The Bay of Plenty Steamers have made a statement to their competition in the Mitre 10 Cup championship division with a 50-7 thrashing over Otago at the Tauranga Domain.
Former Warriors junior Abraham Papali'i opened the scoring for the hosts after they dominated from the opening minutes.
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Workhorse Mitch Karpik scored the Steamers' second try after slicing through a pretty lacklustre defensive line.
The Bay of Plenty side continued to dominate throughout the first half and scored again through former Otago and All Blacks sevens representative Fa'Asiu Fuatai.
Captain Aidan Ross scored the final try of the first half as the hosts took a 26-0 lead into the break.
Karpik and Nathan Harris lead the way for the Steamers on defence throughout the game as they continued to get their way over the southern men.
Former sevens star Joe Webber took the lead out to 33-0 lead after 50 minutes after scoring a fantastic long-range try.
Otago finally got on the board 15 minutes later thanks to a try from Sio Tomkinson.
But any chances of an unlikely comeback were quashed two minutes later when replacement halfback Luke Campbell scored to take the Steamers' lead out to 40-7.
The Mount Maunganui-based side scored the final try of the match, Jason Roberston capping off a superb outing and securing the 43-point win.
Bay of Plenty will take on Waikato in Rotorua next week.
Newshub.
