Auckland v Counties Manukau
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@broughie said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial unfortunately unable to watch the provincial rugby over here but just wondering whether burn out is a problem with Akira especially playing on a losing team or losing environment in Auckland. I know going from one level of sports down to a lower level of play can affect your psyche. Anyway I don’t think he has reached a ceiling and still think the right environment will bring out his talents. Is the consensus that he is out of shape?
I didn't think out of shape, more that his natural style still hasn't changed. He looks like he was always the biggest kid on the field and thinks he can bash and shrug his way forward all the time. A bit like Will Skelton. It just won't work at test level without adding some leg drive and low power.
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@tim Good article. I liked his response to starting Plummer at 10 - spot on.
I have to laugh at the notion that its a big call to put Plummer in there - not really - what's the alternative? Sit him behind some journeyman like Kirkpatrick? What's that going to achieve other than to stunt his growth. He showed last year v Canterbury he is good enough to start at 10 on Mitre 10 Cup.
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@duluth said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
Counties need Sam Henwood to stay fit. Here's the tackle stats for their starting loose forwards:
Player Tackles Made Tackles Missed Henwood 18 1 Lokotui 8 4 McKee 3 6 wow, not often a player misses more than they make, can see who's doing al the work there.
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@crucial said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@broughie said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial unfortunately unable to watch the provincial rugby over here but just wondering whether burn out is a problem with Akira especially playing on a losing team or losing environment in Auckland. I know going from one level of sports down to a lower level of play can affect your psyche. Anyway I don’t think he has reached a ceiling and still think the right environment will bring out his talents. Is the consensus that he is out of shape?
I didn't think out of shape, more that his natural style still hasn't changed. He looks like he was always the biggest kid on the field and thinks he can bash and shrug his way forward all the time. A bit like Will Skelton. It just won't work at test level without adding some leg drive and low power.
Not sure if that is really correct, he's not the biggest kid at Super level yet he makes the yards both in and out of contact.
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@kiwimurph Yes Sumo was moaning and moaning about it last year when he got the start against Canterbury last year, It was totally unnecessary from him.
I think Ieremia has it right with Plummer starting and having Kirkpatrick off the bench if things go wrong. It's good having Kirkpatrick in the squad.
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So Fukofuka and Manu were the big positives from that game. Fukofuka's clearing kicks from the base took pressure off of Plummer. Hopefully Ieremia doesn't tinker and selects the same 9-10-12-13 for a few games in a row.
Some of the after match comments seemed to blame the scrum on the lack of time the subs had together. I hope that's the case but I am very sceptical.
Prior to the subs there was pressure on the TH side. Hopefully Renata comes in. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh of Whetton but I do wonder if he's good enough to be the tight lock? He's bulked up considerable since going overseas but I'm not convinced he's the right option.
Errors made that game close. We didn't convert enough of the line breaks eg:
Auckland Counties Tackling % 93% 73% Linebreaks 11 1 Defenders Beaten 30 7 It's a piss poor result to end up with 3 tries each Changes for next week?
Renata in at TH
Tuipulotu (or Lemalu) at 5
Ravouvou on the bench for UmagaMaybe Liaina is worth looking at as the reserve halfback?
Fatialofa would be useful, but it might be worth giving Lane a longer run.There are 4 spots in the 23 for outside backs. I don't want a Wasps contracted player (Umaga) who is learning in his off season selected ahead of any of these guys - Nanai, Rayasi, Trainor, Clarke, Ravouvou. They are all SR players or close to SR selection. Nanai can cover 15 at this level
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@african-monkey said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@kiwimurph Yes Sumo was moaning and moaning about it last year when he got the start against Canterbury last year, It was totally unnecessary from him.
I think Ieremia has it right with Plummer starting and having Kirkpatrick off the bench if things go wrong. It's good having Kirkpatrick in the squad.
I quite liked that he kept Plummer on the field when Kirkpatrick came on - that way there were 2 playmakers on the field.
One thing i've noticed about Plummer is his willingness to get involved in the tough stuff - he does not shirk it at all - which makes him a useful option at 12.
@Duluth Don't forget Tele'a as an option - he can cover midfield and wing. I'd like to see him get a chance in the 23 jersey ahead of Umaga.
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@kiwimurph said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
Don't forget Tele'a as an option - he can cover midfield and wing. I'd like to see him get a chance in the 23 jersey ahead of Umaga.
