Graeme Taylor: HB boys show mettle

Well, there is absolutely no doubt who "the Bay" is this year and how quickly the mighty fall.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Bay of Plenty was sitting cock a hoop at the top of the premier division. On that, isn't this premiership and championship naming a load of nonsense?
Hawke's Bay, who still don't sit on the top of the lower division, have now defeated three of the so-called premier teams - Southland-Ranfurly Shield holders, Wellington (who anybody can beat) and now Bay of Plenty.
Actually, talking of Wellington, the word on the street is no Hawke's Bay player has been offered a Hurricanes contract yet.
That seems amazing given Wellington's form and conversely the form of Taranaki, Manawatu and our own boys.
I'm not suggesting our boys won't be in the Super Rugby but, unfortunately, many of them will be representing teams away from the franchise we are supposed to be a part of. That really will engender support from this neck of the woods. We also used to get Hurricanes games here, now we're a home game for the Crusaders. Oh, how times change.
As for the match against the Steamers - right from the first whistle I had a feeling Hawke's Bay was just going to continue on from their fine game against Wellington. A few days' break and they looked hungry for work.
Richard Buckman and Trent Boswell-Wakefield smashed into the opposition and then, after a bit of messy play, the Dead Sea opened and Kahn Fotuali'i waltzed through for the opening try of the game. For the next period of play, I asked myself why we chipped the ball away. We hadn't had possession for 20 minutes and then we just kicked it back to them. Then there was a decisive moment in the game: Daggy boy came on. Within minutes, the game changed.
There was an excellently timed pass by Hikairo Forbes that put Kane Thompson in the gap, and cruising up alongside him was Israel Dagg. From that moment the try was scored, and a 14-point gap on the scoreboard was a delight going into the shed for halftime.
Hawke's Bay continued to control the game in the second half with both teams again trading penalties. My concentration was spent watching the pedantic and authoritive refereeing both teams had to endure. Fortunately, and unlike in some other games we have seen this week, the referee's decisions did not actually change the course of the game.
I must say that it was great to see some enterprising back play and in particular a well-constructed try from a set piece.
We haven't seen too many set-piece tries from the backs this year and the old "double miss' has always been a favourite of mine. Well done, guys - a great try.
Bay of Plenty managed to salvage a consolation try to dilute their frustration but really there was only one team in this game.
Things won't get any easier over the coming weeks and it will be a real test of the quality of this team, now that the Samoan international players will be unavailable.
I have a great deal of confidence in the young props who have come through this year, particularly Forbes, but Fotualii is going to leave a huge gap.
Finally, the All Blacks and the World Cup squad - everybody is talking about the final make-up of the team. It appears Henry and Co have timed the reintroduction of players to perfection and they have a wealth of talent from which to select their final squad.
There are going to be some fine players who don't make the final cut, particularly in the wing and fullback roles. We now have seven quality players vying for five spots - let's hope that unlike the Hurricane selections it is not our boys who miss out. Personally, I'd take Isaia Toeava as a member of the midfield and leave SBW to ponder his future.
Next week, we play my old mates, Counties. This is one of those games you would expect to win, but remember Tasman. Let's hope for a fine afternoon so we can all get down to the park and support the team as they drive for top spot of the championship and the opportunity to host the final.