@taniwharugby said in Championship Semi: Otago v Northland:

@Steven-Harris yeah most of our props are the weak links in our pack, in that thier fitness leaves alot to be desired which affects thier decision making and execution (penalties, defensive lapses, hands)

A problem endemic to NZ rugby at the moment.

@Daffy-Jaffy said in Otago v Tasman:

@Kiwiwomble Grapevine (S. Harris) says that Gatland is off to the Chiefs.

Yeah, heard that too, we also have koroi who is capable which is all we need as third choice

@African-Monkey said in Southland v Otago:

@Chris It was bizarre that he was left out in 2018 when he was easily the best in club rugby that year but they decided to go for 2 journeymen in Phil Burleigh and Sam Beard instead which did nothing for them in the long term as they both only lasted the 1 season.

Yeah exactly we were not impressed with those selections they were both poor.
I was thinking that season Nu’u must get a chance then they name the squad with those two in,Bizarre is a great word for it no rhyme or reason to it.

@Snowy said in Otago v Canterbury:

@Kiwiwomble said in Otago v Canterbury:

@ACT-Crusader are you Justin marshall?

His comments are usually better than Justin. Low bar, I know.

Damned with faint praise

@Duluth yup, not gonna be easy, made tougher by the limp performance on Friday.

Otago have a tough run in too, Cant (A) SOuthland (A) Tasman (H)
Reckon Southland have probably the best run in, Manawatu (A) Otago (H), Counties (H)
Depending on naki's result today, they finish with Counties (H) Manawatu (A) HB (H)

Potentially be tight for 2nd-5th (although Otago in the box seat for 2nd) with HB pretty much sealed as top

@Higgins Yeah I know was merely highlighting how much he’s fallen from what he was.

@Magpie_in_aus Lowe played often centre during his schoolboy days and played both wing and centre for NZ U20s. He has played in the 13 jersey occasionally for the Magpies in his first years in the squad. Personally, I think it's his best position, although he's playing well on both wings.

@Chris said in Taranaki v Otago (RS):

@ACT-Crusader said in Taranaki v Otago (RS):

What a game by Otago! Their motley crew of forwards were excellent. Who’s that nuggety barrel playing number 8?

Josh Ioane seems to have a calming influence in the way they attack as well.

Dylan Nel a South African born player he played in Canterbury for a few years made the Canterbury B side was around the A squad but couldn’t get game time moved to Otago last season

Thanks Chris. I can’t say I remember him. He played with a bit of fire in the belly.

@Bones said in Manawatu v Otago:

@ACT-Crusader he's just one of those players that operates better with less time and space... instincts better than his planning!

also just doesn't the wheels...running off someone shoulder for sprint to the line? perfect...covering a whole backfield?...no

this was promising,

*“I’ve enjoyed centre, at the back of the Highlanders season, playing a few games and getting used to it,” Collins said.

“The risk is, if you are shifting every couple of weeks, you start losing the finer touches which take a couple of weeks to get used to.

“I’m pretty happy to play at centre for a wee while.”*

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/300112618/ranfurly-shield-michael-collins-vows-otago-wont-die-wondering-against-taranaki

@Tim the headline says it all.

Not sure what he has been working on :|

Hisa Sasagi is retiring from rugby.

Wow what a game I just saw the highlights well done Northland.

@Siam said in Otago vs Canterbury (RS):

18 year

Pffft. Fcking newbies.

@Stargazer said in Otago vs Waikato (Ranfurly Shield):

@Bones Are you really surprised? Despite him being in the AB7s squad for a couple of years now?

Yeah, he's never looked express. Wasn't sure if he was going to crack 15s either but looks like he's having a good season?

I think he missed out on 2019 SR because sides had their 6/8's picked early.

His 2018 NPC form was too late

@shark I thought Lentjes was carrying an injury, so was benched.

Outrageously bad refereeing for the Koroi try with the Otere Black obstruction.

Makes my head explode.

Thanks for your answer. Poor guy, this may hamper his chances of winning a call for the next SR season for which he has been conditioning all year long.

I thought Koroi was a fullback/wing? Why would they bother with him there. Rats that Ioane was unable to play. Maybe they could use someone like Fletcher Smith in their team.

Wait.

@bovidae Cat's out of the bag then.

@damo don’t worry about missing the game,there was about 25,000 empty seats that missed the game as well..
But congratulations all the same..!

@stargazer said in Otago vs Tasman:

Phew, no bonus point for Otago. That's good for the Bay, who'll play Tasman next.

So all you Bay fans will be cheering for Waikato next Sat. 😉

Definitely has the potential to be a great Super Rugby player, he’ll be in and around the squad but another year with NZ 20’s & M10 before Super Rugby wont hurt. Love how he keeps things straight & attacks the line constantly, better first five defender than most. Looks to be trying too hard to win like most Steamers at the moment, hopefully they can just let loose against Southland and will see his best. Goal kicking definitely a major work on struggled at Jock Hobbs as well as M10.

@duluth said in Auckland vs Otago:

@Dice said:

We'll likely get Faiane and Nanai back next week, and hopefully Gibson. Whetton looks like he won't recover in 6 days though.

Lock looks concerning for the Wellington game.

It might be just Lamalu, Olmstead and Lane as the fit locks?

Looks like that's the case.

I wonder if Fatialofa is coming back at all. He was not meant to be out this long and he wasn't listed as being out for the season.

Tim said:

Cracking up at the commentators talking up Canterbury's 3rd choice frontrow today.

No one is intimidated by Daniel Lienert-Brown, Brodie McAlister, and Chris King.

agree with 2/3 of this, I think McAlistair will turn into a very good player tho.

Chris King has always been useless, huge backwards step to bring him back

@stargazer Yes it is. Credit to their fans for turning up week in week out, hope things can get better for them, similar to Northland teams in the past.

@nepia Don't worry, he's good for at least 50 more years in black.

Was at the game on Sunday. Wellington always looked in control even though they were fairly sloppy at times. I was amazed at the size of our front row - probably the smallest front row going around the ITM Cup.

Number of classy operators in the backline but our forwards will need to front week in and week out if we are going to contest this year. The return of Aumua and the pending return of Fidow will boost our chances.

@bovidae said in Game of 3 halves: All Blacks v Canterbury v Otago:

@chris-b Part of the reason for the dropping of Rokocoko and Sivivatu was their vulnerability under the high ball, which was the main SA tactic in 2009-2011. That was more relevant to Rok than Sivi and led to the emergence of Jane, Dagg and then Kahui being selected as a winger at the RWC.

His omission can't have been due to any off-field problems either, given the story about Zac in Aust immediately before the RWC. So I can only assume it was because Sivivatu had signalled he was going to France later that year and coin flip didn't go in his favour.

But wasn’t there some off field issues nonetheless that may have been a contributing factor?

LOL, local rivalry at its best in this game! 😃

Both teams did their best to bottle that last few minutes then the ref finishes it....

It's been a monumental fall from grace by us these last two years. We looked like we had something special brewing after that 2015 season. We had a young and exciting team that was only a hair away from winning a title. With all the young talent we had, it appeared we were poised to be perennial contenders for many years. I seriously didn't think any coach could stuff it up, but here we are.

Man of the match for Tasman - Mitch Hunt. Honourable mentions for Guyton, Lowe, Taufua and Blackadder. Several others pretty good.

interesting call there, agree with it, but we see often they go the other way on that due to the indiscretion.

@taniwharugby Cheers! It didn't show initially, probably due to slow internet connection.

@Duluth Yeah, he has a bit of a Ben Tameifuna physique. Could be good 30 minute player.