Yeah good call
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@duluth I think if we got our backs some ball in the 2nd half, we would've ran away with the game, but they barely touched it in the 2nd half.
I like the changes. I wish we had a steady loosehead and hooker option, as those are probably our weakest positions when we're full strength. I like Adams as a prospect though, but I think he'd be better as a bench prop as he's explosive but raw as a scrummager.
I think we'll regret not keeping GPT. He looked good for Canterbury. Would've liked to have seen him with the new coaches.
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@nepia said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@broughie said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial unfortunately unable to watch the provincial rugby over here but just wondering whether burn out is a problem with Akira especially playing on a losing team or losing environment in Auckland. I know going from one level of sports down to a lower level of play can affect your psyche. Anyway I don’t think he has reached a ceiling and still think the right environment will bring out his talents. Is the consensus that he is out of shape?
I didn't think out of shape, more that his natural style still hasn't changed. He looks like he was always the biggest kid on the field and thinks he can bash and shrug his way forward all the time. A bit like Will Skelton. It just won't work at test level without adding some leg drive and low power.
Not sure if that is really correct, he's not the biggest kid at Super level yet he makes the yards both in and out of contact.
Apologies for this convo dragging on, but had a busy weekend.
I guess what I am getting with around Akira is that although he can often make good ground in the manner he does, I have doubts it would be an effective style at test level and think maybe the selectors have also identified that.
It's a bit like how Ardie can do his flailing knees and elbows trick in some lower games and fight his way forward but against better defence in tests it hardly ever works.
You can't just look at the individual effectiveness either. At test level (for the ABs anyway) you have well drilled teammates that are trying to connect with you quickly to command the contact area an produce quick ball. You can do this with a ball carrier that is staying strong up top and driving with the legs. More difficult when they have an upright style swatting away would be tacklers.
Akira's style is perfectly suited to Sevens where there is less gang tackling and a bit more room to fight through.
Put simply, if I was giving him a 'work on' it would be to get the legs driving' more and use your strength to dominate going forward. -
Representative Results - Saturday 18 August
The Mitre 10 Cup side weren t the only Auckland team to kick-off their respective campaign on Saturday. The Bs, Colts,...
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@crucial said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@nepia said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@broughie said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:
@crucial unfortunately unable to watch the provincial rugby over here but just wondering whether burn out is a problem with Akira especially playing on a losing team or losing environment in Auckland. I know going from one level of sports down to a lower level of play can affect your psyche. Anyway I don’t think he has reached a ceiling and still think the right environment will bring out his talents. Is the consensus that he is out of shape?
I didn't think out of shape, more that his natural style still hasn't changed. He looks like he was always the biggest kid on the field and thinks he can bash and shrug his way forward all the time. A bit like Will Skelton. It just won't work at test level without adding some leg drive and low power.
Not sure if that is really correct, he's not the biggest kid at Super level yet he makes the yards both in and out of contact.
Apologies for this convo dragging on, but had a busy weekend.
I guess what I am getting with around Akira is that although he can often make good ground in the manner he does, I have doubts it would be an effective style at test level and think maybe the selectors have also identified that.
It's a bit like how Ardie can do his flailing knees and elbows trick in some lower games and fight his way forward but against better defence in tests it hardly ever works.
You can't just look at the individual effectiveness either. At test level (for the ABs anyway) you have well drilled teammates that are trying to connect with you quickly to command the contact area an produce quick ball. You can do this with a ball carrier that is staying strong up top and driving with the legs. More difficult when they have an upright style swatting away would be tacklers.
Akira's style is perfectly suited to Sevens where there is less gang tackling and a bit more room to fight through.
Put simply, if I was giving him a 'work on' it would be to get the legs driving' more and use your strength to dominate going forward.Some very good points i think.
Sione Lauaki had a similar style where he would often catch the ball flat footed and swat defenders off rather than getting a head of steam up and charging. Works ok at Super level but not ideal at test level. I think your point about support players being thrown out of timing is a good one too. Hard to hit a ruck effectively if your player is pausing or going sideways as a first movement.The other work on i might give him is to more regularly belt guys in the tackle, Kaino style.
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Hansen said there is no issue with his attack. His work ons were decision making in without the ball. Basically he had gotten shitty coaching at the Blues and was making wrong choices.. thats when Hansen made the comment about making sure he was going through the correct decision making processes
Mitre 10 Cup Fixtures and results - ESPN
