Bay of Plenty vs Taranaki Predictions - Bay of Plenty to bounce back with a victory over Taranaki

Brad Newcomb

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Brad Newcomb 1 hour ago

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Bay of Plenty have won 4 straight vs Taranaki & 3 consecutive home matches.
Taranaki are on a poor away streak and just suffered a heavy loss.
Tip: Bay of Plenty are favoured to cover the -8.5 handicap.

Bay of Plenty have compiled a solid record against Taranaki in recent seasons (Getty Images)

Bay of Plenty fell short in their previous NPC fixture but have consistently beaten Taranaki in recent clashes. Taranaki performed poorly last weekend and are on a losing streak against Bay of Plenty.

Bay of Plenty have won 3 consecutive home fixtures.
Bay of Plenty have won 3 of their last 4 home matches against Taranaki.
Taranaki have lost 4 of their last 5 away games.
Taranaki have lost 4 consecutive matches against Bay of Plenty.

Head to Head

Taranaki have the advantage over Bay of Plenty, with nine victories to six in 15 meetings in the National Provincial Championship.

Bay of Plenty Form

Bay of Plenty managed to score a solitary converted try in the first half against Canterbury last weekend, going into half-time trailing 21-7.

The Steamers improved in the second half, scoring three converted tries, but came up short, losing 33-28 away to Canterbury.

At the start of their campaign, Bay of Plenty lost 38-26 to Waikato away from home before edging Northland 34-31 at home.

The Bay of Plenty Steamers are eighth in the NPC table with eight points from three games.

Bay of Plenty have been solid at home, having won three in a row, and they will start confidently against Taranaki this weekend, having defeated their opponents four consecutive times.

Taranaki Form

Taranaki had no answer in their first half against Northland last weekend, conceding three converted tries to trail 21-0 at the break.

The Bulls continued to concede points in the second half, losing 42-0 away to Northland.

Before that result, Taranaki defeated Counties Manukau 20-5 away from home in their opening match of the season before losing 38-32 at home to Waikato.

The Taranaki Bulls are 12th in the National Provincial Championship standings with six points after three rounds.

Taranaki will be disappointed with their previous performance, having failed to score any points, and will have to play well to get the better of Bay of Plenty, as they have lost three of their four visits to their opponents' home ground.

Team News

Bay of Plenty Steamers

Benet Kumeroa scored a brace against Canterbury last weekend.

Lucas Cashmore and Reon Paul contributed one try each in the match.

Jason Robertson slotted four conversions.

Starting XV: Benet Kumeroa, Taine Kolose, Tevita Mafileo, Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi (C), Reuben Palmer, Joe Johnston, Veveni Lasaqa, Nikora Broughton, Charlie Sinton, Lucas Cashmore, Rory Van Vugt, Reon Paul, Tāmiro Armstrong, Cole Forbes, Jason Robertson

Replacements: Sione Tupou, Harold Rounds, Solomone Tukuafu, Aisake Vakasiuola, Kalin Felise, Richard Judd, Riley Hohepa, Viliami Lea

Taranaki Bulls

Jesse Parete and Vereniki Tikoisolomone have each scored two tries in this edition of the NPC.

Starting XV: Jared Proffit, JJ Pokai, Keightley Watson, Bradley Tocker, Jesse Parete, Josefa Namosimalua, Olly Lawson, Kaylum Boshier (C), Logan Crowley, Sam Clarke, Kini Naholo, Haki Wiseman, Seta Tamanivalu, Vereniki Tikoisolomone, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Replacements: Zach Landon-Lane, Perry Lawrence, Marika Parker, Scott Jury, Sage Walters-Hansen, Quintony Ngatai, Jamie Viljoen, Willem Ratu

Verdict

Bay of Plenty v Taranaki

Bay of Plenty are on a winning streak against Taranaki in the NPC and are tipped to cover the -8.5 handicap.

Bay of Plenty -8.5

Handicap

@1,91 - 3 Units

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Brad graduated from the University of South Africa with a Bcom-Management Accounting degree and has a financial background.

His love of sport has seen him venture down the road of researching sporting history for the past several years, specifically boxing, cricket and football.

Other sports of particular interest are golf, tennis, horse racing and motorsports.

Additionally, he spends his time researching the military history of his home country of South Africa.

He is an ardent Liverpool supporter and is known to DJ and release music on occasion.