RWC2011Fan
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What's up with Trafalgar Park right now? Looks real messy with half of the temporary seating still up in front of the old stand.
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ITM Cup - Round 1
- Thread starter Darwin
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Waikato team announced for their match against Harbour:
1. Toby Smith (Hamilton Old Boys)
2. Marcel Cummings-Toone (University)
3. Ben May (Te Awamutu Sports)
4. Chris Middleton (Te Awamutu Sports)
5. Romana Graham (Hautapu)
6. Matt Vant Leven (Fraser Tech)
7. Zak Hohneck (Otorohanga)
8. Alex Bradley [captain] (Morrinsville Sports)
9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Hautapu)
10. Sam Christie (Fraser Tech)
11. Declan O'Donnell (Melville)
12. Jackson Willison (Otorohanga)
13. Save Tokula (Fraser Tech)
14. Tim Mikkelson (University)
15. Trent Renata (University)
16. Kalem Chan Boon (Hamilton Marist)
17. Ted Tauroa (Otorohanga)
18. Sam Kilgour (Hautapu)
19. Jono Armstrong (Te Awamutu Sports)
20. Brendon Leonard (Morrinsville Sports)
21. Piers Francis (Hamilton Marist)
22. Glen Robertson (Fraser Tech)
1. Toby Smith (Hamilton Old Boys)
2. Marcel Cummings-Toone (University)
3. Ben May (Te Awamutu Sports)
4. Chris Middleton (Te Awamutu Sports)
5. Romana Graham (Hautapu)
6. Matt Vant Leven (Fraser Tech)
7. Zak Hohneck (Otorohanga)
8. Alex Bradley [captain] (Morrinsville Sports)
9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Hautapu)
10. Sam Christie (Fraser Tech)
11. Declan O'Donnell (Melville)
12. Jackson Willison (Otorohanga)
13. Save Tokula (Fraser Tech)
14. Tim Mikkelson (University)
15. Trent Renata (University)
16. Kalem Chan Boon (Hamilton Marist)
17. Ted Tauroa (Otorohanga)
18. Sam Kilgour (Hautapu)
19. Jono Armstrong (Te Awamutu Sports)
20. Brendon Leonard (Morrinsville Sports)
21. Piers Francis (Hamilton Marist)
22. Glen Robertson (Fraser Tech)
For a minute I thought you were refering to Bryce Lawrence, which is an equally fair description. Missing sholder charges, multipile knock ons, late tackles. He looked out of his depth at THIS level!
What's up with him? I missed this game. I heard he scored a match winning try. I agree in regards to his talent, I thought for last few seasons he's been New Zealand best halfback. Now I'd say TJ Peranara and Aaron Smith have overtaken him, but I still think he's extremely underrated.
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Darwin
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Pretty much a full strength Waikato side, though you could perhaps make an argument for Holah at 7 (though I do think they need to continue to develop Hohneck).
The North Harbour side:
1 Salesi Manu, 2 James Parsons, 3 Ben Afeaki, 4 Chris Smith, 5 Filo Paulo, 6 Malakai Ravulo, 7 Sam Hayes-Stevenson, 8 Jim Tuivaiti, 9 Bryn Hall, 10 Michael Hobbs, 11 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Francis Saili, 13 Cory Aporo, 14 David Raikuna, 15 Luke Devcich
Reserves: 16 Manu Leiataua, 17 James Afoa, 18 Api Ratuniyarawa, 19 Irwin Finau, 20 Brenton Helleur, 21 Pita AhKi, 22 Codey Rei
It looks like close to a full strength North Harbour side too . I'm not convinced with the make-up of the loose-trio - I understand King is out injured, but I would have thought Fihaki would have warranted a spot in the starting lineup (or in the 22 at least). Great to see Bryn Hall starting at halfback, and there is plenty of talent in the backline, though I'm surprised Devcich got the nod over Rei at fullback.
I expect it will be a close game, but I'm picking Waikato to take it out.
I have always been a bit of a fan of Mathewson, but he has become increasing ineffective over the last few years. This has a lot to do with what teams require from their halfbacks. Rather than being purely distributors, as the often have been in the past, halfbacks are now required to fulfill a playmakers role - organizing the team, and have a variety of kicking option etc. Unfortunately Mathewson has none of these attributes - he has a good pass, is a good sniping runner, and defends well, but a play-maker he is not. This means that when he is playing the team is missing a kicking option at halfback (vital in today's game), and his play is incredibly predictable - he will either pass it straight to his first-five, or have a snipe himself (or attempt a box-kick and kick it out on the full
).I feel Mathewson will really struggle with the introduction of the '5 second rule' during this ITM Cup too. Though Mathewson usually gets the ball out quickly, if the first-five isn't ready to take the ball Mathewson could be in trouble, as he doesn't seem to have the ability to react to situations under pressure. I think if he had been around 10 years ago he would have a pile All Blacks caps to his name, but unfortunately his style of play is becoming increasingly redundant in the modern game.
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Darwin
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I am watching it in the background, but am just going to head off to watch the Otago vs Northland match. A great individual try by Naholo just before halftime!
Yeah, same here. Just messing around with a few graphics until I am tired enough to get some sleep before the Bledisloe match. Great try, good use of pace and agility by the lad.
