Steamers set sights on Otago's long reign

Bay of Plenty will need to break a 23-year hoodoo to keep their semifinal hopes on track today.

Not since 1981 have a team from the province beaten their counterparts from Otago.

Bay of Plenty coach Vern Cotter has had a relatively calm build-up to the Mt Maunganui match, not battling the hysteria of the Ranfurly Shield or disrupted by citings.

Halfback Kevin Senio has been ruled out for the season.

Otago's record is daunting, having won 18 games against Bay of Plenty since the first match in 1938, while Bay have only won seven.

But Otago coach Wayne Graham is remaining cautious. "They've rebuilt now. I notice a lot of punters are picking them so we probably go into the game as the underdogs." There are several key matchups today, not least the battle of the big men in the scrums.

Bay of Plenty props Davison and Ben Castle, who both spent time in the Otago club rugby scene, are up against a monstrous trio in Carl Hoeft, All Black Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver.

Otago's forwards have had a considerable burden on them so far this season with the much-publicised state of the Carisbrook turf and Graham hopes his team can handle the super-quick Blue Chip Stadium field. "We've had to focus on how to win in the conditions so it has restricted us and the guys naturally don't like playing that way. We're looking forward to getting on a dry track."

* Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Paul Abbot believes the New Zealand Rugby Union may have opened a can of worms after fining six unions, including his own, for player-eligibility breaches.

"Some of the evidence I've collected over the past few weeks would suggest there's a couple of Super 12 franchises that should be worried as well," Abbot said.

A seventh union was fined yesterday when Wanganui was penalised $5000 and five competition points for the 28-14 win over Marlborough on August 28. The national union found Wanganui breached regulations by fielding former Irish club player Darren Balcombe.

Bay of Plenty were fined $3000 plus costs for fielding Colin Bourke in their historic Ranfurly Shield win over Auckland last month.

Among those hit were Hawkes Bay, whose chief executive Ian Condon raised the issue of Bourke's eligibility after Bay of Plenty's shield win.

Abbot hoped Condon was feeling suitably embarrassed for raising the issue in the first place.

"I suspect he will be regretting it - he's not going to win too many friends as a result of it."

Abbot and his board decided not to appeal the fine but instead drafted a stinging letter to the NZRFU detailing why they felt they'd been dealt a harsh blow.

The letter said Bourke's original Hawkes Bay contract did not comply with NZRFU regulations and was therefore not valid; the union was not complying with IRB governing regulations in its treatment of the transfer law; the transfer process was not player friendly and was too restrictive for transfers; the union may be in breach of Commerce Commission regulations governing fair trade.

NZRFU deputy chief executive Steve Tew said he needed more time to digest the letter before he could comment.

- NZPA