EOYT: Wales vs New Zealand, 24/11/2012

[austingtir]

I am a bit disappointed in Wales' progress since the quarterfinal of the RWC where in my opinion they played the best game of the tournament against Ireland. Since that day they seem to be going backwards. They showed in that quarter final that they have the ability to beat anyone (Ireland also showed that as well)...but sadly they have not shown that ability consistently.

NZ are not genetically better....nor does NZ have better resources than other countries. There is more money playing rugby outside of NZ which is why many kiwis leave. NZ does not even top the countries when it comes to player base. The only reason why NZ wins is because of the type of mentality the kiwi kids have at junior level...the same mentality Brazilian kids have when playing football. NZ kids are encouraged to have a go with the ball...the risky stuff of their heroes. Later on they learn to try this risky stuff within the structure of a team gameplan. Coaches are told to allow kids to back themselves even if it is not conducive to the team plan. As kids go through the levels the better kids at backing themselves come through to the top....until at the very top it is simply a matter of gelling a team of individuals who back their own ability.

Skills on their own are not enough though to be at the top...you also need ruthlessness. Which is why the Fifa World Cup is not always won by Brazil but by clinical countries like Germany. New Zealand are lucky that for every attacking Waka Nathan player they produced they also produced a Colin Meads thug. This is why NZ struggles with France quite a bit....because French rugby has a culture of flair with thuggery and will sometimes wake up and all 22 players will back themselves and their own ability to smash the All Black pack and then slice the All Black backs with deceptively crafted moves.

Wales need to encourage their rugby kids to have a go...take a risk. Have a go at sidestepping for the slight kids...and have a go at smashing tackles for the heavier kids. Allowing and encouraging kids to be daring develops a higher skill level....and only later on when kids have developed skills do you start to get older kids to work within a gameplan.

For Welsh kids to aspire to something...the Welsh national team needs players who capture the imagination of their fans....willing to have a go even if they lose. The last time a Welsh player amazed kiwis was when Shane Williams dazzled the ABs in the 2003 RWC. Wales need backs who believe in their ability and are willing to have a go and forwards who are tough enough and don't take a backward step. Only then will the seed be planted in Welsh kids to follow their heroes

What a load of tosh. Wales are nowhere near the AB's and wont be anytime soon with that bunch of players. Argentina has a better chance of beating them.

They played great at the WC for a couple of games yes... could they of beaten NZ at any stage in that tournament?.... nope. The only thing i'll agree with you on is France is currently the only team that could beat us on a good day if they have them consistently. Australia is a bit of a bogie team for us when a nothing game is on so they dont count and SA need to sort themselves out and they will be right up there again.

 

[Gay-Guy]

I didn't say Wales are near us....I am saying Wales need to back themselves more at the very least.

 

[dullonien]

What a load of tosh. Wales are nowhere near the AB's and wont be anytime soon with that bunch of players. Argentina has a better chance of beating them.

They played great at the WC for a couple of games yes... could they of beaten NZ at any stage in that tournament?.... nope. The only thing i'll agree with you on is France is currently the only team that could beat us on a good day if they have them consistently. Australia is a bit of a bogie team for us when a nothing game is on so they dont count and SA need to sort themselves out and they will be right up there again.

 

[nickdnz]

Very good first half - and then Weepu came on the field. Now it's not just his fault. We kicked the ball away FAR too much. The All Blacks are very passive at ruck time and rely on opposition mistakes to get turnovers rather than counter rucking - so kicking the bloody ball away all the freaking time is pretty much giving Wales free possession. It was infuriating. Weepu delivers the slowest ball ever. I wasn't even that impressed with Aaron Smith - who did some pretty average box kicking (our up and unders sucked), but I'm pretty sure I could FedEx a ball to Beauden Barett in Mellenium Stadium before Weepu could pass it to him. Number of times Wales turned the ball over with Weepu's thumb firmly up his arse...

 

[j'nuh]

Was that 13 man lineout legal? I thought you had to have the same number in the lineouts.

Team throwing gets to set the number of men in the lineout. NZ were allowed to match the number Wales put in.

Didn't know that until today. Didn't even know backs were allowed in a lineout. Never seen it before. It got me wondering, why do teams with 6'6 wingers like Banahan and Cuthbert never use these guys in the lineout?

Can see this lineout being the new rugby fad. Much better replacement for the conga line rucking!

