Bay of Plenty kept alive their chances of reaching the NPC first division rugby semifinals by beating Southland 38-20 here tonight.
It was the Tauranga-based team's first game in Rotorua for a year and they struggled to find their rhythm under lights at the Rotorua International Stadium.
They still picked up therequired bonus point for their five tries-to-two victory although they were anything but convincing until the last 10 minutes when they scored two converted tries to make the game safe.
With the semifinals a fortnight away Bay of Plenty have plenty of work to do after their second consecutive lacklustre outing against lesser opposition in as many weeks.
They squandered many scoring opportunities tonight and turned over possession regularly during an ugly stop-start first half notable only for the first two minutes when right winger Charles Baxter scored a try following drives by prop Taufa'ao Filese and openside flanker Nili Latu.
Southland's reply came nearly 30 minutes later from a 25m penalty to fullback Richard Apanui when referee Lyndon Bray decided Bay of Plenty's forwards had driven over the top of a ruck.
Both sides attempted to show enterprise in the second half.
They turned down kickable penalty chances in the search for tries and a bonus point and it was Bay of Plenty, following a brace of tries to centre Rua Tipoki, who came up trumps in that endeavour in the 75th minute.
First five-eighth Glenn Jackson punted the ball to touch and from the resulting lineout a mass of Bay of Plenty players were driven over the tryline.
Bray called on the third match official Kelvin Deaker and eventually Bay of Plenty's fourth try was credited to Paul Tupai.
Minutes later second five-eighth Grant McQuoid scored a well deserved try when slicing through thin Southland defence right on fulltime.
That caused two spectators, one of either gender, to peel of their clothes and streak.
The male got away by leaping the fence while the female was crash tackled to the ground by security staff.
