Bay's mistakes prove costly as Auckland win

WARM-UP: Bay of Plenty Steamers v Auckland preseason match at Whakatane's Rugby Park

The Bay of Plenty Steamers have lost their opening preseason match against Auckland 37-29, in front of a good home crowd in Whakatane.

The Bay led early in the second half yesterday afternoon, following a brilliant individual try by first-five Nick Evemy, but missed tackles cost them as Auckland piled on three tries to win the match at Rugby Park. All Blacks Sevens rising star Rieko Ioane scored two nice tries for Auckland after coming on from the bench.

All Black and fan favourite Sam Cane made a rare appearance in the blue and gold jumper yesterday, playing the first 40 minutes at openside flanker for the Bay.

Bay coach Clayton McMillan said the preseason fixture was a good learning experience for a lot of his players.

"There is a lot of areas we need to work on. But I thought what today highlighted was that if your kicking game is not pinpoint accurate against a quality team ... then they can crucify you if that accuracy is not there."

He said they needed to be able to pick up on mistakes like that quicker and adjust, rather than make the same mistake a few times.

"Auckland capitalised numerous times on a kick that wasn't terrible but it wasn't fantastic either."

McMillan said it was good to see Cane back in the team yesterday.

"You never turn down the opportunity to have an All Black in your side and he did bloody well," he said.

"He was just as passionate as anybody prior to the game, so it is good to know even when you start climbing the food chain like he does, that pulling on the Bay jersey still means something."

McMillan said it was "very unlikely" Cane would be playing again next week for the Bay, as he will likely join up again with the All Blacks.

The Steamers' next preseason match will be against Manawatu at the Tauranga Domain next Thursday afternoon. The ITM Cup season will kick-off a week later on Friday, August 14, against North Harbour at ASB Baypark Stadium in Tauranga.

The Whakatane District Council organised a huge haka at half-time yesterday in a bid to attract the All Blacks to Whakatane, during their upcoming nationwide supporter tour. The haka, which included about 100 children, was recorded and will be sent to New Zealand Rugby.

-Bay of Plenty 29 (Shahn Eru, Nick Evemy, Eru Wano-Smith, Seb Siataga tries; Nick Evemy 2 con, pen, Dan Hollinshead con) Auckland 37 (Ben Lam 2, Rieko Ioane 2, Jono Hickey tries; Mitch Hunt con, Calvary Fonoti 2 con, 2 pen).