ITM Cup - Round 9

[Darwin]

Thursday 20th September:

FMG Stadium, Palmerston North. 7.35pm.
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Friday 21st September:

McLean Park, Napier. 7.35pm.
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Saturday 22nd September:

North Harbour Stadium, Albany. 2.35pm.

Eden Park, Auckland. 5.35pm.

Toll Stadium, Whangarei. 7.35pm.
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Sunday 23rd September:

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton. 2.35pm.

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin. 4.35pm.
​

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Great game between Manawatu and Counties I hear.

 

[Larksea]

I didn't see it' I flicked to it to check the score and it looked like Manuatu were cruising to a surprise victory. Counties somehow pulled one out of the bag. Must have been a good game.

There will be a lot of interest around Tana Umaga with the performance of Counties this year, they have been seriously impressive.

Battle of the bays tonight, I may have to watch that one.

I must admit I was looking forward to all these ITM cup games but I actually find myself a bit disinterested most of the time. Starting to think there actually is a point to this rugby overexposure theory going around.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

And another ridiculous match tonight by the looks of things - HB scoring on fulltime to win 42-41.

 

[Darwin]

And another ridiculous match tonight by the looks of things - HB scoring on fulltime to win 42-41.

Match highlights: http://www.skysport.co.nz/video/rug...reat-escape-hawkes-bay-v-bay-of-plenty-62631/

A phenomenal individual try by Gillies Kaka. He does some freakish things at times - I just wish he could bring some consistency into his game!

 

[Shaggy]

I can't wait until the Tasman Makos smash Otago

 

[Darwin]

I can't wait until the Tasman Makos smash Otago

They have already done that in Dunedin this year. It is not going to happen again.....hopefully.

 

[Shaggy]

They have already done that in Dunedin this year. It is not going to happen again.....hopefully.

It might be different this time, particularly if you have your All Blacks ... just hoping the Makos can maintain their good form

 

[smartcooky]

Geez, you'll struggle to see a better bit of wendyball skill on a rugby field than this...



This is a kind of try that keeps people watching the ITM Cup

 

[Darwin]

It might be different this time, particularly if you have your All Blacks ... just hoping the Makos can maintain their good form

Unfortunately we are All Black-less this weekend. We are looking a far more cohesive team than in the pre-season though, so I expect it will be a tight game.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

another good result for otago, would call the season a success given the background already, i hope to see ensor and tanaka in the highlanders next year

 

[Darwin]

another good result for otago, would call the season a success given the background already, i hope to see ensor and tanaka in the highlanders next year

Tanaka definitely, I'm not convinced Ensor is quite ready yet. He does some great things with ball in hand, but his decision making and defense need quite a bit of work - I would definitely look to have him in the wider training squad though, as he certainly looks to have all the tools to be a quality Super Rugby player.

I thought Liam Coltman played pretty well at TH prop again, though I still think he is better at hooker. Verbakel had a massive game in my opinion - I think he is another who will be close to a Highlanders contract. He has added some real physicality to his game this season, both with ball in hand and on defense. I thought all our loosies played well too, which was one of the major reasons for the big turn-around from the pre-season match between these two teams. Hayden Parker is another who will hopefully be offered a Highlanders contract, as he has been superb all season. In many ways he is a like-for-like replacement for Chris Noakes, but I think he has even more potential than Noakes.

 

[Larksea]

wow some seriously high scoring games this weekend.

Waikato vs. Canterbury was a classic. Canterbury pulled away in the end but it was close for most of the match, Waikato pulled them in after letting through some really soft early tries. Something was really wrong with the Waikato defense, they had a turn style in midfield Canterbury were just walking through at will for much of the game. They also left themselves light around the breakdown at times on defense.

Turning point for me was when Leonard when off at around 52min up to that point he had dominated Elis, was clearing some superb ball pumping it out of the rucks really well, scored a good try. Barlow came on and they totally lost direction, he made some silly decisions and all of a sudden at exactly the same time Andy Elis started playing well.

Waikato needed to take Leonard off because he had worked himself to a standstill. But Barlow really dropped the ball, I know hes got some serious skill be he also tends to be hot and cold and make as many bad decisions as he does great plays. His Kicking is suspect as well.

Battles of the bays was a classic. massive display from all the wingers but Mainly kaka vs. masanga. Kaka scored that superb try then Masanga basically topped it and produced some other awesome work, including some bone crunching tackles, huge workload.

another big score yesterday, otago looked pretty impressive. some slick moves in the backs.

 

[Shaggy]

well done Otago ... I was really hoping Tasman could keep their good run of results coming ... always next week I guess

 

[Darwin]

well done Otago ... I was really hoping Tasman could keep their good run of results coming ... always next week I guess

Otago may have won by 20-odd points, but Tasman could well have won the game if they had taken their chances early on. They completely dominated for much of the first-half, but some poor finishing (and some great Otago defense) prevented them from scoring 2-3 more tries. I felt at halftime Tasman probably should have been up by almost 20 (rather than just 3), which would have made it very difficult for Otago to come back.

I still think Tasman are in a strong position to make the semi's this season, as if they take their chances they are probably as good as any other team in the Premiership not named Counties....

