded against Counties last week and areyet to face tough opposition in 2018. Bay of Plenty fit the mould of one of the better sides in the competition and, despite eventually losing to Canterbury last week, looked strong throughout.
While BOP are reasonable favourites, the line is too low here. It should be a comfortable win for the Steamers, who have covered two of three this season, in Napier on Saturday afternoon.
Like Hawke's Bay, Auckland haven't faced one of the top teams in the Mitre 10 Cup so far this season but they'll be facing the full brunt of one on Friday night.
Tasman have been by far the best team this season and have covered both games that they have been six-points-or-less underdogs in. Auckland have been much better this year, to keep the Mako within four points might be a bit much to ask.
Northland will be buzzing off their win over Taranaki last weekend and have shown an ability to just stick around in games so far this season. Otago, on the other hand, have been patchy and while they should get the job done at home, an upset wouldn't be all that surprising.
The case for the Mako has been made above and there would be little shock if Tasman were able to finish Friday's match with a winning margin of around two tries.