 

[Draggs]

Just watched that lineout again. ****ing hilarious.
I love Knoyle in the normal SH position. Who was he going to pass to if he got it?
Now if only I could do that in JLRC. It would put my other lineout antics to shame.

Now we need to get all fifteen in, Rees needs to really chuck it up there and then pile in midflight.

 

[UilamOsa]

Team throwing gets to set the number of men in the lineout. NZ were allowed to match the number Wales put in.

Didn't know that until today. Didn't even know backs were allowed in a lineout. Never seen it before. It got me wondering, why do teams with 6'6 wingers like Banahan and Cuthbert never use these guys in the lineout?

Can see this lineout being the new rugby fad. Much better replacement for the conga line rucking!

The brumbies use to create a maul with their backs off their Scrum. It use to be pretty handy as well. I think in the long run, the potential risk (if it collapses or is turned over) of just having one opposition back a free run to the try line would mean it would be used in special occasions. I'm with you, I hope teams try this more. (no pun intended)

 

[Gay-Guy]

Schooboy rugby here in NZ sometimes tries the 13 man lineout.....Otahuhu College did it to our school this season.

The only downside of the 13 man lineout is that if you lose the ball then its pretty much a try downfield after 2 passes. Even if you put your fastest player as halfback there is still not much he can do if the defending team gets the ball and runs it from their line. The All Blacks got greedy when they saw the 13 man lineout and got ready to run the ball from their own line....except they didn't steal the lineout lol!

 

[Ozzay]

I was behind the posts off the lineout and looked up and thought wheres the backline? I'm not that drunk am i?

Wales had 2 options for 3 points which Halfpenny could of kicked, both went for touch and one made it, one went dead. We have to take points! We could of gone in 16-6 not 23-0, if we get points on the board it changes the NZ mindset.

Fairplay. The injuries didn't help one bit, how quick NZ get the ball is amazingly fairplay, they just do the basics amazingly well! I wouldnt say they played great they didnt need too as Wales didn't challenge them. I don't think Jane would of been carded if the scoreline wasn't so one sided but nevermind. Don't think Joubert helped us either!

 

[tompaton7]

My player ratings for Wales:

1. Paul James - 5 - scrum was reasonably solid at times but did creak a bit. Also dropped a ball when we had a massive overlap
2. Matthew Rees - 5 - carried reasonably, throwing was good at the lineouts. Bit soft in the tackle at times, could've worked harder.
3. Aaron Jarvis - no rating - injured in the first minute. Quite sad.
4. Bradley Davies - no rating - see Jarvis. Hope Hore gets a sizeable ban.
5. Luke Charteris - 5 - took his lineouts, and was 3rd top tackler. Could have carried more.
6. Ryan Jones - 3 - poor display by Jones, missed as many tackles as he made, and failed to make much headway with carries.
7. Sam Warburton - 8 - our best player along with Faletau, proving all critics wrong. Joint top tackler with Faletau - with none missed, disrupted the breakdown (conceded an undeserved penalty for what was a textbook pilfer), carried strongly and won the more lineouts than anyway in the team. Great captain's knock.
8. Toby Faletau - 8 - outstanding display by Faletau overshadowed Kieran Read by a long way. Top tackler, top ball carrier and was very physical.
9. Mike Phillips - 5 - he upped the tempo with his quick taps but was slow to the breakdown at times. Tackled solidly, but some of his passes weren't great either. Knoyle had a bigger impact.
10. Rhys Priestland - 3 - two horror kicks that went dead and missed a lot of tackles. Was better than his two other performances this campaign though as we did see him start to throw the ball wide and get the line running.
11. Liam Williams - 6 - very solid display by Williams, made 2 important tackles and wasn't overawed by the occasion. Did drop a couple of high balls though.
12. Jamie Roberts - 4 - only contribution was a knock on, albeit from a suspect pass by Phillips. Injured and subbed in the 18th minute.
13. Jonathan Davies - 5 - positive impact to our offensive with some lovely hands a very nice break. Was guilty of missing 5 tackles though one of which led to the first try.
14. Alex Cuthbert - 5 - really came into his own in the second half with 10 runs for 126 metres. Was guilty of dropping off tackles though and really needs to sew that area of his game up.
15. Leigh Halfpenny - 5 - made some good runs and a try saving tackle on Savea. Missed two conversion however.

