Bay of Plenty have kept their winning start to this year's Mitre 10 Cup going with a scrappy 22-17 win over Counties Manukau in Pukekohe tonight.
Despite the scoreline, Bay of Plenty dominated for long stretches of the match with tactical kicking and ball movement.
However, despite the absolute dominance in both territory and possession entering halftime, they only took a 10-5 lead into the sheds.
The lead came thanks to a great combination from halfback Richard Judd and fullback Chase Tiatia with Judd connecting a long skip pass to Tiatia on the left wing to score.
The pair would combine again late in the match but not before Counties crossed over through Joseph Royal just before halftime with a driving maul.
After the halftime oranges, Counties immediately pounced with a skip pass of their own to set up Sevens star Sione Molia with a try in the corner, giving them a 12-10 lead four minutes into the half.
However, Bay of Plenty struck back eight minutes later with Judd as he converted 13 phases of play into a try under the posts.
Judd then linked up with Tiatia with a clever chip kick behind the unsettled Counties line, allowing the fullback to chase it down in the Steelers' goal to score and push the lead to 22-12.
Despite a late score and mounting pressure, Bay of Plenty held on on their own line to deny Counties a draw.
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