Bay of Plenty

Sam Cane pulled on the Steamers jersey before he ever won a cap for the All Blacks, and it is his name, more than any honours board, that Tauranga points to when the talk turns to Bay of Plenty rugby. The union came into being in 1911, breaking away from the South Auckland Rugby Union to run its own affairs.

Eighteen challenges for the Ranfurly Shield had ended in defeat before Bay of Plenty went to Eden Park and beat Auckland 33–28 to finally take it home, only to lose it again two defences later. It sat alongside a first National Provincial Championship title in 1976, the inaugural year of that competition, and a Mitre 10 Cup Championship crown in 2019. A first final in forty-five years followed in 2024, lost to Wellington after extra time.

Home games are shared between Tauranga Domain, which holds 5,000, and the much larger Rotorua International Stadium when bigger crowds are expected. Auckland remain the old rival, the two sides still contesting the John Drake Boot, while the meetings with Hawke's Bay are known locally as the Battle of the Bays.