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Tanaka definitely, I'm not convinced Ensor is quite ready yet. He does some great things with ball in hand, but his decision making and defense need quite a bit of work - I would definitely look to have him in the wider training squad though, as he certainly looks to have all the tools to be a quality Super Rugby player.

Hayden Parker is another who will hopefully be offered a Highlanders contract, as he has been superb all season. In many ways he is a like-for-like replacement for Chris Noakes, but I think he has even more potential than Noakes.

both ensor and parker look very underweight for super rugby too, i would hope and decisions on them were made sooner rather than later to enable them to get as much conditioning under their belts as possible

parker for Noakes would work well, i would be happy with him coming on for the last twenty to knock over those at the death goals and ensor should really get a shot on the wing (if we get smith back again as any point), he could be lethal without some of those custodian jobs of fullback

do we still have kurt baker next year?

 

[Darwin]

both ensor and parker look very underweight for super rugby too, i would hope and decisions on them were made sooner rather than later to enable them to get as much conditioning under their belts as possible

parker for Noakes would work well, i would be happy with him coming on for the last twenty to knock over those at the death goals and ensor should really get a shot on the wing (if we get smith back again as any point), he could be lethal without some of those custodian jobs of fullback

do we still have kurt baker next year?

I think his contract expired at the end this season. It will be interesting to see whether we get him back - I rate him quite highly, but I don't think the Highlanders coaches do. I would imagine Popoali'i will be upgraded to a full contract this season, and there are a few rumors going round that we are targeting Tom Marshall.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

ensor could make a very good, and cheap, fullback cover. i am thinking Baker had enough rep to not be cheap and certainly not cheap enough to not even make the bench as JJ doesn't seem like like him anymore

agree on Buxton, ready made cover for Poki at very least, dont even have to change style game plan!

 

[Larksea]

Must win game for waikato tonight, wont be easy though sadly for waikato on form they are pretty evenly matched, Waikato need to find some more of that hidden potential. Some changes to the side, I think Mikkelson at fullback is a good idea though I think I'd move Renata to 10 though francis was improved at 10 last game, Grice starts at 6. Thwy will miss toby smith.

Waikato's defense really let them down against Canterbury 10-13 in particular, patch that up and get Leonard & francis some quality ball and they should be fine.

Waikato: Tim Mikkelson, Declan O'Donnell, Save Tokula, Jackson Willison, Joe Webber, Piers Francis, Brendon Leonard, Alex Bradley (c), Zak Hohneck, Rory Grice, Sam Kilgour, Chris Middleton, Ben May, Vance Elliott, Latu Talakai.
Res: Kalem Chan Boon, Ted Tauroa, Anthony Wise, Jono Armstrong, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Sam Christie, Trent Renata.


Tasman: Tom Marshall, Peter Betham, Kieron Fonotia, Andrew Goodman (c), Robbie Malneek, Hayden Cripps, Jeremy Su'a, Jordan Taufua, Shane Christie, Tevita Koloamatangi, Joe Wheeler, Filipo Levi, Campbell Johnstone, Quentin MacDonald, Tim Perry.
Res: Francis Smith, Sam Prattley, Riki Hoeata, Vernon Fredericks, Gary Redmond, Steve Alfeld, Albert Nikoro. Referee: Garratt Williamson. Kickoff: 7.35 tonight, Waikato Stadium

 

[Darwin]

Must win game for waikato tonight, wont be easy though sadly for waikato on form they are pretty evenly matched, Waikato need to find some more of that hidden potential. Some changes to the side, I think Mikkelson at fullback is a good idea though I think I'd move Renata to 10 though francis was improved at 10 last game, Grice starts at 6. Thwy will miss toby smith.

Waikato's defense really let them down against Canterbury 10-13 in particular, patch that up and get Leonard & francis some quality ball and they should be fine.

Waikato: Tim Mikkelson, Declan O'Donnell, Save Tokula, Jackson Willison, Joe Webber, Piers Francis, Brendon Leonard, Alex Bradley (c), Zak Hohneck, Rory Grice, Sam Kilgour, Chris Middleton, Ben May, Vance Elliott, Latu Talakai.
Res: Kalem Chan Boon, Ted Tauroa, Anthony Wise, Jono Armstrong, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Sam Christie, Trent Renata.


Tasman: Tom Marshall, Peter Betham, Kieron Fonotia, Andrew Goodman (c), Robbie Malneek, Hayden Cripps, Jeremy Su'a, Jordan Taufua, Shane Christie, Tevita Koloamatangi, Joe Wheeler, Filipo Levi, Campbell Johnstone, Quentin MacDonald, Tim Perry.
Res: Francis Smith, Sam Prattley, Riki Hoeata, Vernon Fredericks, Gary Redmond, Steve Alfeld, Albert Nikoro. Referee: Garratt Williamson. Kickoff: 7.35 tonight, Waikato Stadium

Big game for both teams. Waikato desperately need a win to get away from the bottom of the Championship table, while Tasman need a win to keep themselves in the top 4 in the Premiership. I think Waikato are clear favourites (helped a lot by their home advantage), but it could be quite a close match.