BENCH
16. Ken Owens - No rating - positive contribution with his running. Not on long enough to rate.
17. Gethin Jenkins - No rating - scrum began to creak when he came on. Didn't offer much else.
18. Scott Andrews - 5 - scrum didn't falter too badly till later on. Positive contributions with carries and tackles.
19. Aaron Shingler - 6 - he looked very comfortable making lots of carries, tackles and taking 4 lineouts. Deserves to start against Australia.
20. Justin Tipuric - 4 - on for half hour, fought valiantly with tackles. Not much impact at the breakdown, but a couple of decent carries.
21. Tavis Knoyle - 5 - I like Knoyle, he's physical, fast and has a better pass than Phillips. Good impact and deserves to start next week.
22. James Hook - No rating - came on for 13 minutes and got the line running. Deserved more time with Priestland off song.
23. Scott Williams - 6 - some good carries by Williams, made all his tackles and claimed a deserved try.

 

[tompaton7]

New Zealand Player Ratings:

1. Tony Woodcock - 7 - strong scrummaging, got around the field with tackles and carries and claimed a replica of his world cup final try.
2. Andrew Hore - 5 - was strong at the breakdown found his man at lineouts. Won't play again this tour though after a disgraceful cheap shot on Bradley Davies
3. Owen Franks - 7 - he works so hard, making loads of tackles and was excellent at scrum time.
4. Luke Romano - 7 - top performance by Romano, made some great carries, tackled well, was the key lineout jumper and claimed a deserved try. Good shift.
5. Sam Whitelock - 7 - hard working lock is Whitelock. Made a good steal in the first half, lots of tackles and carries and took three lineouts.
6. Liam Messam - 7 - carried hard, lots of physical tackles and claimed a deserved try.
7. Richie McCaw - 8 - top captain's knock. Topped the tackle count, albeit with 4 misses. Carried well, disrupted the breakdown. Would not have given him man of the match however.
8. Kieran Read - 4 - probably his worst display in an All Black jersey this year. Carried like usual but missed 6 tackles which was out of character.
9. Aaron Smith - 6 - he has a terrific pass, made some good tackles. Suspect box kicking though. The difference was noticeable when he left the field.
10. Aaron Cruden - 9 - my man of the match. Kicked superbly both tactically and for the posts. Got the backline running excellently and made all his tackles. Scary to think New Zealand probably have the 3 of the 5 best fly halves in the world at the moment (up for debate) in Carter, Cruden and Nick Evans.
11. Julian Savea - 7 - suspect under the high ball at times but boy he is an outstanding runner! Caused problems for Wales all day. Made all his tackles.
12. Ma'a Nonu - 7 - made all his tackles, put pressure on at the breakdown, ran and distributed excellently.
13. Conrad Smith - 8 - the guy is flawless. No missed tackles, impeccable skills and running lines. Like an openside flanker in the backline at the breakdown. Superb.
14. Cory Jane - 4 - not a great display by Jane. Unusually suspect under the high ball and gave away a yellow card for a deliberate knock. Didn't cause much havoc for the Welsh defence either.
15. Israel Dagg - 7 - kicked well out of hand, was a threat on attack as well. Made all his tackles.

BENCH
16. Dan Cole - 5 - carried solidly, made all his tackles and hit all his jumpers.
17. Wyatt Crockett - 5 - continued what Woodcock started with strong scrummaging. Made his tackles.
18. Charlie Faumuina - 4 - strong scrummaging when he came on. Didn't add much in general play and conceded 2 penalties.
19. Brodie Retallick - 4 - tackled well, took a lineout. Not quite the impact that Romano had however.
20. Victor Vito - no rating - wasn't on for long but looked hungry for work. Fished for turnovers and continued what Messam started.
21. Piri Weepu - 3 - very average with his passing. Tackled well. Could be coming to the end of his test career, with Kerr-Barlow and next year Perenara pushing him hard.
22. Beauden Barrett - no rating - wasn't on for long. Dropped a poor pass from Weepu.
23. Ben Smith - no rating.

