Bay of Plenty Steamers are celebrating a 33-20 win over Taranaki Bulls in Round 6 of the Bunnings Warehouse National Provincial Championship.

Bay of Plenty rugby fans turned out in force on Saturday to watch the home game special, and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Ranfurly Shield 2004 winning team.

The double header day of footy saw the Tauranga Domain stands packed with supporters as the Bay of Plenty Steamers took on the Taranaki Bulls, and the Bay of Plenty Volcanix took on Auckland Rugby.

Packed stadium at Tauranga Domain. Photo: BOP Rugby.

Tauranga Domain grounds opened at 10am for the U18’s Boy and U18’s Girls matches, with the Volcanix versus Auckland game kicking off at 11.35am.

Bay of Plenty Volcanix

Bay of Plenty Volcanix lost to Auckland 24-29 and will head to the Rotorua International Stadium next Sunday for their next match in the 2024 Farah Palmer Cup, playing Canterbury.

Volcanix playing Auckland on Saturday. Photo: BOP Rugby.

The semi-finals for the Farah Palmer Cup will be played from Friday to Sunday, September 27-29, and the finals from Friday to Sunday, October 4-6.

Volcanix playing Auckland on Saturday. Photo: BOP Rugby.

Bay of Plenty Steamers beat Taranaki 33-20

The Steamers versus Bulls game kicked off at 2.05pm, with a half time score of 14-10 to Bay of Plenty.

Bay of Plenty Steamers beat Taranaki Bulls 33-20. Photo: BOP Rugby.

The Steamers took charge after halftime to earn a 33-20 NPC win over the Taranaki Bulls and will head to the Sky Stadium in Wellington to play the Wellington team next Saturday.

They will be back to play Northland at Tauranga Domain on Saturday, September 28.

Bay of Plenty Steamers is in second-equal place in the NPC current standings with 27 points, and Auckland is in first place with 30 points.

Hawke’s Bay also has 27 points, and Tasman is in fourth place with 23 points.