Bay of Plenty broke a 12-match losing drought and North Harbour spirits with a rugged Championship win in Rotorua.
The visitors attempted to steal a draw in the closing moments, but an emphatic counter-ruck by the Steamers snuffed them out.
In what seemed to be perfect conditions, the kickers, Teaihe Toma of Bay of Plenty, and Matt McGahan of North Harbour, missed their first four kicks between them. These misses were matched by a clutch of errors from both teams in this low quality dance of the desperates.
North Harbour hooker James Parsons broke the scoreless stalemate, scoring in the corner after some constructive lead-up work by those inside him. McGahan then landed his hardest kick of the day, a conversion.
Bay of Plenty's riposte was swift and deadly, tighthead prop Mike Kainga falling over the line from a lineout drive.
The rest of the half was nip and tuck, until Tevita Li set up loosehead prop Greg Pleasants-Tate, who took great delight in plunging over in the corner against his old union.
The Steamers lived up to their moniker with a superbly constructed try to fullback Leroy van Dam before the steam had even subsided from their changing rooms.
Thereafter it was all about earnest endeavour and plenty of facial and moustache hair, but North Harbour's play was too often stilted. They lost ball in contact and dropped ball at Bryn Hall's feet from lineouts. It is no platform from which to launch a talented, but fragmented back division. Daniel Halangahu, who replaced McGahan, tried to add punch at first, but to no avail. Maybe there were just too many orange boots for their own good.
The Steamers were hardly fluid and fluent, but they were united and defended with the sort of intensity you get from a team that has come under close scrutiny for missing an average of 30 tackles a game for the season.
Bay of Plenty now host Auckland at the same venue on Saturday, while North Harbour welcome the Championship-leading Manawatu to Albany on Friday night. More, much more, will be needed from both teams.
Bay of Plenty 21 (Mike Kainga, Leroy Van Dam tries; Nick Evemy con, 3 pen) North Harbour 14 (James Parsons, Greg Pleasants-Tate tries; Matt McGahan 2 con) HT: 10-14.
- By Campbell Burnes of the New Zealand Herald