 

[Tony Manx]

I look back at the game today and I have to admit there is a clear different skill set between Wales and New Zealand. I personally think it goes back to grass root rugby that is taught. It's quite simple, it was even clear in the warm ups. It was simple handling and passing the ball, the way NZ shift the ball from player to player is impressive and also the way they look after the ball. During the warm up it was pure class to watch the All Blacks doing the simple handling in 4s drill, every pass was precise. Wales cannot do this / do not do this well. I look at what is taught in schools / clubs it's simply not happening. I have spent time doing this with the school side and I can say that my club side is starting to do more of it in training. This is not solely the reason why Wales lost but it actually played a role.

Totally agree but then the whole structure of rugby in NZ leads from birth through to tpp class rugby where the best players are encouraged and pushed toward the AB shirt. This has added impetus when, as a young lad, you see what the AB's have achieved in playing terms if only one RWC (no one can count the first amateur jamboree!!) and the esteem the players, current and ex, are held in by the Kiwi's and now the wealth they create by being AB's or coming to the NH for their nest eggs!!

This is totally different in the Uk where rugby is hardly played in schools and football and celebrity status are seen by the youth of today as the way to fame and fortune!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Rugby is played in pretty much every school in the UK.
Agree with the rest of your post, though, and Cymro's too.

Even at age grade international we have the mix wrong - picking the biggest players possible, not necessarily the best. Sure we get a good number of wins by bullying the opposition, but then you see a lot of these players not really make an impact on the pro game as everyone else is as big as they are.

 

[Tony Manx]

Rugby is played in pretty much every school in the UK.
Agree with the rest of your post, though, and Cymro's too.

Even at age grade international we have the mix wrong - picking the biggest players possible, not necessarily the best. Sure we get a good number of wins by bullying the opposition, but then you see a lot of these players not really make an impact on the pro game as everyone else is as big as they are.

Not as a priorty sport! For instant, my old school used to play rugby in both winter and spring terms exclusively and now they only play winter term (and even then you have the option to play hockey or football) and spring term is football......this school is not the only one and has become more prevalent over the last number of years!

 

[j'nuh]

Even at age grade international we have the mix wrong - picking the biggest players possible, not necessarily the best. Sure we get a good number of wins by bullying the opposition, but then you see a lot of these players not really make an impact on the pro game as everyone else is as big as they are.

True. I think a problem is that a lot of people start to get involved in secondary school, and by that point, the biggest meanest kids fill out the game. The smaller kids, who might have had a real good reading of the game and should have got involved in primary school, and should have at least conditioned their body to be able to take the hits of bigger kids, get left out.

More rugby in primary schools also means years more practice at the "basics" that NH teams seem to fail at, yet seem to come so naturally to SH teams.

 

[dullonien]

My player ratings for Wales:

1. Paul James - 5 - scrum was reasonably solid at times but did creak a bit. Also dropped a ball when we had a massive overlap
2. Matthew Rees - 5 - carried reasonably, throwing was good at the lineouts. Bit soft in the tackle at times, could've worked harder.
3. Aaron Jarvis - no rating - injured in the first minute. Quite sad.
4. Bradley Davies - no rating - see Jarvis. Hope Hore gets a sizeable ban.
5. Luke Charteris - 5 - took his lineouts, and was 3rd top tackler. Could have carried more.
6. Ryan Jones - 3 - poor display by Jones, missed as many tackles as he made, and failed to make much headway with carries.
7. Sam Warburton - 8 - our best player along with Faletau, proving all critics wrong. Joint top tackler with Faletau - with none missed, disrupted the breakdown (conceded an undeserved penalty for what was a textbook pilfer), carried strongly and won the more lineouts than anyway in the team. Great captain's knock.
8. Toby Faletau - 8 - outstanding display by Faletau overshadowed Kieran Read by a long way. Top tackler, top ball carrier and was very physical.
9. Mike Phillips - 5 - he upped the tempo with his quick taps but was slow to the breakdown at times. Tackled solidly, but some of his passes weren't great either. Knoyle had a bigger impact.
10. Rhys Priestland - 3 - two horror kicks that went dead and missed a lot of tackles. Was better than his two other performances this campaign though as we did see him start to throw the ball wide and get the line running.
11. Liam Williams - 6 - very solid display by Williams, made 2 important tackles and wasn't overawed by the occasion. Did drop a couple of high balls though.
12. Jamie Roberts - 4 - only contribution was a knock on, albeit from a suspect pass by Phillips. Injured and subbed in the 18th minute.
13. Jonathan Davies - 5 - positive impact to our offensive with some lovely hands a very nice break. Was guilty of missing 5 tackles though one of which led to the first try.
14. Alex Cuthbert - 5 - really came into his own in the second half with 10 runs for 126 metres. Was guilty of dropping off tackles though and really needs to sew that area of his game up.
15. Leigh Halfpenny - 5 - made some good runs and a try saving tackle on Savea. Missed two conversion however.

