Manawatu contest at the ruck and win the penalty

BOP up to the Manawatu 5m now looking to resppond

Booth exploits soft soft tackling and easily goes through the gap to score. Early try and questions already to ask

Manawatu kick off

Teams are on the field and we await kick off

Hello and welcome to Rotorua Stadium. Its Mitre 10 cup week 7. Bay of Plenty host Manawatu. Both teams have really struggled this season and only Southland are below them on the Championship table. Bay of Plenty won their opening two matches but since then have been on a 4 game losing streak. Manawatu have a similar situation, winning their first match and have since lost 5 in a row. With both teams competition effectively over, either side will be eager to get back to winning ways. Bay of Plenty have won the last two matches between the two, with Manawatus last win back in 2014

Biggest Bay of Plenty score: 54 in Rotorua 18.09.1993 (NPC)
Biggest Manawatu score: 54 in Palmerston North 31.08.1996 (NPC)