Bay side prepare to welcome Lions to NZ

Kevin Senio believes his Bay of Plenty rugby side will go into the British and Irish Lions match next month in good spirits following the Chiefs' revival in the closing stages of the Super 12.

Senio started Saturday's match against the Highlanders with All Black halfback Byron Kelleher injured.

His swift passing and sharp running was a feature in the 31-8 thrashing of the southern men which helped elevate the Chiefs into sixth in the final standings.

The Chiefs ended their final three games with two wins and a draw.

A 30-man squad to face the Lions was announced yesterday and Senio believes there's a buzz in the squad which is sure to filter through into the Lions match.

"We're going to go into it on a bit of high after this finish. A few of us have had quite a bit of game time and we'll be pretty inspired going into the Lions game," Senio said.

"It's something that's been in the back of the guys' minds, especially the Bay boys. We've been talking about it at training and it's something pretty exciting.

"It's cool because the Super 12 campaign was pretty special to be a part of and now we've got something else to look forward to after it."

There are a few injury concerns for Bay of Plenty after the Super 12 -- Blues props Taufa'ao Filise and the Chiefs' Simms Davison are battling calf and back niggles respectively, while Chiefs backup squad member Allan Bunting has a broken thumb.

Meanwhile Chiefs coach Ian Foster is tipping the Crusaders to go on and win the competition and believes there is much to learn from the champion South Island franchise.

"You get a pretty good indication when they finish first, and the answer is obviously they can go on and win," Foster said.

"They've shown that time and time again.

"They are a good enough team that they can nail it from round one right the way through."

* BoP squad to face Lions

Bay of Plenty rugby squad for the British and Irish Lions opening tour match in Rotorua on June 4:-

Forwards: Aleki Lutui, Nili Latu, Taufa'ao Filise, John Pareanga, James Afoa, Bernie Upton, Warren Smith, Colin Bourke, Chris Elvin, Simms Davison, Ben Castle, Mark Sorenson, Dan Goodwin, Paul Tupai, Wayne Ormond.

Backs: Kevin Senio, Mike Delany, Grant McQuoid, Allan Bunting, Apoua Stewart, Lance MacDonald, Charles Hubbard, Tom Woods, Murray Williams, Filimone Bolavucu, Adrian Cashmore, David Johnston, Robert Moon, Jeffrey Ierome, Anthony Tahana.

- nzpa