Bay of Plenty vs Canterbury Predictions - Hosts to advance against Canterbury

Canterbury have won five of their last six games against Bay of Plenty. They have, however, not met since 2022, so there are very little recent encounters to go on.

Bay of Plenty finished the regular season in fourth place after winning seven and losing three of the 10 round robin matches. That ensured they got a home quarter-final last weekend.

After losing 30-25 to the table topping Wellington away from home on 21 September, Bay of Plenty won their last two round robin games. They defeated Northland comfortably at home before taking a two-point win in Auckland. 

Last week, in the quarter-final, Bay of Plenty narrowly escaped against the 2023 runners-up, Hawkes Bay. In a thrilling encounter, Bay of Plenty came out on top 19-17.

Bay of Plenty are in good form and have some players back form the international side. They may look to make a few changes after a very physical game last weekend.

Canterbury ended up sixth on the table having won six of their 10 matches in the regular season. While the quality is in the squad, they failed to consistently produce the goods, which resulted in an away knockout game.

Last week, in that quarter-final against Tasman away from home, Canterbury produced a magnificent display, thrashing their hosts 62-14. That is quite impressive when you see Tasman only lost two games all season.

Last time out Canterbury were magnificent, and I don’t see them making many changes to that side.