NPC - news, injuries etc
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It is surprising that Auckland do not have sufficient players running around in club rugby that are capable of acquitting themselves in the Mitre10 Cup NPC. Still at least Jamason Fa'anana-Shultz has a name that is clearly a kiwi name so that is something in his favour.
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PRESEASON GAME
The Wellington XV to play Ta$man at Awatere Rugby Club in Seddon on Thursday, August 10 (Kick off 2.30pm):
15 Trent Renata (Oriental-Rongotai)
14 Malo Tuitama (Oriental-Rongotai)
13 Billy Proctor (Marist St Pats)
12 Regan Verney (Old Boys University)
11 Paddy Hughes (Wellington)
10 Jackson Garden-Bachop (Northern United)
9 Sheridan Rangihuna (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
8 James Blackwell (c) (Petone)
7 Du'Plessis Kirifi (Loan Player)
6 Galu Taufale (Poneke)
5 Lui Okeamoa-Luamanu (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
4 Kane Thompson (Johnsonville)
3 Joe Apikotoa (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
2 Ben Power (Hutt Old Boys Marist)
1 Vince Sakaria (Marist St Pats).Reserves: 16 Alex Fidow (Ories) 17 Sitiveni Paongo (Tawa) 18 Ha'amea Ahio (MSP) 19 Will Mangos (OBU) 20 Greg Foe (Poneke) 21 Teariki Ben-Nicholas (OBU) 22 Carlos Price (Petone) 23 Dan Kirkpatrick (Petone) 24 Levi Harmon (Poneke) 25 Andrew Wells (MSP) 26 Lester
Ta$man
1 Tom Hill
2 Ti’i Paulo
3 Siua Halanukonuka
4 Alex Ainley
5 Ethan Blackadder
6 Tone Ng Shiu
7 Braden Stewart
8 Vernon Fredericks
9 Billy Guyton
10 Tim O’Malley
11 Tima Faingaanuku
12 Trael Joass
13 Alex Nankivell
14 Viliami Lolohea
15 Will JordanReserves
16 Brendan Asumoa-Goodman
17 Ryan Cozon
18 Isaac Salmon
19 Mike Curry
20 Willis Scott
21 Ben Finau
22 Andrew Knewstubb
23 Levi Aumua
24 James Hawkey
25 Jack Best -
Premiership odds (NZ TAB):
1 Canterbury 1.75
2 Ta$man 5.50
3 Taranaki 5.50
4 Auckland 8.00
5 Counties Manukau 9.00
6 Waikato 21.00
7 North Harbour 26.00Championship odds:
1 Wellington 2.50
2 Otago 3.80
3 Hawkes Bay 4.50
4 Manawatu 6.00
5 Bay Of Plenty 10.00
6 Southland 18.00
7 Northland 21.00Bit harsh on Northland.
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@KiwiMurph Yes we look far stronger this year. Interesting to see how we fit our backs in with that squad. I'll probably look stupid by saying this but we really should be pushing for the title this year.
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@African-Monkey said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@KiwiMurph Yes we look far stronger this year. Interesting to see how we fit our backs in with that squad. I'll probably look stupid by saying this but we really should be pushing for the title this year.
Anything less than a finals appearance would be a disappointment for me. This team is as talented, if not more talented than the 2015 team that went to the finals.
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@Dice @African-Monkey Yes certainly the omission of Simon Hickey from a) the captaincy and b ) the squad makes me very happy.
Im holding off getting too excited though - Nick White's first year as head coach last year was abysmal - he gets a bit of a pass due to the weird ruck rules last year but Auckland were very poorly coached - I'm hopeful but not expectant.
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@KiwiMurph said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice @African-Monkey Yes certainly the omission of Simon Hickey from a) the captaincy and b ) the squad makes me very happy.
Im holding off getting too excited though - Nick White's first year as head coach last year was abysmal - he gets a bit of a pass due to the weird ruck rules last year but Auckland were very poorly coached - I'm hopeful but not expectant.
Oh yes, no Hickey for once! What makes me doubly happy is that Hickey's double, Elkington-McDonald, didn't get selected. I was worried we were going to pick him again. We still have the other Hickey though...
White is my biggest worry this year. I hope he's at least average, because that'd be a big upgrade to last year.
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@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train..I went to the Ta$man game last year,not one of their locks,some of them with Super rugby experience could take a kick off receive to save themselves that night,it was embarrassing,they also struggled once starting props left the field,in the last 20 they always seemed to struggle at scrum set piece..
Looks a stronger team on paper,there should be a couple of boys with a point to prove,Tuipulotu & Ioane for starters. -
@Steven-Harris said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train.
That pisses me off to hear, and I'm not even a Blues or Auckland fan.
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@Steven-Harris said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train..I went to the Ta$man game last year,not one of their locks,some of them with Super rugby experience could take a kick off receive to save themselves that night,it was embarrassing,they also struggled once starting props left the field,in the last 20 they always seemed to struggle at scrum set piece..
Looks a stronger team on paper,there should be a couple of boys with a point to prove,Tuipulotu & Ioane for starters.Interesting. Only Ben Lam and Pasquelle Dunn have gone to another province from last years team... I'm not sure why an active player would disclose this sort of information though, it seems pretty risky, because if told to the wrong person, they could easily be outed, and the information could be put out there for everyone to see. And if that was the case, and they remained at the team or saw the players around, it'd be pretty awkward.
I know some thought Akira was poor last season, but outside of the last two games, I thought he was pretty good. He and Rieko were the only reason we won any games at all last year, and they also kept us in some games we eventually lost.
Here are Akira's stats from last year:
139 carries
589 metres gained
59 beaten defenders
13 linebreaks
11 offloads
77 tackles - 7 missed - 91.2% tackle completionStats aren't everything, but for the most part, his stats matched the eye test for me. If it weren't for the last couple of games, he was on track for a great season, rather than just a pretty good one.
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@Dice for what is worth it's was'nt any of the 2 mentioned players,but I reckon it's only fair i keep the player anonymous as I had asked the player off the record,as I had also heard whispers from people within the union.
If you think back to last year,the only premiership team Auckland beat was Hawkes Bay,and that was a fortune victory as Ihaia West missed a penalty right on full time.It also suggests to me they could not sustain tempo in games against the premiership teams
For the squad they had,they were a real disappointment,Akira for all the stats,had a terrible habit of waiting for contact,as opposed to going into contact,and the one stat I don't see is offloads,the number of times he took it upon himself to stand and wait for contact was ridiculous,when an off load or pass would have been the better option simply because he does attract many tacklers because of his power.
Not a Simon Hickey fan,but I actually thought he was one of the better players from last years squad,I suspect that one of the big issues that this union has,is lack of good Good old hard work ethic,I have nephew in one of Mitre 10 cup squads,it's his first year,and he can't speak highly enough about the super players that have come back to this level of rugby in terms of support for the new players.
It's a shame Jerome Kaino is tied up with the All Blacks ,I could'nt think of a better player to have around this group for the whole season.
