The Bay of Plenty Steamers are celebrating after breaking the Taranaki Bulls winning streak on Saturday with a 29-26 win.

Taranaki Bulls played host to the Steamers at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth in Round 4 of the Bunnings NPC.

Taranaki was the team to beat, having won all four of their opening games and were sitting pretty at the top of the table.

The Steamers, on the other hand, have had a slower start with a 1-2 record and were out to cause an upset.

Bay of Plenty had a couple of changes for the Steamers on Saturday. The only change in the forwards saw Veveni Lasaqa coming in at openside for Semisi Paea. Leroy Carter came in on the right wing for Codemeru Vai in the only other change to the XV. Wharenui Hawera joined the bench in what was his debut.

After starting the year with a win and a loss, the Bay of Plenty Steamers were tipped up by Counties Manukau last week in a game where they were left ruing countless opportunities. Their record to start the season doesn’t reflect how they have been performing and they fought to get their season back on track with the win on Saturday.

The game against the Bulls kicked off at 4.36pm with a cloudy afternoon and temperature hovering around the mid-teens along with a slight northwesterly breeze.

Half time score was 19-19, with the Steamers battling through.

Heritage Day for Taranaki Rugby

Taranaki Rugby celebrated Heritage Day on Saturday, asking their supporters to bust out their old Taranaki Rugby jersey ‘to make it a true classic occasion” by reliving history.

The match against Bay of Plenty was an opportunity to “celebrate the 1993 Taranaki Rugby side that took on the British & Irish Lions at the Bull Ring”.

Special memories for the Taranaki rugby community celebrated as part of Heritage Day include:

50 years ago: 1973 | Taranaki v England, played at Rugby Park, New Plymouth, Won 6-3.

40 years ago: 1983 | Taranaki v New South Wales, played at T G Milner Field, Sydney, Won 10-9.

30 years ago: 1993 | Taranaki v British & Irish Lions, played at Rugby Park, New Plymouth, Lost 49-25.

Taranaki tipped off the top of the table

Not many experts were picking Bay of Plenty to upset the top of the table Taranaki at home, however that is exactly what they have done. In what was a tightly fought contest throughout, Bay of Plenty made use of a mountain of possession to pull away from the 'Naki and come out victorious.

Selby-Rickit and Ah Kuoi in particular really led from the front for the Steamers, dominating collisions in the middle of the field. Taranaki have been handed their first loss of the season and will be bitterly disappointed with that result.

Saturday was a good day all round for Bay of Plenty rugby. Back on home turf, the Bay of Plenty Under 19s beat Counties Manukau Under 19s on Saturday afternoon at Tauranga Domain with a final score of 15-7.

And Bay of Plenty Ngāwhā started their campaign off strong with a close 33-31 win against Auckland, that was close.

Follow coverage of the Steamers v Bulls match here:

Additional reporting by Jack Capil/Stuff