ITM Cup - Championship Final

[Kiwiwomble]

I was really hoping for a soutland v Otago final in dunedin....and hoping to not have to play counties just as much!

so, the AB's are avaliable for Otago, do you drop ensor? ellison in at 13 and Thomo in at 6 i dont have a bit problem with but i would rather see Dicko dropped and smith at 12...or ensor moved to the wing than to see him dopped to the bench

 

[Darwin]

I'd go 12. Ellison, 13. Smith and keep the outside backs the same, but it won't happen (as they won't drop Dickson). I suspect Ensor will be on the bench with Smith at 15, though they could drop Suckling and start Ensor on the wing. Personally I would actually prefer Suckling on the wing though. Ensor didn't look 100% last week - he looked very uncomfortable at times last weekend when he got tackled (or when making a tackle), and took ages to get back into position at times.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Last time these two teams played the key playmaker for Countires for TJ Ioane...

 

[Kiwiwomble]

he wont be starting and has played much better off the bench so i'm hooping it wont be 14 v 16 this time around!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Otago

1. Aki Seiuli
2. Liam Coltman
3. Tama Tuirirangi
4. Jackson Hemopo
5. Rob Verbakel
6. Adam Thomson
7. Lee Allan
8. Gareth Evans
9. Fumiaki Tanaka
10. Hayden Parker
11. Buxton Popoali'i
12. Glenn Dickson (C)
13. Tamati Ellison
14. Marshall Suckling
15. Ben Smith
Replacements
16. Shota Horie
17. Jacob Ellison
18. Adam Hill
19. TJ Ioane
20. Peter Breen
21. Jayden Spence
22. Tony Ensor


pretty much as expected, darwin, do you know if Anderson-Heather is injured? thought he had played well enough this year to get a game, what ever front row we had at the end of the game against Tasman (cant remember) should start, they demolished that last scrum

i feel for Ensor, i guess in the end it would be a bigger crime to mess with the team too much

 

[Darwin]

Very happy with that side - my only complaint is the lack of halfback cover on the bench (again).

I assume Anderson-Heather is fit (mainly as I haven't heard that he is injured). If I recall correctly he left Tasman game at about halftime and was replaced by Horie, though I assume it was just a tactical substitution (as they have been bringing on Horie at around halftime all season). For me it would be a 50:50 decision out of Anderson-Heather and Horie for the bench - Horie has the experience, but Anderson-Heather has had the better season in my opinion.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i was actually thinking about starting one of them as coltman has done really well at prob, can you remember the front row that finished the game on the weekend?

 

[Darwin]

i was actually thinking about starting one of them as coltman has done really well at prob, can you remember the front row that finished the game on the weekend?

I think the front row at the end of the last game was Ellison, Horie, Coltman. Ellison made a big impact when he came on last weekend - he has never been known as a strong scrummager though, so it may have just been an aberration...

 

[Kiwiwomble]

odt reports Anderson Heather is injured, question answered

 

[austingtir]

I thought some pretty important decisions went against otago in this game giving counties a pretty big edge at times. Not that i dont think that they deserved to winn anyway but I saw some pretty crappy reffing in this game.

 

[Muzzy]

Counties have been one of the best teams and the most entertaining team to watch throughout the whole comp, glad they won, just like last week they ended up scoring a bunch of back to back tries in the last 15 minutes. Baden-Kerr, Stowers, Pulu, Bason, Nanai-Williams, Aki, Adongo have all been stars, I hope they stay with Counties, can't wait to see Baden-Kerr with the Blues in Super Rugby season.