BENCH
16. Ken Owens - No rating - positive contribution with his running. Not on long enough to rate.
17. Gethin Jenkins - No rating - scrum began to creak when he came on. Didn't offer much else.
18. Scott Andrews - 5 - scrum didn't falter too badly till later on. Positive contributions with carries and tackles.
19. Aaron Shingler - 6 - he looked very comfortable making lots of carries, tackles and taking 4 lineouts. Deserves to start against Australia.
20. Justin Tipuric - 4 - on for half hour, fought valiantly with tackles. Not much impact at the breakdown, but a couple of decent carries.
21. Tavis Knoyle - 5 - I like Knoyle, he's physical, fast and has a better pass than Phillips. Good impact and deserves to start next week.
22. James Hook - No rating - came on for 13 minutes and got the line running. Deserved more time with Priestland off song.
23. Scott Williams - 6 - some good carries by Williams, made all his tackles and claimed a deserved try.

They look almost spot on, good analysis too. I'd drop Faletau by 1, as he lost the ball a on a couple of occasions, but it was certainly a much improved performance by him. Tipuric deserves one or two more, I thought he was excellent when he came on, carrying well and popping up everywhere in defence. The big question for me for next week is do we play Shingler at 6, or do we play dual opensides with Warbs at 6? Due to our lack of locks, we could consider playing Shingler in the second row, and go for an all out mobile pack, but with Alexander back, the Aussie scrum isn't weak (as shown v England last week), so can we get away with this?

Regarding the age grade rugby thing. Tony Manx and Olyy, you are confusing England with all of the NH. Rugby is played heavily in a lot of schools in Wales. At my secondary school we played rugby most of the time, with a bit of cricket and athletics in the summer, and football now and again, and cross country running also a regular thing. The problem was the coaching. We had a dedicated teacher (Vivian Davies) who was almost entirely responsible for rugby at age-grade level in Aberystwyth (taught Welsh and sports at Penweddig Secondary school, and taught the age-grade Aberystwyth team). He was a good teacher, and as I said dedicated, but he probably wasn't the best rugby coach. Clem Thomas, the other sports teacher wasn't the best truth be told. I'm not sure what the situation is now. I would like to see more ex players getting into coaching at age-grade rugby, getting brought into schools to take double lessons (1 hour isn't enough, 2hrs are needed) across Wales, not just in the heartlands in the south.

Size isn't the be all and end all in Wales. In fact we have historically struggled at age-grade international level in terms of physicality. The basic skill-set which should be developed in primary school and secondary school isn't there though.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

My player ratings for Wales:

1. Paul James - 5 - scrum was reasonably solid at times but did creak a bit. Also dropped a ball when we had a massive overlap
2. Matthew Rees - 5 - carried reasonably, throwing was good at the lineouts. Bit soft in the tackle at times, could've worked harder.
3. Aaron Jarvis - no rating - injured in the first minute. Quite sad.
4. Bradley Davies - no rating - see Jarvis. Hope Hore gets a sizeable ban.
5. Luke Charteris - 5 - took his lineouts, and was 3rd top tackler. Could have carried more.
6. Ryan Jones - 3 - poor display by Jones, missed as many tackles as he made, and failed to make much headway with carries.
7. Sam Warburton - 8 - our best player along with Faletau, proving all critics wrong. Joint top tackler with Faletau - with none missed, disrupted the breakdown (conceded an undeserved penalty for what was a textbook pilfer), carried strongly and won the more lineouts than anyway in the team. Great captain's knock.
8. Toby Faletau - 8 - outstanding display by Faletau overshadowed Kieran Read by a long way. Top tackler, top ball carrier and was very physical.
9. Mike Phillips - 5 - he upped the tempo with his quick taps but was slow to the breakdown at times. Tackled solidly, but some of his passes weren't great either. Knoyle had a bigger impact.
10. Rhys Priestland - 3 - two horror kicks that went dead and missed a lot of tackles. Was better than his two other performances this campaign though as we did see him start to throw the ball wide and get the line running.
11. Liam Williams - 6 - very solid display by Williams, made 2 important tackles and wasn't overawed by the occasion. Did drop a couple of high balls though.
12. Jamie Roberts - 4 - only contribution was a knock on, albeit from a suspect pass by Phillips. Injured and subbed in the 18th minute.
13. Jonathan Davies - 5 - positive impact to our offensive with some lovely hands a very nice break. Was guilty of missing 5 tackles though one of which led to the first try.
14. Alex Cuthbert - 5 - really came into his own in the second half with 10 runs for 126 metres. Was guilty of dropping off tackles though and really needs to sew that area of his game up.
15. Leigh Halfpenny - 5 - made some good runs and a try saving tackle on Savea. Missed two conversion however.

