Trial matches, team selection and pre-season encounters are now behind the five Bay of Plenty representative teams, who all kick off their Northern Region competitions on Saturday.

The Bay of Plenty Development team are straight into the fray with a trip to the City of Sails to play Auckland B. With a huge catchments pool of players, the Auckland side have a number of players who are pressing for first team berths and are sure to give the Bay visitors a torrid introduction to Auckland representative rugby.

However the Bay Development team had a good warm-up for this weekend's clash, when they played a strong Taranaki Development team, in the Steamers curtain raiser at Baypark last weekend.

They led the Taranaki side by seven at half time and then emptied their bench to give all the team a run, before going down 52-36.

A home game at Te Ariki Park awaits the Bay Under 20 team.

The cream of the Bay of Plenty age group players will also meet their Auckland counterparts in what is expected to be another tough assignment.

Coaches Kane Parker and Jamie Davis were heartened by the performance of their side in their pre-season hit out, when they held the Taranaki Under 20 team to a 34 all draw.

Also making the journey to Auckland is the Bay of Plenty Under 18 representatives who will meet Auckland East.

With players drawn from the Bay of Plenty secondary schools, there is always a mix of city youngsters and their country cousins.

The geographic spread of the Bay of Plenty team is illustrated with players drawn from Trident High School to Reporoa College, along with strong representation from the Tauranga and Rotorua secondary schools.

The two Bay of Plenty Under 16 representative sides are both on the road, with the A team travelling to North Harbour while the B team will play Waikato.

Both teams had successful warm-up encounters for their first round of the Northern Region competition.

The A's squeezed past Hawkes Bay 24-21 in their traditional fixture in Taupo, while The B team defeated Thames Valley 28-5.

BOPRU Representative Northern Region Draws September 1

BOP Development v Auckland B, Mount Wellington War Memorial Park – kick-off 2.30pm

BOP U20 v Auckland, Te Ariki Park – kick-off 2pm

BOP U18 v Auckland East, Bell Park Auckland – kick-off 1pm

BOP U16 A v North Harbour, East Coast Bays RC

BOP U16 B v Waikato, Waikato