Bay of Plenty Development took Counties Manukau down to the wire in the Steamers curtain raiser at Pukekohe on Friday evening.

Rawiri Tapiata scored a try for the Bay side in the first half with Willie Ripia adding the conversion and slotting a penalty, as Counties took a narrow 13-10 lead into the half time spell in play.

In the second half, the home side crossed for their second touchdown of the game to post an 18-13 victory.

Team management reported that the Bay of Plenty chase for victory wasn't helped, when Counties were awarded a penalty try in the first spell.

However the Bay of Plenty representatives were competitive throughout and made a number of attacking forays that finished just short of the line.

The Bay of Plenty Secondary Schoolgirls came back from a seven-point deficit at half time, to post a hard fought victory against Waikato on Saturday (8 September 2012).

Three Bay tries to Ruta Wall, Kathleen Kelly and Lorelei Punga and a conversion to Fern Lockley, saw the Bay team wrap up the Chiefs franchise side of the draw 17-12. Bay of Plenty Head Coach Charlie Hurihanganui was extremely pleased with his sides performance in the second spell and singled out forwards Shanelle Conwell, Khanum Elisaia, Brooke Takuira and Tayla Delamere along with backs Kodi Taylor, Chevylee Crean and Stacey Waaka for praise.

A second Bay side to post a solid victory was the Under 16 A representatives.

The 24-15 win, which include a bonus point for four tries, was a further step up in intensity for the Bay side. Connor Fifita touched the ball down twice with Christian Kelly and Resden Hirama also scoring tries.

The Bay forwards provided good ball from the set pieces, with the backline running in four well-executed touchdowns. Fullback Connor Fifita saved several opposition tries with solid tackling as well as grabbing two touchdowns. While defeated 33-8 by North Harbour the second Bay of Plenty under-16 team, never gave up the battle and are looking forward to meeting the Bay A side next weekend.

Another Bay side to taste defeat were the Bay of Plenty under-20 team. They were right in the match at half time trailing 12-6, before North Harbour went on to post a 36-9 victory. Matt Axtens stood out for the Bay reps breaking the North Harbour line at will several times during the game, with prop John Bosco Tagaloa and lock Taylor Jones also praised for their performances

BOPRU Representative Northern Region Results 7/8 September 2012

Development: Counties Manukau 18 BOP 13 (Rawiri Tapiata try; Willie Ripia 2 pen con) HT 13-10

U20: North Harbour 36 BOP 9 (Jordan Ngamoti-Poi 3 pen) HT 12-6

Under16

BOP A 24 (Connor Fifita 2, Christian Kelly, Resden Hirama tries; Christian Kelly 2 con) Counties Manukau 15

North Harbour 33 Bay of Plenty B 8

Secondary Schoolgirls: BOP 17 (Ruta Wall, Kathleen Kelly, Lorelei Punga tries; Fern Lockley con) HT 0-7

11 September - BOP Under 18 v Waikato @ Waikato Stadium.