[2013] ITM Cup: Round 1

[Kiwiwomble]

Otago!......thats is all (any one seen Darwin around?)

 

[Draggs]

No clue where Ben Smith Jr is.
Maybe the Aussies thought he was a spy and he now on the run in rural Australia, hiding with Keith Murdoch.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Otago!......thats is all (any one seen Darwin around?)

Shield game against Waikato next week!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Shield game against Waikato next week!

Not expecting too much but just getting that frst win under the belt and against the prem team too is pretty sweet...and you know what they say about playing poorly and still winning. at least we will go into this with some small amount of confidence.

not convinced by some of Tony Browns selections so far. Brad Weber was in the running for club player of the season and yet didn't make the squad and liam edwards is by far the fastest player in club rugby and he hasn't made the squad either. Moffet look VERY slow on the wing yesterday. he was the leading try scorer playing in the midfield and the first thing we do is move him out of position...we need a little more pace in the team on first impressions.

i'm not surprised ensor looked a bit sheepish about running from the back...he would easilly outpace any support except buxton

 

[ABs2011]

From the Auckland vs. North Harbour game, seems a bit silly to have a long-arm penalty against the replacement halfback for incorrect feed to the scrum because the starting halfback had done it already. That's almost like giving a yellow card to the replacement flanker because number 7 was already warned for hands in the ruck.

The more pertinent analogy is when a team is warned for multiple infringements in the ruck say and the next player who infringes (even if it is a player who has only just come on) gets binned. The fact is, like it or not, these are the new rules the refs are having to enforce. I imagine I am with you in thinking this first week of ITM cup has highlighted some issues the refs and players need to iron out, but in terms of your first point, the team gets the warning for feeds not being straight, so the next infringement regardless of the player warrants a penalty.. Hope they sort some of it out though as I didnt feel the new rules improved the game.

 

[tenpm]

The more pertinent analogy is when a team is warned for multiple infringements in the ruck say and the next player who infringes (even if it is a player who has only just come on) gets binned. The fact is, like it or not, these are the new rules the refs are having to enforce. I imagine I am with you in thinking this first week of ITM cup has highlighted some issues the refs and players need to iron out, but in terms of your first point, the team gets the warning for feeds not being straight, so the next infringement regardless of the player warrants a penalty.. Hope they sort some of it out though as I didnt feel the new rules improved the game.

I guess that's the logic behind the policy, but I still feel it's harsh. I think I would have agreed with you if the "feed to the scrum" rule hadn't been tightened so recently but were an established part of the game (like "hands in ruck"). I would imagine it is difficult to walk the fine line between being penalised for a skewed feed and losing the ball by giving it to the opposition hooker, and it only seems fair to give the player one opportunity to get a feel for the new rule before it becomes a penalty.

 

[ABs2011]

I guess that's the logic behind the policy, but I still feel it's harsh. I think I would have agreed with you if the "feed to the scrum" rule hadn't been tightened so recently but were an established part of the game (like "hands in ruck"). I would imagine it is difficult to walk the fine line between being penalised for a skewed feed and losing the ball by giving it to the opposition hooker, and it only seems fair to give the player one opportunity to get a feel for the new rule before it becomes a penalty.

The scrums were pretty awful I thought, both in the RC and ITM cup. I'd be interested to see how much of the wasted time the new srum rules actually saved? There were less scrums collapsing I think, but a good number of resets still. I agree with you about how the feed to the scrum adversely affected the game. Particularly hard for the halfie to put the ball in straight when the scrum is shifting and angling to one side. My take is that the refs were being extra strict on the rule in the first week and will lighten up a bit as time goes on.