Enjoy the rugby, Darwin.
Telegraphed. Barrett saw that one coming a mile away. BOP were moving the ball pretty well in the phases before, wind out of their sails now.
Well, fair play to you for giving it a go. I know little about NZ rugby and would finish dead last.
71 minutes, penalty by Beauden Barrett for Taranaki, 15-30.
LittleGuy
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I play pretty much evey comp on Superbru, and by far the toughest every year is the ITM cup, I'm having better luck with the PSL than ITM Cup.
Try BOP Burleigh feeds McDonald to put him over near the corner.
Conversion successful, 22-30, 77 minutes, restart out on the full.
I have never done a SuperBru competition, I always feel I would lose interest or miss a week and look a big fool.
Try Taranaki (Jason Eaton) and it's all over. 22-37.
Conversion successful, 22-30, 77 minutes, restart out on the full.
I have never done a SuperBru competition, I always feel I would lose interest or miss a week and look a big fool.
Try Taranaki (Jason Eaton) and it's all over. 22-37.
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What's up with Otago's socks? Are they playing in their club socks?
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Yes. I can see at least one pair of Pirates, and one pair of Zingari-Richmond socks there
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I thought for a second that one player was wearing Waikato socks
Darwin
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Just back from the Otago match, and I have to say that was one of the best matches I've been to in a long time. The atmosphere at the stadium was great, it was great to have all the players in their club socks too, as it really epitomized the Otago team culture this season. Both teams played pretty expansive rugby (if a little sloppy at times), and the fact we won probably helped too
Overall Otago will be very happy with the 5 points, but they have plenty of areas to work on. Our Scrums and lineouts were both very poor. Scrums remain a major concern for me, as we were out scrummaged by Northland, who have a pretty average scrum themselves. The lineout throwing was also very poor (from both out hookers), so is another area that they need to do a lot of work in. I was really impressed with the work of Rob Verbakel, who has added some real physicality to his play in last season - his time away in Glasgow obviously was beneficial. Thomson was pretty quiet I thought, but did get a crucial lineout steal or two, while Evans and Grant were both very solid. I remain unconvinced about Ioane though - he is a very powerful ball runner, but he still loses the ball a lot in contact, and misses far too many tackles - I'm starting to wonder if he is better as a impact player off he bench (as he was used so effectively last season).
I don't want Ben Smith to get jealous, but I'm becoming a massive fan of Tanaka. His defense around the base of the breakdown is a bit of a concern, but his distribution is superb, and you can't question his courage - at one stage he tried to rip the ball out of the opposition players hands when he was 4 foot in the air and upside down! Hayden Parker had an excellent match - he controlled the game well, ran well when required, and his goal-kicking was superb - I still worry a bit about his defense though. Ellison did a good job of straightening the attack in midfield, while I thought our entire back three all played very well. I wasn't initially convinced with picking Spence on the wing (he is usually a midfielder), but he did a great job - he was solid under the high ball, chased kicks well, and was very physical in both attack and defense. Popoali'i was electric again - Otago rely so heavily on him to provide them spark, and he delivers every week. I was impressed with Ensor at fullback too (on his ITM Cup debut). He is a very elusive runner, and has a good kicking game, but still needs to do some work on his decision making.
Overall Otago will be very happy with the 5 points, but they have plenty of areas to work on. Our Scrums and lineouts were both very poor. Scrums remain a major concern for me, as we were out scrummaged by Northland, who have a pretty average scrum themselves. The lineout throwing was also very poor (from both out hookers), so is another area that they need to do a lot of work in. I was really impressed with the work of Rob Verbakel, who has added some real physicality to his play in last season - his time away in Glasgow obviously was beneficial. Thomson was pretty quiet I thought, but did get a crucial lineout steal or two, while Evans and Grant were both very solid. I remain unconvinced about Ioane though - he is a very powerful ball runner, but he still loses the ball a lot in contact, and misses far too many tackles - I'm starting to wonder if he is better as a impact player off he bench (as he was used so effectively last season).
I don't want Ben Smith to get jealous, but I'm becoming a massive fan of Tanaka. His defense around the base of the breakdown is a bit of a concern, but his distribution is superb, and you can't question his courage - at one stage he tried to rip the ball out of the opposition players hands when he was 4 foot in the air and upside down! Hayden Parker had an excellent match - he controlled the game well, ran well when required, and his goal-kicking was superb - I still worry a bit about his defense though. Ellison did a good job of straightening the attack in midfield, while I thought our entire back three all played very well. I wasn't initially convinced with picking Spence on the wing (he is usually a midfielder), but he did a great job - he was solid under the high ball, chased kicks well, and was very physical in both attack and defense. Popoali'i was electric again - Otago rely so heavily on him to provide them spark, and he delivers every week. I was impressed with Ensor at fullback too (on his ITM Cup debut). He is a very elusive runner, and has a good kicking game, but still needs to do some work on his decision making.
Very nice match between Otago and Northland. Tanaka I found very good offensively. It was harder for him defensively as Parker (here be understood with its size).
Tanaka for the stage or on a roll Fa'asisila fact, here is the photo Darwin!
Tanaka for the stage or on a roll Fa'asisila fact, here is the photo Darwin!
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