BENCH
16. Ken Owens - No rating - positive contribution with his running. Not on long enough to rate.
17. Gethin Jenkins - No rating - scrum began to creak when he came on. Didn't offer much else.
18. Scott Andrews - 5 - scrum didn't falter too badly till later on. Positive contributions with carries and tackles.
19. Aaron Shingler - 6 - he looked very comfortable making lots of carries, tackles and taking 4 lineouts. Deserves to start against Australia.
20. Justin Tipuric - 4 - on for half hour, fought valiantly with tackles. Not much impact at the breakdown, but a couple of decent carries.
21. Tavis Knoyle - 5 - I like Knoyle, he's physical, fast and has a better pass than Phillips. Good impact and deserves to start next week.
22. James Hook - No rating - came on for 13 minutes and got the line running. Deserved more time with Priestland off song.
23. Scott Williams - 6 - some good carries by Williams, made all his tackles and claimed a deserved try.

Being harsh on Jenkins. Scrum didn't really creak, he gave away a penalty at scrum time but that was only because the binding was on his arm. If anything there was a couple of early shoves before the ball was in and to be honest Andrews could have and probably should have been penalised more at scrum time. Jenkins carried and put some tackles in. Sad I have to seemingly defend him every time. He wasn't outstanding but neither was he terrible.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

What I don't get though is that about two months ago a NZ school XV called Lindisfarne I think (where people like Isreal Dagg & Taine Randell went) and played a few schools in Northern Ireland and I think a few down south. I'm pretty sure they lost every single match - I know our school beat them by around 13 points. I heard they got hammered down south by one of the Dublin schools.

Now it could be this school just wasn't as good in terms of rugby compared to other schools in NZ, but how does this happen and yet it doesn't take a genius to notice the difference in quality in the national teams?

 

[donmcdazzle]

What I don't get though is that about two months ago a NZ school XV called Lindisfarne I think (where people like Isreal Dagg & Taine Randell went) and played a few schools in Northern Ireland and I think a few down south. I'm pretty sure they lost every single match - I know our school beat them by around 13 points. I heard they got hammered down south by one of the Dublin schools.

Now it could be this school just wasn't as good in terms of rugby compared to other schools in NZ, but how does this happen and yet it doesn't take a genius to notice the difference in quality in the national teams?

Lindisfarne are a pretty rubbish rugby school. They don't have many students there, but they are a relatively rich one as it is private so the parents tend to have a bit more money hence why they can afford to go on tour. Napier Boys High or Hastings Boys High (two big public schools in the same area) would give them a complete hiding most years. I think Dagg and Randell were probably the only good players of their era's that went there. Compare that to my old schools 1st XV which one year had the following players in the backline: Aaron Cruden, Hadleigh Parkes (Blues and Auckland), Kurt Baker (Highlanders and NZ maori), Andre Taylor (Hurricanes and NZ maori).

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Lindisfarne are a pretty rubbish rugby school. They don't have many students there, but they are a relatively rich one as it is private so the parents tend to have a bit more money hence why they can afford to go on tour. Napier Boys High or Hastings Boys High (two big public schools in the same area) would give them a complete hiding most years. I think Dagg and Randell were probably the only good players of their era's that went there. Compare that to my old schools 1st XV which one year had the following players in the backline: Aaron Cruden, Hadleigh Parkes (Blues and Auckland), Kurt Baker (Highlanders and NZ maori), Andre Taylor (Hurricanes and NZ maori).

Ah I thought so fair enough! Their Haka was pretty good I thought, they had red caps on which I've never seen before, what was that about?